BACK IN THE LAND OF BONDAGE.
When we landed at Alexandria on the 1st March the Battalion was invited
by the Jewish community, headed by the Grand Rabbi, to commemorate its
safe arrival in Egypt by attending a special service in the beautiful
Temple in the street of the Prophet Daniel.
The men got a splendid reception from the Alexandrians as they marched
to the Synagogue, where a most impressive service was held, the Grand
Rabbi giving the soldiers a special benediction in the grand old
language of the Prophets.
After the service, refreshments were served by a number of Jewish
ladies, who could hardly indeed believe that they were waiting upon a
Battalion, composed of men of their own race, who were now serving as
Jewish soldiers under the flag of England. Their faces glowed with joy
at the thought that a complete Jewish unit was now before their eyes,
and was on its way to assist in releasing the land of their forefathers
from the hand of the Turkish oppressor.
It was a great pleasure to meet again those good people who had helped
me so wholeheartedly in looking after the wives and dependents of my
Zion Mule Corps men who had served in Gallipoli in 1915. Perhaps none
worked more zealously or gave more unselfish devotion to those poor and
miserable refugees than the Baroness Rosette de Menasce. No matter what
I wanted done in the way of help or assistance for the impoverished
dependents, I could always rely on this beautiful and charitable lady to
see it through.
After lunch was over we marched to the station and entrained for
Helmieh, a village a few miles outside Cairo, where the battalion was to
be encamped, while completing its training for the front. On arrival
there we found awaiting us Captain Julian with the transport section
complete, which had safely arrived a couple of days previously.
At Cairo we were met by an emissary from Palestine, who informed us that
there was a great Jewish volunteer movement on foot in Judæa, and that
hundreds of young men were eager to join the Army, and scores of Jewish
ladies were anxious to give their services as nurses, or even as
transport drivers.
This was cheering news--news which I naturally thought would prove most
welcome to the Commander-in-Chief of the E.E.F.
The leading Jewish citizens of Cairo, not to be outdone by their
brethren of Alexandria, arranged with the authorities, soon after our
arrival, that we should attend a religious service in the Chief
Synagogue; the battalion had a wonderful reception as it marched through
the City, which was thronged with cheering crowds. The High
Commissioner, General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, took the salute as
the men marched past the Residency, and evinced the greatest and most
friendly interest in this Jewish unit and the Jewish movement generally.
I must mention here that the battalion was much indebted to Mr. Maurice
Gattegno, of Cairo, for the immense amount of trouble he took in
everything which could be helpful, and the generous way in which he
contributed to all our comforts. He had an able helper in his
sister-in-law, Miss Viterbo (now Mrs. Hopkin), who was untiring in her
efforts on the men's behalf. Mr. Franco and Mr. Cohen, of Alexandria,
were also ardent supporters of the battalion.
The Jews who have made Egypt their home are a kindly hospitable people,
and we owe them a debt of gratitude for the way they received us and the
interest they took in our welfare. The land of the Pharaohs is supposed
to eat away the soul of a people and send them after strange gods, but,
in my intercourse with the Jews of Egypt, I found that there are to-day
many devout men, who work, and pray, and give lavishly of their
substance, to the end that Israel may be restored.
The usual infantry training was carried out at Helmieh--drill, physical
training, bayonet fighting, bombing, marching, musketry, signalling,
etc., went on from morning until night, and the men made excellent
progress. In fact, within a few weeks of our arrival in Egypt, no one
would have recognized in these bronzed and well set up men, who walked
about with a conscious look of pride in themselves and their battalion,
the pale, pinched, miserable looking conscripts who joined up at
Plymouth.
Soon after our arrival in Egypt I sent the following letter to the
Commander-in-Chief:
CAIRO,
5TH MARCH, 1918.
MY DEAR GENERAL,
No doubt you have heard of the arrival of the Jewish Battalion in Egypt.
I am very anxious to see you in connection with the formation of a
Jewish Brigade, about which the War Office have given me to understand
they have made some communication to you.
First of all there will be the position of the Russians to discuss, as I
have some hundreds of these with me. They are at present performing
their duties cheerfully and well, and I have no fault to find with their
attitude; but, as Russia has signed a separate peace, a new situation
may arise which I would like to be ready to meet. There are already two
more Jewish Battalions formed in England, and one of these, the 39th,
was under orders to embark when I left Plymouth. Presumably, it will
arrive in Egypt soon. I hear of other battalions for service with the
Jewish Brigade being formed in New York; and the Adjutant-General
informed me that it was probable that the French authorities would
transfer the Polish Jews now serving in France to this Brigade. I am
told that there are several hundred young Jews waiting to enlist in
Palestine. There are a number more in Cairo and Alexandria.
