With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign
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Title: With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign
Author: J. H. Patterson
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WITH THE JUDÆANS IN THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN
[Illustration: _Photo by Vandek_
LIEUT.-COL. J. H. PATTERSON, D.S.O.]
WITH THE JUDÆANS IN THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN
by
LIEUT.-COL. J. H. PATTERSON, D.S.O.
Author of: "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo,"
"In the Grip of The Nyika,"
"With the Zionists in Gallipoli."
With a Map and 22 Illustrations.
London: Hutchinson & Co.
Paternoster Row
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 assured 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 illustrating this book, which add considerably to its
interest.
J. H. P.
London, 1922.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION vii
CHAPTER I.
THE BALFOUR DECLARATION 13
CHAPTER II.
THE SANBALLATS 18
CHAPTER III.
THE FORMATION OF THE JEWISH REGIMENT 23
CHAPTER IV.
TRAINING AT PLYMOUTH 30
CHAPTER V.
THE KOSHER PROBLEM 39
CHAPTER VI.
WE SET OUT FOR PALESTINE 43
CHAPTER VII.
BACK IN THE LAND OF BONDAGE 51
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER 62
CHAPTER IX.
WE SET OUT FOR THE FRONT 68
CHAPTER X.
THE NABLUS FRONT 79
CHAPTER XI.
WE MARCH TO THE JORDAN VALLEY 91
CHAPTER XII.
OUR POSITION IN THE MELLAHAH 103
CHAPTER XIII.
LIFE IN THE MELLAHAH 111
CHAPTER XIV.
WE WIN OUR FIRST HONOURS 118
CHAPTER XV.
CAPTURE OF THE UMM ESH SHERT FORD 125
CHAPTER XVI.
THE LOST TRANSPORT WAGONS 131
CHAPTER XVII.
WE GO UP TO RAMOTH GILEAD 137
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CROWN OF VICTORY 144
CHAPTER XIX. PAGE
THE STRATEGICAL VALUE OF PALESTINE 150
CHAPTER XX.
HOSPITAL SCANDAL AT JERUSALEM 157
CHAPTER XXI.
LIFE AT LUDD 167
CHAPTER XXII.
AT RAFA 173
CHAPTER XXIII.
RETURN OF THE ANZACS 179
CHAPTER XXIV.
A RED-LETTER DAY 185
CHAPTER XXV.
JEWISH SOLDIERS ARE FORBIDDEN TO ENTER THE HOLY CITY 193
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE GREAT BOXING COMPETITION 199
CHAPTER XXVII.
BIR SALEM--AN EXCITING RACE 204
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DAMASCUS 211
CHAPTER XXIX.
AMONG THE PHILISTINES 219
CHAPTER XXX.
THE FALL OF GOLIATH 227
CHAPTER XXXI.
PROTESTS 230
CHAPTER XXXII.
A TRIP TO THE SEA OF GALILEE 239
CHAPTER XXXIII.
STRANGE METHODS OF THE E. E. F. STAFF 249
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE FIRST JUDÆANS 259
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE JERUSALEM POGROM 262
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE DAWN 274
APPENDICES 277
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIEUT.-COL. J. H. PATTERSON, D.S.O. _Frontispiece_
"I HAD AN ABLE AND ENTHUSIASTIC STAFF" Facing page 34
LIEUT. VLADIMIR JABOTINSKY " " 44
THE REV. L. A. FALK " " 46
JERUSALEM " " 62
THE BATTALION ON PARADE " " 64
TOMB OF RACHEL, NEAR BETHLEHEM " " 64
CHOIR OF THE JEWISH REGIMENT " " 70
THE WAILING WALL AT JERUSALEM " " 92
THE JERUSALEM-JERICHO ROAD " " 96
NEAR THE WADI KELT " " 96
THE AUJA ("A PLEASANT, SWIFTLY FLOWING
STREAMLET") " " 140
ES SALT (THE ANCIENT RAMOTH GILEAD) " " 140
ROMAN ARCH AT AMMAN " " 144
IN THE OLD CITADEL AT AMMAN " " 144
PART OF THE GREAT AMPHITHEATRE AT AMMAN " " 146
CIRCASSIAN CART AT AMMAN " " 146
"HERE THE TENTS OF ISRAEL WERE PITCHED" " " 174
GROUP OF OFFICERS AT RAFA " " 180
RUINS OF BAALBEK " " 210
MY CHARGER BETTY " " 210
RUINS OF THE OLD CITY OF TIBERIAS " " 244
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 incumbent 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 prone 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 passed 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 attitude 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
Maccabæus, Bar Kochba, and many others can never be forgotten.
I had one fear when I took over command of the Judæans, 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
attitude 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 "scrap 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
God, 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.
[Illustration: MAP
Showing chief places mentioned in the book.]
WITH THE JUDÆANS 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 pronouncement 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 principally 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 pronouncement 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:--
FOREIGN OFFICE,
2nd November, 1917.
DEAR LORD ROTHSCHILD,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you on behalf of H.M.'s Government,
the following Declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations,
which has been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet:
=His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in
Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their
best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object=, it being
clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the
civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any
other country.
I should be grateful if you would bring this Declaration to the
knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR.
This was, perhaps, the most momentous Declaration made throughout the
War, and it derived a special significance from the fact that it was
made just at the time when the first definite steps were being taken
towards freeing Palestine from the yoke of the Turk. It was received by
practically all sections of the British Press with the most cordial
approval.
By pious Jews it was regarded as little short of the Voice of God,
bringing their long-cherished aspirations within sight of fulfilment.
All down the centuries from the time of the Dispersion it has been the
dream of the Jew that one day he would be restored to his ancestral
home. In his exile the age-long cry of his stricken soul has ever been
"next year in Jerusalem."
Christians too have always believed in the fulfilment of prophecy, and
the Restoration of the Jewish people is of no little interest to them,
so it can be imagined with what feelings of joy and gratitude the masses
of the Jewish people looked upon this promise of England, holding out as
it did the prospect of the realization of their dearest hope. Nothing
like it has been known since the days of King Cyrus. It is not too much
to say that this epoch-making Declaration uplifted the soul of Israel
the world over.
