With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign Part 1

With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign.

by J. H. (John Henry) Patterson.

PREFACE

The formation of a Battalion of Jews for service in the British Army is an event without precedent in our annals, and the part played by such a unique unit is a.s.sured of a niche in history owing to the fact that it fought in Palestine, not only for the British cause, but also for the Restoration of the Jewish people to the Promised Land.

In writing the following narrative, my object has been to give a faithful account of the doings of this Jewish Battalion while it was under my command.

I am much indebted to Captain H. Davis, the Rev. L. A. Falk, Mr. Bendov of Jerusalem, and Canon Parfit for permission to reproduce the photographs ill.u.s.trating this book, which add considerably to its interest.

J. H. P.

London, 1922.

INTRODUCTION

In the darkest days of the War, the British Cabinet decided that it would be good policy to create a Jewish Regiment, and accordingly, in August, 1917, the first Jewish Battalion was formed.

From that day forth, as a matter of duty and loyalty to King and Country, it was clearly inc.u.mbent on all those in authority to treat this new unit with justice, and do everything in their power to make it a success.

It is to be deplored that this Jewish Battalion--this ewe lamb of Israel--did not receive, while on Active Service in the Holy Land, that measure of justice and fair play that was its due.

In common with the vast majority of my countrymen I have the "fair play"

sense strongly developed. I am always p.r.o.ne to be on the side of the under dog--more especially when I see that the poor devil is getting more kicks than in all fairness are his due. In Palestine, unfortunately, I was constantly called upon to ward off unfair blows aimed at the Jewish Battalion under my command by certain members of the local staff of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

I have pa.s.sed over many of our sufferings in silence, and no record of them will be found in this book, but I am afraid they have left an indelible mark in the mind and heart of every man who served in the Jewish Battalion under my command, and I fear that the evil effects of the local Military Administration will reverberate throughout Palestine for many a long year.

But before I proceed further, let me first of all make it clearly understood that I am not a Jew,--indeed, at the outbreak of the Great War I knew nothing of this ancient people, always excepting what I had read about them in the Bible, and other Jewish books. My first contact with Jews was in the Gallipoli campaign, where I was sent in command of a Corps composed of Zionists who had escaped from Palestine at the outbreak of war and taken service with the British Forces. Presumably because I had had this experience, I was appointed to the command of the first Jewish Infantry unit raised for service with the British Army. The career of such a unique unit is bound to be closely followed by all Jews, while it would not surprise me if the historian of the future seizes upon this dramatic appearance of the Jewish warrior, fighting for the redemption of Israel under the banner of England, as one of the most interesting episodes of the great World War.

Unfortunately for us, with a few honourable exceptions, the local Staff of the E.E.F. were "troublers of Israel." Instead of furthering the policy of the Home Government by holding out a helping hand to this new unit, on the contrary every obstacle was placed in its way.

In our times of tribulation in the Holy Land, my thoughts often went back to the Dardanelles, and I was heartened and cheered by the remembrance of the vastly different treatment meted out to the Jewish soldiers by the Staff in Gallipoli. Sir Ian Hamilton had vision enough to foresee what a tremendous force would be won over to the cause of England by dealing justly with Israel. In the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force the att.i.tude was essentially British. I regret I cannot say the same of the Staff of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in 1918 and 1919.

I am happy to be able to put on record that the Battalion was treated fairly and justly all the time it was stationed in England. The Staff at Plymouth always held out a helping hand when needed, and we embarked for Egypt with the blessing of the War Office, and of the Adjutant-General, Sir Nevil Macready, who told us before we sailed that it was his aim to form a Jewish Brigade, and that he was writing to the Commander-in-Chief of the E.E.F. to recommend that this should be done as soon as our numbers justified such a step.

I felt that the Adjutant-General had confided a great trust to me when I was selected for the command of this Jewish unit. It was a complete change from the command of an Irish Battalion, but the Irishman and the Jew have much in common--temperament, generosity, love of children, devotion to parents, readiness to help those down on their luck, and, be it noted, great personal bravery. These qualities will probably not appear out of place to my readers so far as the Irishman is concerned, but I imagine many will be surprised when they hear that they also apply to the Jew. It is true, however, and so should be more widely known.

The soul-stirring deeds on the battlefield of such heroes as Judas Maccabaeus, Bar Kochba, and many others can never be forgotten.

I had one fear when I took over command of the Judaeans, and that was that I might not be able to do them justice. I felt that, if a suitable Jewish officer could be found, it would be more appropriate that he should have the honour of leading these soldiers of Israel in the struggle for the redemption of Palestine; but, although I publicly stated that I should be glad to see a Jewish officer appointed to the command, no one came forward, and I was left with the whole weight of this great responsibility to the Jewish people on my shoulders. I therefore made up my mind, from the moment I took command, that, so far as was humanly possible, the Jewish Battalion should be brought through its fiery ordeal with honour.