With your permission I would gladly commence recruiting in these areas,
and form a new battalion here. For the purpose of enlisting the
Palestine volunteers, it would require a recruiting party to make a trip
round the Jewish colonies to collect the recruits. I have an ideal party
for such a duty in my present battalion, all speaking Hebrew, headed by
an officer who knows Palestine. With your approval I would send this
party as soon as possible on tour. Recruiting offices should also be
opened in Cairo and Alexandria, where I have promises of every support
from the Jewish communities of these cities.
In England the Adjutant-General allowed transfers of Jewish Officers,
N.C.O.'s and men. I hope you will be equally indulgent to those who wish
to join me from other units now under your command.
I am strongly of the opinion that the training ground of the Jewish
Brigade should be in Judæa itself, firstly for its great moral effect on
the men; secondly, the climate of Cairo during the training months of
March and April will make it practically impossible to do much
satisfactory work here. I am convinced that twice the results could be
obtained in such a place as Jaffa, or other suitable colony, while the
health of the troops would greatly benefit by the cooler climate. It
would also enormously stimulate recruiting in Palestine.
I know that the Home Government attach the greatest importance to the
moral effect of this Jewish Brigade on the outer world of Jewry--not
only in allied and neutral, but also in enemy countries--and such full
effect can only be obtained by placing the Brigade in Palestine at the
earliest possible moment.
There are some other points which I would like to bring to your notice,
but I will not add to the length of this letter by mentioning them now.
I should, however, be very glad to see you, and discuss these matters
generally with you, and hope you will send instructions for me to report
at your headquarters at an early date.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) J. H. PATTERSON.
I got a reply from Major-General Louis Jean Bols, the Chief of Staff,
asking me to come to G.H.Q., but at the same time informing me that
General Allenby was not in favour of my suggestions.
This was somewhat of a surprise to me, for at a time when men were so
badly needed, I thought that a Jewish legion, of say 25,000 men, would
have been most acceptable on the Palestine front, and, had General
Allenby shown himself at all favourable to the idea of a Jewish legion,
it would at that time have been an easy task to have obtained any number
of men, from America and elsewhere, to fight in Palestine.
Nothing daunted, however, I proceeded to G.H.Q., where I had an
interview with the Commander-in-Chief, who told me quite frankly that he
was not in sympathy with the War Office policy in sending this Jewish
Battalion to Palestine, and that he did not want any further addition
such as I suggested to his Forces.
At a subsequent interview which I had with his Chief of Staff, I
gathered that I need expect but little sympathy for my battalion, as
Major-General Louis Jean Bols told me quite plainly that he was not
favourably disposed towards Jewish aspirations.
This anti-Jewish policy of General Allenby and his Chief of Staff came
as a shock to me, for I knew that it was the settled intention of His
Majesty's Government to support these Jewish Battalions, and the Jewish
claim to Palestine, and I had been expecting quite a different reception
for my proposals from the E.E.F. authorities to that which they
received. I found, to my amazement, that the policy adopted by the Staff
towards this Jewish Battalion, and the Jewish problem generally, ran
counter to the declared policy of the Home Government. Alas! it seemed
that another Pharaoh had arisen who knew not Joseph; and once again we
would be expected to make bricks without straw, and become hewers of
wood and drawers of water. Instead of this new unit being helped and
encouraged, we were, on the contrary, throughout our service in the
E.E.F., made to feel that we were merely Ishmaelites, with every hand
uplifted against us.
I knew full well what our fate would be once the policy of G.H.Q. on
this question was known, and, as I will show later, the underlings of
the Staff did not fail to play up to the attitude of the higher command.
I hoped, however, that the battalion would do such good work that we
would eventually overcome all prejudice. We looked for no favours, and
only wanted to be treated as a battalion "all out" to do its duty.
The Commander-in-Chief was of course aware by this time of the Arab
pretensions to Syria, and as his mind was, no doubt, wholly centred on
his own war theatre, he was naturally anxious to placate the Arab at all
costs. The Arab was at his door, giving him certain assistance by
harrying the Turks to the East of the Jordan, and the fact that the
Hedjaz Army was fighting on our side kept Bedouins and other marauders
from interfering with our lines of communication--no small matter in
Palestine and Syria. The intrusion of the Jew was a disturbing factor to
his policy, and was therefore resented.