Sir Arthur Balfour may not live to see the full fruits of his famous
pronouncement, but prophecy will assuredly be fulfilled, and his name
will go down for all time, second only to that of Cyrus, in the
Chronicles of Israel.
Jeremiah's prophecy on the Restoration of Israel has a wonderful
significance in these days: "Hear the word of the Lord, _O ye nations,
and declare it in the isles afar off_, and say, He that scattered Israel
_will gather him and keep him_, as a Shepherd doth his flock."
CHAPTER II.
THE SANBALLATS.
On the 27th July, 1917, while I was stationed at the Curragh in command
of a Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, I got a telegram from the
War Office ordering me to report there and commence the organization of
the Jewish Legion about to be raised, so I set out forthwith for London.
On getting my instructions from Major-General R. Hutchison, the Director
of Organization, he told me, among other things, that a certain Sergeant
Jabotinsky would probably be most useful to me, for he was a very keen
worker and an ardent advocate of the Jewish Regiment. I told him that I
had already met Jabotinsky, and I knew his assistance would be
invaluable, and requested that he might be attached to me for duty at
once.
I was given a room at the War Office Annexe which had been taken over
from the National Liberal Club. Here I was joined in due course by
Jabotinsky, now a full-fledged sergeant.
We had hardly begun to move in the matter of recruiting for the Jewish
Regiment, when I became aware that in certain quarters of influential
English Jewry there was violent hostility to Zionist aspirations, and
also to the very idea of a Jewish Regiment.
I therefore felt that, in order to clear the air, it would be necessary
to hold a meeting of those who were in favour of, as well as those who
were opposed to, the formation of a Jewish Regiment, and try to induce
the latter to cease obstructing a policy which had already been decided
upon by the British Government, and to give me their help in making the
proposed Regiment a success.
A meeting of representative men on both sides was held at the War Office
on the 8th August, 1917. Among those present were: Lord Rothschild,
Major Lionel de Rothschild, Major Neil Primrose, Captain Ormsby Gore,
M.P., Mr. Sebag Montefiore, Dr. Weizmann, Mr. Joseph Cowen, Dr. Eder,
Captain Salaman, R.A.M.C., Mr. M. J. Landa, Mr. L. J. Greenberg, the
Rev. S. Lipson (Senior Jewish Chaplain to the Forces in England), and
Sergeant Jabotinsky--about twenty in all. Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, M.P.
(whose untimely death I deeply lament), and Lieut.-Colonel L. S. Amery,
M.P., who were then Secretaries to the War Cabinet, also attended, both
being warm friends of the movement.
I briefly addressed the meeting and explained that I had called them
together to give me their advice and assistance in the formation of the
Jewish Regiment.
I was, of course, aware that there was somewhat of a cleavage amongst
the Jews on this question, but the bitterness and hostility shown was
quite a revelation to me. I could not understand how any Jew could fail
to grasp this Heaven-sent opportunity and do all in his power to
further the efforts of the British Government on behalf of the Jewish
people.
Imagine my surprise, therefore, when certain of the Jews in opposition
vigorously denounced the formation of a Jewish Regiment, and equally
vigorously damned the aspirations of the Zionists!
Dr. Weizmann gave a slashing reply to the Sanballats from the Zionist
point of view which cut the ground from under their feet; and
Jabotinsky, in his address for the cause he had at heart, lifted the
debate to a level immeasurably above the point of view of his opponents.
A few others spoke, and then I again addressed the meeting and said I
thought it was a good thing the Government had not left it to the
community to form a Jewish Regiment, for I saw that they would never
agree; but, as the Government had already made up its mind, and was
determined to have a Jewish Legion of some kind, I begged them to lay
aside all differences and help me to make a success of a movement which
was bound to affect Jews, one way or another, throughout the world. In
conclusion, I said I would rather know who were my friends, and asked
all those who did not intend to further this scheme, which after all was
a scheme propounded and adopted by the British Government, to retire.
Not a man moved.
While I was making my address a note was passed to me from hand to hand.
On opening it I read, "Can you dine with me this evening? I should like
to join your new Battalion. N.P." I little knew when I scribbled back:
"So sorry, am engaged," what serious consequences hung on my answer,
for I feel sure that Neil Primrose would not have been cut off in his
prime had I dined with him that night and "recruited" him for the Jewish
Battalion, but I never saw this very gallant officer again. He went out
to Palestine soon afterwards, where he met his death while leading his
men in a charge.
To return to the meeting: when I found that not one of our opponents was
prepared to declare himself an open enemy of the policy of H.M.'s
Government, I said that as the formation of the various Committees
connected with the Regiment was an essentially Jewish matter I would now
retire, and I asked Lord Rothschild to take the Chair.
Within half an hour I was summoned by Brigadier-General Sir Auckland
Geddes, as he then was. The General appeared to be extremely flurried
and annoyed. Apparently, immediately after I had left the meeting, two
gentlemen had gone straight from it to Sir Auckland, and made a bitter
attack on me for having, as they said, held a Zionist Meeting in the War
Office.
I assured him that there was no attempt at holding a Zionist meeting,
but that a number of representative Jews and others had been called to
help me in carrying out the policy of the War Office, and I pointed out
that it was entirely due to the two gentlemen who complained, that any
question of Zionism had been raised.
Why any Jew should be an anti-Zionist passes my comprehension, for the
Zionist ideal in no way interfe[1] with the rights and privileges of
those fortunate Jews who have found happy homes in friendly countries,
but aims at establishing a national home for those less happy ones,
who, against their will, are forced to live in exile, and who have never
ceased to yearn for the land promised to their forefather Abraham and
his seed for ever.
Yet I will have to show that, as there were Sanballats[1] who bitterly
opposed the restoration in the days of King Artaxerxes 2,500 years ago,
so there were modern Sanballats who bitterly opposed the restoration in
the days of King George.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See Nehemiah, Chapters 3 and 4.
CHAPTER III.
THE FORMATION OF THE JEWISH REGIMENT.