It was unfortunate for the new Regiment, and doubly unfortunate for the Jewish people in Palestine, as this narrative will show, that the att.i.tude of the local Staff was diametrically opposed to the declared policy of His Majesty's Government, which had announced to the world, in the famous Balfour Declaration, that Palestine should once again become a National Home for the Jewish people. In the face of this British announcement, certain officials in the Holy Land acted as if this epoch-making Declaration were nothing but a mere "sc.r.a.p of paper."

When I observed the vain strivings of these men, and remembered the Promise to Israel, I called to mind the saying of Gamaliel, the great Rabbi, "If this work be of men it will come to naught, but if it be of G.o.d, ye cannot overthrow it."

This local anti-Jewish policy eventually culminated in the Jerusalem pogrom, described at the close of this book, when, under British rule, murderous native mobs ran riot, practically unchecked, for nearly three days within the walls of the City.

This deplorable outrage at last opened the eyes of the Imperial Authorities to what was going on in Palestine, with the result that the Military Administration was abolished. A competent civil Governor replaced the Military Administrator, and Sir Herbert Samuel was sent out to pour oil and wine into the wounds which the unfortunate Jewish inhabitants had received, and to carry out the declared policy of England as announced in the Balfour Declaration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP Showing chief places mentioned in the book.]

WITH THE JUDaeANS IN THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN

CHAPTER I.

THE BALFOUR DECLARATION.

In the early days of 1917 the outlook for the Allied Powers was particularly black and menacing. England, the mainstay in the great struggle, was in deadly peril, for, just about this time, the ruthless Submarine campaign was at its height and our shipping losses were appalling.

The Central Powers, with startling rapidity, had crushed and overrun Belgium, Serbia, and Roumania, and a large slice of France was in the grip of the invader. It was a case of stalemate with Italy, while Russia, the Colossus with the feet of clay, was in the throes of a Revolution and lost to the Allies.

Turkey, the so-called "sick man of Europe," was found not only able to "sit up and take nourishment," but strong enough to administer some nasty knocks to the surgeon, as we discovered to our cost in Gallipoli, and other places in the Near East.

The Great Republic of the West did indeed throw in her lot with us in April, 1917, but many perilous months would have to elapse before she could pull her full weight, or even make her enormous power felt to any appreciable extent on the battlefields of Europe.

At such a moment as this it was of the very greatest importance that the world should be carefully scanned, and every available ideal and policy made use of, which could be of advantage to our righteous cause.

The happy inspiration thereupon seized upon our Ministers to win over to the side of the Allies the teeming millions of the Children of Israel scattered throughout the world.

The restoration of these people to the land of their forefathers had long been engaging the thoughts of mankind, and our Statesmen now felt that the time was ripe for this age-long issue to be brought to fruition.

It was of course known to the leading Zionists that the British Government was considering the policy of making a p.r.o.nouncement in favour of the Jewish people, and many of the leaders of Zionism, such as Dr. Weizmann, Mr. Sokolow, Mr. Jabotinsky, Mr. Joseph Cowen, etc., lost no opportunity of pressing home the importance of winning Jewry, the world over, to England's side, by declaring boldly for a Jewish Palestine.

It was felt by many that the right and proper way for Jewry to help England was by raising a Jewish Legion to aid in the redemption of Palestine, and of this movement the leading spirit was Vladimir Jabotinsky, a distinguished orator, author, and journalist.

Ever since the beginning of the War this remarkable man, a Jew from Russia, had carried on a vigorous propaganda on behalf of England. At his own expense, he had founded a newspaper in Copenhagen, and distributed it broadcast among Jews in Russia, Poland, neutral countries, America, etc.

His propaganda was of great value to the Allies, for the Jews naturally hated Russia, owing to their harsh treatment and persecution in that country, and it was not until Jabotinsky set to work that they perceived that their real interests lay with the Allies.

To show a good example to others, he enlisted as a private in the 20th Battalion London Regiment, where he gathered round him a platoon composed princ.i.p.ally of men who had recently been serving in Gallipoli in the Zion Mule Corps.

From his humble position in the ranks he bombarded the Prime Minister, and the Secretaries of State for War and Foreign Affairs in this country; he sent emissaries to America, North and South, to Russia, Poland, the Caucasus, etc., and when, in July, 1917, the Government declared their intention of creating a Jewish Regiment, he had everything in train for the formation of a legion at least 50,000 strong.

I mention this here as one instance of this gallant officer's efforts for England, and I will ask the reader to make a mental note of it, for before this narrative is ended it will be my painful duty to show how Jabotinsky was rewarded for all his invaluable services to the British cause.

The Government policy towards world Jewry was brought to a head by a vigorous Zionist offensive, and resulted in the creation of a Jewish Battalion in August, 1917, followed a little later by the famous Balfour Declaration in favour of a National Home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

This bold and wise p.r.o.nouncement of British policy was of great and far-reaching importance, and is regarded by Jewry throughout the world as their Charter of Liberty.

It is embodied in the following letter to Lord Rothschild:--