The local Military Authorities, however, seemed oblivious of the fact
that there was a much bigger question involved than that which loomed so
largely in their eyes on the Palestine horizon. There was England's
world policy to be considered, and her Statesmen had already decided
that it was very much in her interests to win over to her side Jewish
help and sympathy the world over. Let no one under-estimate what that
help meant to the Allies during the Great War. The Jewish element, owing
to the Balfour Declaration, came solidly to our side in every land, and
in America greatly helped to counter the German propaganda which was
fast gripping hold of the United States. It was unfortunate that this
far-sighted and wise policy of our Imperial Statesmen was never grasped
by their local agents in Palestine.
In the E.E.F., so far as one on the spot could judge, but scant heed was
paid to any policy unless it bore on local affairs and coincided with
the point of view held by G.H.Q. and the satellites revolving round it.
If only a little wise diplomacy had been employed, I am strongly of the
opinion that it would have been quite practicable for the local
authorities to have treated the Jewish problem fairly and on the lines
of the Balfour Declaration and, at the same time, have retained the
Arabs on our side. After all the Arabs were as much interested in the
downfall of the Turk as we were ourselves, and, to his honour be it
said, the Emir Feisal never showed himself hostile to Jewish
aspirations. On the contrary he expressed the utmost goodwill and worked
hand in hand with Dr. Weizmann for the common good of both peoples.
The Jew and the Arab are necessary to each other in the Near East, and
if England wishes to retain her Empire it is vital to her interests to
keep friendly with both. I am afraid that at the moment we are at a
discount to the East of Suez. During the stress of war certain promises
were made to the Arabs which appear difficult to redeem, mainly due to
the policy of France in Syria. I admire France immensely, and that is
why I so much deplore her imperialistic aims beyond the Lebanons. She is
sowing a rich crop of troubles for herself in these regions, and I am
certain that ere long we shall see her reaping a bitter harvest. I met a
much travelled French officer in Cairo, who had just relinquished an
administrative post in Beyrout, and he told me that, if his Government
was wise, it would clear out of Syria, where it would have nothing but
trouble for generations to come. "If only," he went on, "England would
give us a bit of Africa and take Syria instead, France would make a good
bargain."
We, however, do not want Syria, but we do want to see a strong and
settled Arab state in these strictly Arab regions, and I sincerely hope
that our Statesmen will be wise enough, and energetic enough, to bring
about such a desirable consummation. If we permit the Bolshevists and
Turks to oust us from our friendship with the Jews and Arabs, and with
King Hussein and his son the Emir Feisal (now the King of Irak), upon
whom we have alternately blown hot and cold, just as it pleased France
to pipe the tune then we shall witness the beginning of the end of our
power and prestige in the Orient.
My trip to G.H.Q. was not quite in vain, for just before we left Egypt
sanction was given to enlist Palestinian volunteers. I sent to Judæa a
specially trained recruiting party, all fluent Hebrew speakers, under
the command of Lieutenant Lipsey, to report to Major James de Rothschild
of the 39th Battalion, who was the officer appointed to supervise this
work in Egypt and Palestine.
The response to Major de Rothschild's appeal was enthusiastic--in fact
his chief trouble was to keep out grey-beards and unfledged youths, so
eager were all to join up.
Lieutenant Lipsey had some difficulty in keeping his end up in
Jerusalem, where there were many anti-Zionists, but finally he worsted
his opponents and emerged triumphant with nearly 1,000 recruits.
The following is a translation of the Hebrew recruiting poster sent
throughout Palestine at this time:--
HEAR, O ISRAEL!
Hear! What does your heart prompt you to do?
Shall we not reclaim our heritage and establish its possession
in the eyes of the world?
Hearken! What does your reason say to you?
The British are fighting here before our eyes, and shall
we remain in our houses until they return from the
battle to give us our country which they have redeemed
with their blood?
Hearken! What does your honour and conscience
dictate?
Is it possible for us to accept from the hands of our
righteous redeemers such an offering of blood?
Shall not we too, together with them, offer our lives
for our country?
HEAR, O ISRAEL!
The blood of our heroic forefathers, the blood of the
British who fight for us this day, and the blood of
the martyrs, cry unto us from this sacred ground.
ENLIST! ENLIST!
Shoulder to shoulder, together with our saviours, to the
battle let us go. And salvation is with the Lord.
BE STRONG!