On the 23rd August, 1917, the formation of the "Jewish Regiment" was
officially announced in the _London Gazette_, and I was appointed to the
command of a Battalion.
At the same time it was officially intimated that a special Jewish name
and badge would be given to the Battalions of this Regiment.
On hearing of this determination the Sanballats immediately got very
busy. Heads were put together, and letters written up and down the land
to all and sundry who were likely to serve their purpose, with the
result that, on the 30th August, 1917, a deputation waited upon Lord
Derby (then Secretary of State for War), for the purpose of making
representations against the proposed name and badge of the Jewish
Regiment, and, in fact, against the formation of any such unit as a
Jewish Battalion.
One member of this Deputation went so far as to represent to Lord Derby
that Lord Rothschild, the head of the celebrated Jewish family, to whom,
as representing the Jewish people, Mr. Balfour later on addressed the
famous declaration, was also opposed to the formation of a Jewish
Regiment.
Lord Rothschild assured me that this was not the case; for, once it
became the policy of the British Government to form a Jewish Regiment,
he felt bound as a patriotic Jew to back it up and do all in his power
to make it a success. No little thanks are due to Lord Rothschild for
the way he devoted himself to the comfort and welfare of the Jewish
Battalions, from the first day they were formed.
The result of the Deputation was that the name "Jewish Regiment" was
abolished, and no Jewish badge was sanctioned. All Jewish Battalions
raised were to be called "Royal Fusiliers."
But our worthy friends might have saved themselves all the trouble they
took, and the trouble they gave to the War Ministry, because, from the
moment that the battalions were formed, although they were known
officially as Royal Fusiliers, yet unofficially, everywhere, and by
every person, they were known solely as the Jewish Battalions.
Lord Derby made the mistake of thinking that these few rich men
represented the Jewish masses. A greater mistake was never made, for,
from my own experience, I can vouch for the fact that they are
altogether out of touch with the thoughts and feelings of the vast
majority of the Jewish people.
What a different tale I should have to tell had men such as these played
up to the policy of England. Had their vision only been broader, they
would have said among themselves, "This is a policy we do not like. It
may affect us adversely, but it is the policy of England, and England in
peril, and we must therefore bind ourselves together and make it a
success."
If they feared that these Jews from Russia and Poland would not worthily
uphold Jewish traditions, they might have gone to the Secretary for War
and told him their fears, and said that, as it was absolutely necessary
for world Jewry that this experiment of creating Jewish Battalions
should have a fair chance, they would request his aid in this matter,
and ask that at least twenty-five per cent. of every battalion be
composed of Jews from England, who, having seen service in France, would
therefore give some necessary and valuable stiffening to these raw
Jewish units.
With such a stiffening, and a solid English Jewry at the back of the
Jewish Regiment, what a triumphant page in Jewish history these
battalions would have written!
Instead of this, every possible obstacle was placed in the way of
success. Interested parties scoured the East end of London and the big
provincial cities, advising young Jews not to enlist. Even in France the
Jewish soldiers serving in the various units there were told by Jews who
ought to have known better that they should on no account transfer. The
result of this was that recruiting went on very slowly, and instead of
being able to form a Jewish legion in the course of a few weeks, as
could easily have been done out of the 40,000 Jewish young men in
England alone, it took over four months to form even one battalion.
I happened by chance one day to meet a prominent member of the Sanballat
deputation in the War Office, and, in the course of conversation, I
asked him why he objected so strongly to the formation of a Jewish
Regiment. He replied that he had no faith in the Russian Jews, and
feared they would bring discredit on Jewry. I said that, from what I had
seen in Gallipoli of the Jew from Russia, I had more faith in him than
he had, and that I felt confident I could make him into a good soldier.
He was kind enough to remark, "Well, perhaps under you they will turn
out to be good soldiers, but then they might win Palestine, and _I_
don't want to be sent there to live." I replied that his fears in this
respect were entirely groundless. He remarked that he was not so sure
about that, for if the Jews had a country of their own, pressure might
be brought to bear upon them to go and live there--which clearly shows
that these rich and fortunate Jews cannot have given much real thought
to the question, for there is nothing in the Zionist movement to force
anyone to live in Palestine, and it would be manifestly impossible to
pack 14,000,000 of people within the narrow limits of their ancestral
home.
When my pessimistic friend told me that these foreign Jews were no good,
and would bring discredit upon the best part of Jewry, I made a mental
resolve that I would prove to him one day that his despised Jewish
brethren, from Russia and elsewhere, would make as good soldiers, and as
good all-round men, as those in any unit of the British Army. As these
pages progress, and the history of the 38th Jewish Battalion is unfolded
before the eyes of the reader, it will be seen that my expectations were
more than realised, for the Battalion drilled, marched, fought, and
generally played the game as well as any battalion in the Army.
It is a curious fact that, so far as I could gather, the Inner Actions
Committee of the Zionist organization, with the honoured exception of
Dr. Weizmann, looked on us with suspicion. The formation of Jewish
Battalions did not appeal to them. How it was possible that the leaders
of Zionism should not have grasped, and taken to their hearts, this gift
of Jewish Battalions from the British Government, for the furtherance of
their own ends, is one of the greatest examples of ineptitude that have
ever come within my experience. Here was a body of keen and enthusiastic
men, devoting their lives to the restoration of the Holy Land to its
rightful owners, and yet they shied when the one essential weapon that
could have given it to them was being virtually thrust into their hands.
How different would have been the position of the Zionists at the Peace
Conference after the Armistice was signed if they had been able to point
proudly to 50,000 Jewish troops in Palestine, instead of to the 5,000
who were actually serving there at the close of the War.
I know that Dr. Weizmann had vision enough to foresee the strength which
such a legion would give to his diplomacy, but unfortunately his
colleagues on the Zionist Council did not see eye to eye with him in
this matter until it was too late.
I tried to do what in me lay with certain of the leaders of Zionism, and
spent some time endeavouring to enthuse a devoted and spiritual Jew who
was deeply interested in the Restoration; indeed, I thought I had won
him over to the cause of the legion, for at times during our
conversation his face lit up at the possibilities unfolded to him, but,
alas, after I left him, I fear he fell away from grace!
