THE NABLUS FRONT.
On the 17th July we were transferred to the 60th Division and attached
to one of its Brigades.
We were very sorry to leave the 10th Division, for we had made many good
friends all round, and our Divisional and Brigade Commanders had always
treated us fairly and justly.
On the evil day of our transfer a fatal accident befell Lieutenant B.
Wolffe. He was in charge of the transport wagons and was engaged in
loading up supplies at the Ordnance Depôt. The drivers were, of course,
dismounted and standing by their teams while the work of loading was
going ahead. A sudden noise frightened one of the teams, and off the
four horses careered at a mad gallop. They were heading straight for
some troops standing near, and Lieutenant Wolffe, seeing this, made a
gallant attempt to stop them by springing at the heads of the leaders as
they dashed past. Unfortunately they were going too fast for him, and he
was dragged under their feet, the wagon passing over his body.
I visited him in hospital, as did also our Chaplain and others, and we
cheered him up as much as possible, but he died on the 20th, and his
death cast a gloom over the whole battalion, for he was a most
conscientious officer, a good Jew, and well liked by all ranks. He was
buried with full Jewish rites, a "Minyan" from the battalion attending.
The Commander-in-Chief in General Orders eulogised the gallant attempt
which he made when he sacrificed his own life in his plucky effort to
save others.
On the 24th July I was requested by Dr. Weizmann to bring a
representative party of officers and men of the battalion to a most
interesting ceremony at Jerusalem--the laying of the foundation stones
of the Hebrew University On Mount Scopus.
In the days of her past greatness the law was expounded at Jerusalem. It
is quite possible that again, even in our own days, we shall hear a
message of peace and goodwill issue forth from the Temple of Learning
overlooking the Holy City.
The site chosen for the building is a magnificent one. It looks down on
the domes and minarets of Jerusalem on the one side, and, on the other,
overlooks the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, with the green hills of
Moab looming in the distance.
The ceremony itself was a most interesting one. The Commander-in-Chief
was present; also all the civil and religious heads of the Jewish,
Christian, and Moslem communities, while a vast multitude of people of
all creeds thronged along the slopes of Scopus from Jerusalem--a
seemingly good omen for future peace and concord. It was a truly
inspiring and historic occasion, and augured well for the future
greatness of the University. Stones were laid by the Christian Bishop
in Jerusalem and by the Mufti (the Chief Mohammedan dignitary). One was
also laid by Dr. Weizmann in the name of the Jewish Regiment, while what
perhaps appealed to me most of all was the part taken by Jewish children
in laying a stone representing the Hope of Israel.
On my return to the Battalion I found the Headquarters encamped in a
pretty grove of olives on the Inniskilling Road, some two miles behind
the firing line. While we were here our Chaplain, the Rev. L. A. Falk,
one day discovered a red granite column embedded in the side of a hill.
This we unearthed and, on measuring it, found that it was about 12 feet
high and about 2 feet in diameter. We erected it in our camp in a grove
of olive trees. I much perturbed our good Rabbi by chaffingly suggesting
to him that we had been erecting an altar to Baal, in a grove, in one of
the high places! Our find got noised abroad, and the Governor of
Jerusalem, Colonel Storrs, with his assistant, Lord William Percy,
motored out from Jerusalem to see it. They had lunch with us, and I was
delighted to note that Lord William Percy took a keen interest in
preserving the fauna of Palestine, and had induced General Allenby to
impose strict limitations on the shooting of birds and beasts.
Our transfer to the 60th Division did not, for the time at least, result
in any change in our position in the line, but, almost from the moment
we joined the new Brigade, we felt the hostility shown towards all
things Jewish by the Brigade Commander. I endeavoured to counter his
prejudice against the battalion, during a friendly after-dinner chat,
by pointing out the immense debt we owed to the "People of the Book" for
all they have done towards civilising and humanizing the world for
thousands of years. During their struggle for existence through
centuries of exile, in countries where every form of torture and
repression had been in vogue against them, they never lost their
age-long Hope of a Restoration. The General seemed, like many others, to
have a very vague idea as to the aim of the Zionists, which is simply to
establish a National Home in Palestine where Jewish life, rooted in its
own soil, would have an opportunity of developing on modern lines, in
accordance with its own ideals. I gave the Brigadier some new ideas on
Jews, but all my eloquence was in vain, for I failed to convert him, and
he hinted that I was only wasting my time by being mixed up with a
Jewish unit!
But although the Brigadier was right in one way when he said "You will
get nothing out of it," yet in another way he was altogether wrong, for
I have got a very great deal out of my service with this Jewish
Battalion. I have had the satisfaction of proving that, in spite of all
obstacles placed in its path, this new unit showed that it was worthy of
the best traditions of the Maccabæans, those doughty Jewish soldiers
who, on many a well-fought field, defeated the legions of Antiochus and
freed Judæa from a foreign yoke.
