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With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign

<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> <div class="center">Back in the Land of Bondage.</div> 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[52] 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[53] 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. [54] Soon after our arrival in Egypt I sent the following letter to the Commander-in-Chief: <blockquote> <div class="right"> Cairo, 5th March, 1918. </div> 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. [55] 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[56] 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. <div class="right"> Yours sincerely, (Signed) J. H. Patterson. </div> </blockquote> 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[57] 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[58] 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. [59] 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[60] 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. [61] The following is a translation of the Hebrew recruiting poster sent throughout Palestine at this time:— <div class="poem"> <div class="center">Hear, O Israel! </div> 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? <div class="center">Hear, O Israel! </div> 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. <div class="center">Enlist! Enlist! </div> Shoulder to shoulder, together with our saviours, to the battle let us go. And salvation is with the Lord. <div class="center">Be Strong! </div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> [62] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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