Some of the Zionists, men such as Mr. Joseph Cowen, fully realised all
the advantages which would accrue from a Jewish legion helping to win
Palestine from the enemy, and these were eager workers towards this end.
Vladimir Jabotinsky always believed in the proverb that the Lord helps
those who help themselves, and, therefore, he felt that it was essential
that a Jewish legion should fight for the redemption of Israel's ancient
heritage. And it was well for Jewry that Jabotinsky was a chosen
instrument, because, if no Jewish troops had fought in Palestine, and no
Jewish graves could be seen in the Cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and
in every Military Cemetery in Egypt and Palestine, it would have been,
for all time, a reproach unto Israel, and I have grave doubts whether
the Peace Conference would have considered the time ripe for the Jewish
people to be restored to their ancient land. I am certain of this, that
if Jabotinsky's ideals of a powerful legion had been more fully
realised, Dr. Weizmann's position at the table of the Peace Conference
would have been immeasurably strengthened.
It must, however, be recorded for the honour of British Jewry, that the
vast majority of English Jews were heartily in accord with the
Government policy, and proud of the fact that, practically for the first
time in Jewish history since the days of Judas Maccabæus and Bar Kochba,
battalions of Jewish infantry were to be raised and led against the
common enemy in Palestine.
It was also to the credit of English Jewry that a deputation
representing the Jewish masses in England, sought and obtained an
interview with the Secretary of State for War, with the view to the
retention of a distinctive Jewish name and badge for the Battalions.
This deputation was introduced on Sept. 5th by Mr. J. D. Kiley, M.P., a
non-Jew, and among others the following men were present:--Captain
Redcliffe Salaman, Dr. Eder, Messrs. Elkin Adler, Joseph Cowen, L. J.
Greenberg, M. J. Landa, etc. Lord Derby had, however, committed himself
to the first deputation, and all he could promise to the deputation
representing the Jewish masses was that, if the Regiment distinguished
itself in the Field, it would then be given a Jewish title and a Jewish
badge. This deputation also obtained the War Secretary's sanction to the
supply of Kosher food, and to the observance of Saturday as the day of
rest; Lord Derby also promised that, as far as possible, all Jewish
festivals should be respected, and that Jewish units would, service
conditions permitting, be employed only in Palestine.
How the Battalions distinguished themselves, and won a special Jewish
name and badge, will be recorded faithfully in the following pages.
CHAPTER IV.
TRAINING AT PLYMOUTH.
I was delighted when, at last, I got away from organization duty at the
War Office, with all its worries and vicissitudes, and commenced the
real active work of training a fighting Battalion of Jews.
Plymouth was the spot chosen as our training centre, and at the Crown
Hill Barracks, near this famous and beautiful harbour, we commenced our
military career.
A recruiting Depôt was at the same time established in London at 22,
Chenies Street, where a Staff was installed under the command of Major
Knowles, an excellent officer, who had previously served under me in the
South African War, and who was an ardent supporter of Zionist ideals.
Recruits were received here, and fitted out with uniforms before being
sent on to Plymouth. The comfort of the men while at the Depôt was ably
attended to by various Committees of ladies and gentlemen, whose names
will be found in the Appendix. They were fortunately in a position to
give much needed financial aid to various dependents from the moment the
Committees began work, for public-spirited and liberal Jews were found
who gave to the good cause with both hands. Among these was Mr. Leopold
Frank, who gave the princely donation of £1,000. Mr. Lionel D. Walford
especially was untiring in his efforts for the welfare and happiness of
every recruit who came to the Depôt, and so won the hearts of all by the
personal service that he gave, day in and day out, that he was
universally and affectionately known to the Judæans as "Daddy."
As a nucleus for the Jewish Battalion I arranged for the transfer of a
platoon of my old Zion Mule Corps men from the 20th Battalion of the
London Regiment, where they were then serving under the command of
Colonel A. Pownall. My best thanks are due to this officer for the help
he gave me in effecting the transfer of my old veterans. These warlike
sons of Israel, not content with the laurels they had already won in
Gallipoli, sought for fresh adventure in other fields, and so
volunteered for service in France. On the way their ship was torpedoed
and sunk by an Austrian submarine, but fortunately not a Zion man was
drowned; all managed to cling on to spars and other wreckage and floated
safely to a Grecian isle from which they were rescued. They eventually
reached England in safety, but all their personal belongings were lost.
Men soon began to arrive at Plymouth in batches of twenties and
thirties, from all over the Kingdom. Many trades and professions were
represented, but the vast majority were either tailors or in some way
connected with the tailoring trade. I made it a practice to see every
recruit as soon as he joined and find out something about his family and
affairs. I also gave every man some advice as to how he was to conduct
himself as a good soldier and a good Jew. The famous sculptor, Jacob
Epstein, was one of my most promising recruits, and after he had served
for some months in the ranks I recommended him for a commission. When
the 38th Battalion left Plymouth for Palestine, Epstein remained behind
with the second Jewish Battalion then formed, but owing to some bungling
the commission was never granted.
The difficulties of my command were not few.
On broad religious grounds Judaism is not compatible with a soldier's
life--and I may say I had many strict Jews in the Battalion; then the
men were aliens, utterly unaccustomed to Army life, and with an inherent
hatred of it, owing to the harsh military treatment to which the Jew in
Russia was subjected; some of them did not speak English, and
practically all of them hated serving any cause which might in the end
help Russia; they knew also that there was a strong body of Jewish
opinion in England which was hostile to the idea of a Jewish unit.
To make matters worse, the recruits came from sedentary occupations.
They had never been accustomed to an out-door, open-air life, and
naturally dreaded, and really felt, the strain of the hard military
training which they had to undergo in those cold winter days in
Plymouth.
It can be imagined, therefore, that I had no easy task before me in
moulding these sons of Israel, and inspiring them with that martial
ardour and _esprit de corps_ which is so necessary, if men are to be of
any use on the field of battle. I impressed upon them that strict
discipline, and hard training, was not merely for my amusement or
benefit, but was entirely in their own interests, so that when the day
of battle came they would be fitter men and better fighters than their
enemies, and with these two points in their favour the chances were that
instead of getting killed, they would kill their opponents and emerge
from the battle triumphant.