But it is not by fighting alone that a good battalion is proved, and the
Jewish unit was tested in many ways as this record will show.
There was no respite from such work as digging trenches, building stone
sangars, and constructing roads along the hill-sides, by day and by
night; nevertheless, every soldierly duty allotted was carried out
cheerfully and promptly.
The rumour which had got abroad about the attack on the Turkish trenches
opposite our front now crystallised into definite shape, and the actual
date of the attack was often hinted at.
A few days before the assault was to take place our Brigadier gave us
the special job of making stone emplacements, almost within sight of the
Turks, just above the village of Jiljilia, and as we fondly hoped we
would have a place in the assaulting column, all hands worked with a
will, especially our two Christian Lithuanians, Stenelus and Sterilitis;
these men amazed the British gunners by the ease with which they placed
huge blocks of stone in position--all done by sheer strength of muscle
combined with hearty good will.
This particular piece of work was under the supervision of Major Neill,
and, as it had to be done in record time, his task was no easy one, but,
fortunately for him and his Company, the Turks never spotted what was
going on, and before we left these parts Major Neill saw the guns safely
emplaced without suffering a single casualty.
All this stone work on the steep sides of a hill, coupled with heavy
marching to and fro, and scrambling up and down, was not good for the
men's clothing, which soon got worn, ragged and dirty. A false step on a
slippery slope meant that the seat of a man's flimsy shorts was rent
asunder, and it was quite usual to see the tail of a shirt hanging out!
Yet, no matter how ragged and disreputable-looking the men were, I
found it impossible to get any renewal of clothing, although it was
freely handed out to other units.
It seemed as if it were a joy to some people to be able to withhold
necessary articles of clothing, such as shirts, boots, socks, shorts,
etc., and keep the men working on dirty jobs, and then say with glee,
"Look at the ragged dirty Jews."
It must be remembered that we could not obtain enough water even to wash
our faces, for every drop had to be carried up the precipitous sides of
the hills on camels as far as they could clamber, and then by mules and
donkeys up the steeper parts. Often there was a shortage of the precious
fluid even for tea-making.
I wrote urgent letters again and again, and protested that the men were
unfit to march for want of shoes, and that many of them were actually
exposing their nakedness for want of clothing. I sent my Quartermaster,
Lieutenant Smythe, day after day, to the Ordnance Stores trying to
extract necessary articles, but all in vain! We were nobody's children,
and consequently we could get nothing. I saw the Brigadier, and
represented to him that in many cases our men were ragged, shirtless,
sockless, and bootless, but if he made any representations on our behalf
there was no result.
Had we belonged to a Brigade instead of being merely "attached" most of
our troubles would never have arisen, but the policy adopted by the
local Staff was to keep us as "wandering Jews," pitched from one Brigade
to another, in a continuous round of General Post.
It was a heart-breaking experience as any soldier will understand.
At last I rode over to my old Gallipoli friend, Colonel O'Hara, who was
on the Staff of the 10th Division, and he, like the good soldier that he
is, helped me out of my difficulty as far as it lay in his power.
What a difference it makes when one meets a good Staff Officer! Not
nearly enough care is given to the task of selecting the right men for
this all-important branch of the Army. They are too often selected for
any reason except the right one, viz., efficiency.
The Brigade to which we were attached was fortunate in having at least
one good Staff Officer. The Brigade Major was a thoroughly capable
soldier, and always out to help in every way in his power.
The Brigadier often caused me much inward amusement by pointedly
appealing in my presence to the judgment of a certain Colonel X, an
officer junior to me, who was in command of a section on our right. If I
had a sangar built which commanded a good field of fire, it was sure to
be found fault with, and another had to be built in a site chosen by
their joint wisdom.
One night the gallant Brigadier came across the spot where I had my
outlook post established; he thought it was in the wrong place, of
course, and consulted his friend, Colonel X, as to where it should be.
"Don't you think it ought to be on the top of this house?" said the
General. The Colonel climbed to the top of the house, gazed round in the
inky darkness, came down again, and said he quite agreed with the
General, as all good, well-trained Colonels, with an eye to the main
chance, invariably do!
I was then ordered to put the outlook on the top of the house, which had
a flat roof, where a man would be seen by every Turk for miles round!
Needless to say, I never placed an observer in this absurd position.
Just about this time one of my men, quite a youth, was found asleep at
his post, and as this is about the most serious crime of which a sentry
can be guilty, he was tried by General Court Martial and sentenced to
death.
A few days later a telegram came from the Provost Marshal ordering me to
send the condemned man under strong escort, with two senior
non-commissioned officers, to the prisoners' compound some distance
away. I feared that the unfortunate lad would be shot at dawn, and as I
knew he had been working exceedingly hard, day and night, for 48 hours
before he was found asleep at his post, and was of good character and
very young, I determined to try to save him. I therefore sent a private
wire to General Allenby asking him on these grounds to reprieve him.