The men soon grasped the idea, and took to soldiering and all that it
means with a hearty goodwill. I am happy to say that all difficulties
were surmounted, and, at the close of the campaign, the Battalion
presented as fine and steady an appearance on Parade as any Battalion in
the E.E.F.
Luckily for me, I had an able and enthusiastic staff to assist me in my
endeavours. I cannot sufficiently praise the great service rendered to
the Battalion, during its infant stages, by Captain Redcliffe Salaman,
R.A.M.C., who was our medical officer. His knowledge of the men and of
Jewish matters generally was invaluable to me.
My Adjutant, Captain Neill, had already had two years' experience in a
similar position with a battalion of the Rifle Brigade. I found him to
be able and diplomatic--the latter an essential quality in the handling
of Jewish soldiers.
In my Second in Command, Major MacDermot, I had an officer of wide
experience and high principles, who had served under my command in the
Dublin Fusiliers.
In my Assistant Adjutant, Lt. B. Wolffe (whose tragic death in Palestine
I shall relate in its proper place), I had an exceptionally gifted
Jewish officer, hardworking, painstaking, conscientious, and all out in
every way to make the Jewish Battalion a success.
I tried to induce Senior Jewish officers to join the Battalion, but I
found it very hard to get volunteers, for the Senior men preferred to
remain in their own British Regiments.
I was able to obtain the services of a fair number of Junior Jewish
officers, and the Battalion gradually filled up in officers, N.C.O.'s
and men.
I would like to mention here that, although the great majority of all
ranks were Jews, yet there were some Christian officers, N.C.O.'s and
one or two men. In spite of this there was never the very slightest
question between us of either race or religion. All eventually became
animated with one spirit--the success, welfare and good name of this
Jewish Battalion.
I am glad to say that we had practically no crime to stain our record.
There was not a single case of a civil offence being recorded against us
all the time we were at Plymouth, which is something new in Army annals.
And yet another record was created by this unique Battalion. The Wet
Canteen, where beer only was sold, had to be closed, for not a single
pint was drunk all the time it was open.
The men showed wonderful quickness and aptitude in mastering the details
of their military training. It came as a surprise to me to find that a
little tailor, snatched from the purlieus of Petticoat Lane, who had
never in all his life wielded anything more dangerous than a needle,
soon became quite an adept in the use of the rifle and bayonet, and
could transfix a dummy figure of the Kaiser in the most approved
scientific style, while negotiating a series of obstacle-trenches at the
double.
[Illustration: "I HAD AN ABLE AND ENTHUSIASTIC STAFF"
(_See page 33_)]
I noticed that the men were particularly smart in all that they did
whenever a General came along. I remember on one occasion, when we were
about to be inspected, I told the men to be sure and stand steady on
parade during the General Salute; I impressed upon them that it was a
tradition in the British Army that, unless a Battalion stood perfectly
steady at this critical moment, it would be thought lacking in
discipline and smartness, and would get a bad report from the General.
So zealous were my men to uphold this time-honoured tradition, that I
verily believe that these wonderful enthusiasts for rigid British
discipline never blinked an eyelid while the General was taking the
salute. Certainly every Commander who inspected us always expressed his
astonishment at the rock-like steadiness of the Jewish Battalion on
parade.
During our training period at Plymouth we received many kindnesses from
the Jewish community there, more especially from its President, Mr.
Meyer Fredman.
In the long winter evenings we had lecturers who addressed the men on
various interesting subjects. The famous and learned Rabbi Kuk of
Jerusalem paid us a visit, and gave the men a stirring address on their
duties as Jewish soldiers. Jabotinsky gave various lectures, one
especially on Bialik, the great Jewish poet, being particularly
memorable.
We had many talented music-hall and theatrical men in our ranks; our
concerts were, therefore, excellent, and our concert party was in great
request throughout the Plymouth district.
If there was one officer more than another who helped to promote the
men's comfort, it was Lieut. E. Vandyk. He was in charge of the messing
arrangements, and the Battalion was exceptionally fortunate in having a
man of his experience to undertake this most exacting of all tasks.
Later on Vandyk proved himself equally capable as a leader in the field,
where he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
I must not forget the kindness shown to us at Plymouth by Lady Astor,
M.P., who gave us a Recreation Hut, and by Sir Arthur Yapp, the
Secretary of the Y.M.C.A., who furthered our comfort in every possible
way.
While we were yet at Plymouth I received orders from the War Office to
form two more Jewish Battalions in addition to the 38th.
As soon as sufficient recruits justified it I recommended the
Authorities to proceed with the formation of the 39th Battalion and to
appoint Major Knowles, from the Depôt, to the Command. This was done,
and from what I saw during the time I was in Plymouth, I felt quite
confident that Colonel Knowles would make an excellent commander.
Colonel Knowles was succeeded at the Depôt in London by Major
Schonfield, who worked untiringly to promote the interests of the
recruits, and to imbue them with a good, soldierly spirit while they
were passing through his hands in Chenies Street. About the same time as
Colonel Knowles was appointed, Captain Salaman so highly recommended his
brother-in-law, Colonel F. D. Samuel, D.S.O., to me that I asked the
Adjutant-General if this officer might be recalled from France to take
charge of the training at Plymouth, and Jewish affairs there generally,
after my departure for Palestine. The Adjutant-General very kindly
agreed to my request, and transferred Colonel Samuel from France to
Plymouth at very short notice.
Soon after I left for Palestine recommendations were made to the War
Office that it would be preferable to have a Jewish officer in command
of the 39th Battalion, and the result was that Colonel Samuel was
appointed to the 39th Battalion in the place of Colonel Knowles. This
treatment was most unfair to the latter, who had worked extremely hard
and enthusiastically, both at the Depôt and during the time he held
command of the 39th Battalion, where he did all the spade work and made
things very easy for his successor. Colonel Knowles afterwards went to
France and later on served with the North Russian Expeditionary Force.
Of course, it was all to the good to have a Jewish Commanding Officer,
but it should have been arranged without doing an injustice to Colonel
Knowles.
About this time Major Margolin, D.S.O., a Jewish officer attached to the
Australian Forces, was transferred to the Depôt at Plymouth, and
eventually replaced Colonel Samuel in the command of the 39th Battalion.
Outsiders will never be able to imagine the immense amount of trouble
and detail involved in the formation of this unique unit. I must say
that the War Office, and the local command at Plymouth, gave me every
possible assistance. Colonel King, of the Military Secretary's Staff at
the W.O., helped me through many a difficulty in getting Jewish officers
brought back from France.
Colonel Graham, also of the War Office, came to my assistance whenever
he could possibly do so, while the late Military Secretary, General Sir
Francis Davies, under whom I had served in Gallipoli, was kindness
itself.
General Hutchison, the Director of Organization, was always a tower of
strength, and the Jewish Battalions owe him a heavy debt. Lieut.-Colonel
Amery, M.P., and the late Sir Mark Sykes, M.P., also did what was in
their power to make our thorny path smooth.
CHAPTER V.
THE KOSHER PROBLEM.
The only serious trouble we had in Plymouth occurred over Kosher food.
As most people probably know, Jewish food has to be killed and cooked in
a certain way as laid down in Jewish Law, and it is then known as
"kosher," _i.e._ proper.
This was, of course, quite new to the Military authorities, and the Army
being a very conservative machine, and, at times, a very stubborn one,
they failed to see the necessity of providing special food for the
Jewish troops--a curious state of mentality considering the care taken
with the food of our Moslem soldiers.
I have a fairly shrewd idea that all the blame for the trouble we were
put to in this matter must not rest altogether on the shoulders of the
Army officials, for I strongly suspect that our Jewish "friends," the
enemy, who were so anxious to destroy the Jewishness of the Regiment,
had their fingers in this Kosher pie!
Now I felt very strongly that unless the Jewish Battalion was treated as
such, and all its wants, both physical and spiritual, catered for in a
truly Jewish way, this new unit would be an absolute failure, for I
could only hope to appeal to them as Jews, and it could hardly be
expected that there would be any response to this appeal if I
countenanced such an outrage on their religious susceptibilities as
forcing them to eat unlawful food. I made such a point of this that I
was at length summoned to the War Office by the Adjutant-General, Sir
Nevil Macready, who informed me that I was to carry on as if I had an
ordinary British battalion, and that there was to be no humbug about
Kosher food, or Saturday Sabbaths, or any other such nonsense. I replied
very respectfully, but very firmly, that if this was to be the attitude
taken up by the War Office, it would be impossible to make the Battalion
a success, for the only way to make good Jewish soldiers of the men was
by first of all treating them as good Jews; if they were not to be
treated as Jews, then I should request to be relieved of my command.
Accordingly, as soon as I returned to Plymouth, I forwarded my
resignation, but the G.O.C. Southern Command returned it to me for
reconsideration.
In the meantime a telegram was received from the War Office to say that
the Kosher food would be granted, and Saturday would be kept as the
Sabbath.
After this things went smoothly; Sir Nevil Macready readily lent us his
ear when I put up an S.O.S., and, as a matter of fact, he became one of
our staunchest friends.
I was more than gratified to receive, a few days later, the following
"Kosher" charter from the War Office--a charter which helped us
enormously all through our service, not only in England, but also when
we got amongst the Philistines in Palestine.
14th SEPT., 1917.
20/Gen. No. 4425 (A.G. 2a).
SIR,
With reference to Army Council Instruction 1415 of the 12th
Sept., 1917, relating to the formation of Battalions for the
reception of Friendly Alien Jews, I am commanded by the Army
Council to inform you that, as far as the Military exigencies
permit, Saturday should be allowed for their day of rest instead
of Sunday.
Arrangements will be made for the provision of Kosher food when
possible.
I am, etc.,
(Signed) B. B. CUBITT.
To the General Officer Commanding
in Chief, Southern Command.
O.C. 38TH BN. ROYAL FUSILIERS.
Forwarded for Information.
Devonport, 21/9/17.
(Signed) E. Montagu, Colonel.
A.A. and Q.M.G.
Before we sailed for the front, General Macready did us the honour of
coming all the way from London, travelling throughout the night, to pay
us a friendly visit, without any of the pomp or circumstance of war, and
he was so impressed by what he saw of the soldierly bearing of the men
that, from that day until the day he left office, no reasonable request
from the Jewish Battalion was ever refused.
I had a final interview with General Macready at the W.O. before setting
out for Palestine, when he told me in the presence of Major-General
Hutchison, Director of Organization, that the object he aimed at was the
formation of a complete Jewish Brigade, and that he was recommending
General Allenby to commence that formation as soon as two complete
Jewish Battalions arrived in Egypt.
Of course, this was very welcome news to me, because it would mean all
the difference in the world to our welfare and comfort if we formed our
own Brigade. It would mean that the Brigade would have its own Commander
who would be listened to when he represented Jewish things to higher
authority. It would mean direct access to the Divisional General, to
Ordnance, to supplies, and the hundred and one things which go to make
up the efficiency and cater for the comfort of each unit of the Brigade.
No worse fate can befall any Battalion than to be left out by itself in
the cold, merely "attached" to a Brigade or a Division, as the case may
be. It is nobody's child, and everybody uses it for fatigues and every
other kind of dirty work which is hateful to a soldier.
It can be imagined, therefore, how grateful I was to General Macready
for promising a Jewish Brigade, for I knew that such a formation would
make all the difference in the world to the success of the Jewish cause
as a whole and, what was of great importance, to the good name of the
Jewish soldier.
CHAPTER VI.
WE SET OUT FOR PALESTINE.
Towards the end of January, 1918, we were notified that the 38th
Battalion was to proceed on Active Service to Palestine. This news was
received with great joy by all ranks, and every man was granted ten
days' leave to go home and bid farewell to his family.
Of course, our pessimistic friends took every opportunity of maligning
the Jew from Russia, and said that the men would desert and we should
never see a tenth of them again. I, however, felt otherwise, and had no
anxiety about their return. Nor was I disappointed, for when the final
roll-call was made there were not so very many absentees, certainly no
more than there would have been from an ordinary British battalion, so
here again our enemies were confounded and disappointed, for they had
hoped for better things.