My friend the Brigadier saw the wire before it was despatched and
stopped it. However, one of my men in the Signal Office told me of this,
so I immediately wrote a confidential letter to General Allenby, gave it
to a motor-cyclist, and sent him off post haste to G.H.Q., some thirty
miles away, telling him to ride for all he was worth, as a man's life
hung on his speed.
I am glad to say that not only did General Allenby reprieve the man and
reduce the sentence to a certain number of years' imprisonment, but he
suspended even that punishment, provided the man proved himself worthy
of forgiveness by doing his duty faithfully in the battalion.
The young soldier returned to us overjoyed and full of gratitude for his
release. He proved himself worthy in every respect, and was never
afterwards called upon to do a day's imprisonment.
Not satisfied with having held up the wire, the Brigadier motored some
miles away to report the matter to the Divisional General, Sir John
Shea.
I was duly haled before the General, not knowing for what reason, until
he said, "You know you will get yourself into trouble if you go sending
telegrams direct to the Commander-in-Chief." It then dawned on me for
the first time why I had been sent for.
I explained all the circumstances to the General, and said that, in such
an emergency, I felt justified in what I had done. Besides, I said, I
had not addressed the Commander-in-Chief as such, but as General
Allenby, an officer whom I had known for many years. I also confessed
that, when I found that the wire had been blocked, I had immediately
written a letter of appeal to General Allenby, and had sent it off by a
special cyclist despatch rider.
The General pretended to be so horrified at this that he needed a
cocktail to revive him--in which I may add he asked me to join him. I do
not know what he thought of the Brigadier's action, but I can leave the
reader to imagine what I thought of it!
A few days later, when I was breakfasting with General Shea, I was much
amused when he told me that when he was at home his children insisted on
his reading a lion story to them every evening out of "The Man-Eaters of
Tsavo"!
From the frequent consultations between the Brigadier and his friend
Colonel X I felt that something was on foot, but little realised that it
was a matter which, if carried out, would strike a blow at the very
identity of the Jewish Battalions. This, however, soon became evident.
Shortly after my interview with the Divisional General I was called to
the telephone to speak to the Brigadier, who said, apparently with great
satisfaction, "I want to tell you that your Battalion and the 39th
Battalion (which was then on its way up from Egypt) are to be brigaded
with two West Indian Battalions, and you are to be placed under the
command of Colonel X, who is now a General and has come to live near my
camp. You will find General X a very nice man." I thanked the Brigadier
for his interesting information and hung up the receiver.
It was now clearly my duty to stop this second attempt to destroy the
identity of the Jewish Battalions in Palestine or resign my command. It
was no easy task to achieve, because our good friends had worked
underground all the time, and sprang this surprise upon me only when it
became an accomplished fact; Colonel X had actually been appointed to
the command, a Brigade Major and a Staff Captain had been posted to the
new Brigade, while the transport and ordnance section of the formation
had been already organized and sent to Jericho.
The Staff at G.H.Q. had, of course, arranged the whole affair, and it
would be no easy task to get the Commander-in-Chief to countermand the
Brigade formation. I felt that a very firm stand must be taken if this
blow aimed at Jewish prestige was to be averted.
I accordingly wrote a strong letter direct to General Allenby, pointing
out that, if such a scheme were carried out, it would involve very grave
issues. The Adjutant-General at the War Office had promised that the
Jewish Battalions would be formed into a Jewish Brigade, and to depart
from this declared policy would be looked upon as a direct slight, both
by the Jewish Battalions and by Jewry the world over. Loth as I was to
worry the Commander-in-Chief, I considered it my duty to him, to my men,
to myself, and to Jewry to see that Jewish interests were not trampled
upon without a protest while I retained command. I requested therefore
that the orders should be cancelled, and, if not, that I should be
relieved of my command.
That my attitude on this question was correct was proved by the receipt
of a most friendly reply from General Allenby, in which he thanked me
for my letter and said:
I see the undesirability of brigading Jewish with West Indian
Battalions, and I have decided not to do so. I shall form a
provisional Brigade of the two Jewish Battalions until a
complete Jewish Brigade can be formed, and they will be under
you.
The whole tone of this letter showed that the C.-in-C. had been badly
advised by his Staff in this attempted amalgamation of the Jewish with
the West Indian Battalions.
A few hours after I had received General Allenby's communication a wire
came from G.H.Q. cancelling all the orders which had already been issued
with regard to the formation of the new Brigade.
Thus I won the second round in my fight for fair play for the Jewish
Battalions and Jewish ideals generally.
I realized that my stand for justice would be bitterly resented by
certain individuals at G.H.Q., and that, sooner or later, I would be
penalised for having upset their attempted little coup.