The Battalion was ordered to concentrate at Southampton for embarkation
on the 5th February. Two days before this date Sir Nevil Macready
ordered half the Battalion to come to London to march through the City
and East End, before proceeding to Southampton. This march of Jewish
soldiers, unique in English military history, proved a brilliant
success. The men were quartered in the Tower for the night, and on the
morning of the 4th February started from this historic spot, in full kit
and with bayonets fixed, preceded by the band of the Coldstream Guards.
The blue and white Jewish flag as well as the Union Jack was carried
proudly through the City amid cheering crowds. At the Mansion House the
Lord Mayor (who had granted us the privilege of marching through the
City with fixed bayonets) took the salute, and Sir Nevil Macready was
also present to see us march past.
As we approached the Mile End Road the scenes of enthusiasm redoubled,
and London's Ghetto fairly rocked with military fervour and roared its
welcome to its own. Jewish banners were hung out everywhere, and it
certainly was a scene unparalleled in the history of any previous
British Battalion. Jabotinsky (who had that day been gazetted to a
Lieutenancy in the Battalion) must have rejoiced to see the fruit of all
his efforts. After a reception by the Mayor of Stepney, the march was
resumed to Camperdown House, where the men were inspected by Sir Francis
Lloyd, G.O.C. London District. He complimented them on their smart and
soldierly appearance, and made quite an impressive speech, reminding
them of the heroism and soldierly qualities of their forefathers, and
concluded by saying that he was sure this modern Battalion of Jews now
before him would be no whit behind their forbears in covering themselves
with military glory.
An excellent lunch was provided for the men in Camperdown House, where
speeches were delivered by the Chief Rabbi, the Mayor of Stepney, Mr.
Kiley, M.P., Mr. Joseph Cowen (the Chairman), and other friends of the
Battalion.
[Illustration: LIEUT. VLADIMIR JABOTINSKY]
Afterwards the troops proceeded, amid more cheering, to Waterloo,
where, before they entrained for Southampton, they were presented by
Captain Fredman with a scroll of the law.
My new Adjutant, Captain Leadley, who came to take the place vacated by
Captain Neill on promotion to Major, had only just joined us on the
morning of our march. He was much surprised at the first Regimental duty
he was called upon to perform, which was to take charge, on behalf of
the Battalion, of the Scroll of the Law. The excellent Jewish Padre who
had just been posted to us, and whose duty this should have been, was
with the remainder of the troops at Plymouth.
I was very favourably impressed by Captain Leadley from the first moment
I saw him, and during the whole time he remained with the Battalion I
never had cause to change my opinion. He was a splendid Adjutant, and,
in my opinion, was capable of filling a much higher position on the Army
Staff.
When the half Battalion reached Southampton, it joined forces with the
other half, which had been brought to that place from Plymouth by Major
Ripley, who was now Second-in-Command in place of Major MacDermot, who
remained behind with the Depôt. The whole Battalion proceeded to embark
on the little steamship _Antrim_ on the 5th February.
Just as Captain Salaman was about to go on board, he was confronted by
another Medical Officer, Captain Halden Davis, R.A.M.C., who, at the
last moment, was ordered by the War Office to proceed with us instead of
Captain Salaman. I knew nothing about this, and was naturally loth to
lose Captain Salaman, while he, on his part, was furious at the idea of
being left behind. However, there was no help for it, so back he had to
go to Plymouth. I think a certain number of the shirkers in the
Battalion may have been pleased to see him go, for he stood no nonsense
from gentlemen of this kidney.
I had, for some time, been making strenuous efforts to obtain the
services of the Rev. L. A. Falk, the Acting Jewish Chaplain at Plymouth,
as our spiritual guide, and luckily I was successful, for, at the last
moment, all difficulties were surmounted, and he joined us as we
embarked. I had had many warnings from people who ought to have known
better that he was not a suitable man for the post, but I had seen him
and judged for myself, and I felt sure that he would suit my Jews from
Russia much better than a Rabbi chosen because he was a Jew from
England.
His work and his example to others, during the whole time he served with
us, were beyond all praise, and I often felt very glad, when he was put
to the test of his manhood, that I had not listened to the voice of the
croaker in England.
The embarkation of the Battalion was complete by 5 p.m. on the 5th
February, and after dark we steamed out of the harbour and made for
Cherbourg. It is fortunate that we escaped enemy submarines, for the
little _Antrim_ was packed to its utmost limits, not only with the
Jewish Battalion, but also with other troops. We were kept at the
British Rest Camp at Cherbourg until the 7th, and then entrained for St.
Germain, near Lyons, where we rested from the 9th to the 10th. From here
we went on to Faenza, along the beautiful French and Italian Riviera.
[Illustration: The REV. L. A. FALK]
The arrangements throughout the journey for feeding the men and giving
them hot tea, etc., were not perfect, but on the whole we did not fare
badly.
We arrived at Faenza on the 13th, and we will always cherish a kindly
remembrance of this well-arranged Rest Camp, and of the Staff in charge
there. The greatest credit is due to the Commandant, Colonel Scott
Harden, for having made a veritable garden in the wilderness, and
arranged everything for the comfort and well-being of the tired and
travel-stained soldier passing through his capable hands. The only
drawback was that my unsophisticated boys were no match for the Scotsmen
whom they met in the Sergeant's Mess! However that may be, we all came
away with the liveliest feelings of gratitude towards our kindly hosts
who had given us a real good time at Faenza.
During our halt at this delightful camp we gave a concert and also a
boxing exhibition to the Italian officers of the garrison, both of which
were much appreciated. The Italian G.O.C., with all his Staff, also
came, and was highly interested in the exhibition. As a special
compliment to us, because we were the first complete British Battalion
to go through Italy, he reviewed us in front of the Town Hall on our
march to the station at 10 o'clock at night.
From Faenza we continued our journey to Taranto, and on the way spent a
few pleasant hours at Brindisi. I walked along the docks, and, by the
number of naval vessels of all types moored there, I realized that there
could not be many Italian warships at sea; but it must be remembered
that the Mediterranean was at this time infested with German and
Austrian submarines, so that our allies must not be blamed if they were
taking as few chances as possible with their ships of war. I remember
asking myself the question, what is the use of a ship of war that is
afraid to show itself on the open sea?
As we ran along the shores of the Adriatic, we were all wondering
whether an Austrian war vessel would not suddenly dash up and blow us
and our train to pieces, but, wherever the Austrian fleet may have been
that day, fortunately for us it was not cruising on the Adriatic Coast
of Italy, and we reached Taranto on the 16th.
Thieving from the trains running through Southern Italy was a pleasant
pastime for the natives, but we were fortunate in that we lost but
little. We had a couple of accidents during our long railway journey
which might, without luck, have proved disastrous. Just before we
reached Marseilles a coupling about the middle of the train parted, and
the rear carriages were left standing on the line. Fortunately, however,
this was discovered before anything serious occurred, and a relief
engine brought the stranded portion along. The same thing happened on
the Italian railway between Brindisi and Taranto, which delayed us for
about eight hours.
The behaviour of the men during the whole long journey of nine days was
exemplary, and I wired a message to this effect to the War Office, for,
as Russia was just out of the War, there was some anxiety in England as
to how Russian subjects in the British Army would behave on hearing the
news.
As a matter of fact recruiting of Russian Jews in England had been
stopped after we left Southampton, and many of the men naturally
questioned the fairness of the authorities in freeing slackers or late
comers, while retaining those who had promptly answered the call.
I cabled this point of view to the Adjutant-General on reaching Taranto
and received a reply that all such matters could be settled in Egypt.
We remained basking in the sunshine of Southern Italy for over a week. I
met here an old friend of mine, Captain Wake, who had been badly wounded
in one of our little wars on the East African coast many years ago.
Although minus a leg he was still gallantly doing his bit for England.
We were encamped at Camino, a few miles from Taranto, and our strength
at this time was 31 officers, and roughly 900 other ranks.
Two officers and about 70 N.C.O.'s and men sailed on another boat from
Marseilles, with the horses, mules and wagons, under the command of
Captain Julian, M.C.
While we were at Taranto the Rev. L. A. Falk and I, accompanied by
Jabotinsky, searched for and eventually found a suitable Ark in which to
place the Scroll of the Law.
At the close of our last Sabbath service before we embarked, I addressed
the men, and, pointing to the Ark, told them that while it was with us
we need have no fear, that neither submarine nor storm would trouble us,
and, therefore, that their minds might be easy on board ship.
We embarked on the _Leasoe Castle_ at 9 o'clock a.m. on the 25th,
steamed out of the harbour in the afternoon, under the escort of three
Japanese destroyers, and arrived safely in Alexandria on the 28th
February, never having seen a submarine or even a ripple on the sea
throughout the voyage. Owing to this piece of good luck my reputation as
a prophet stood high! It is a curious fact that on her next voyage the
_Leasoe Castle_ was torpedoed and sunk.
CHAPTER VII.
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!
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER.
At this time G.H.Q. was situated at a place called Bir Salem (the Well
of Peace), ten miles to the east of Jaffa, and as, after my interview, I
had the whole day before me, I borrowed a motor-car and paid a flying
visit to Jerusalem, some thirty miles away to the eastward. I will not
attempt to describe here what I felt as I approached the Holy City,
along the winding road which leads up to it through the rocky Judæan
mountains.
I entered the old walled city through the Jaffa Gate, and was soon
buried in its gloomy bazaars and labyrinthine passages, seeking out the
old historic spots which I had reverenced from the days of my youth. I
had but a few hours for my explorations, but they were about the busiest
hours I ever spent, and although I have paid many visits to Jerusalem
since that date I have not forgotten the glamour thrown over me by my
first visit to these sacred shrines and temples of antiquity.
I left Jerusalem at three in the afternoon and was back in my camp at
Helmieh within twenty-four hours.
[Illustration: JERUSALEM]
The Battalion was attached to the School of Instruction at Zeitoun
(close to Helmieh), which was an unfortunate arrangement, for our
requirements were not attended to, and we were often kept idle for long
periods owing to want of equipment, such as rifles, etc., to enable the
men to fire their musketry course. There was no excuse for this, for
there was plenty of equipment of all kinds in the Ordnance Stores at
Cairo. It was the fault of the vicious system of having to get
everything we wanted through the School of Instruction, whose staff did
not seem to think that our requirements needed speeding up. It was not
until Brigadier-General A. B. Robertson assumed command of the school
that matters were mended, for this officer took a very friendly interest
in us and did everything in his power to help us along.
The Feast of the Passover was celebrated during our stay at Helmieh.
Thus history was repeating itself in the Land of Bondage in a Jewish
Military Camp, after a lapse of over 3,000 years from the date of the
original feast.
I had considerable trouble with the authorities in the matter of
providing unleavened bread. However, we surmounted all difficulties, and
had an exceedingly jovial first night, helped thereto by the excellent
Palestinian wine which we received from Mr. Gluskin, the head of the
celebrated wine press of Richon-le-Zion, near Jaffa. The unleavened
bread for the battalion, during the eight days of the Feast, cost
somewhat more than the ordinary ration would have done, so I requested
that the excess should be paid for out of Army Funds. This was refused
by the local command in Egypt, so I went to the H.Q. Office, where I saw
a Jewish Staff Officer, and told him I had come to get this matter
adjusted. He said that, as a matter of fact, he had decided against us
himself. I told him that I considered his judgment unfair, because the
battalion was a Jewish Battalion, and the Army Council had already
promised Kosher food whenever it was possible to obtain it, and it would
have been a deadly insult to have forced ordinary bread upon the men
during Passover. I therefore said that I would appeal against his
decision to a higher authority. He replied, "This will do you no good,
for you will get the same reply from G.H.Q." He was mistaken, for I
found the Gentile, on this particular occasion, more sympathetic than
the Jew, and the extra amount was paid by order of the Q.M.G., Sir
Walter Campbell.
During our stay at this camp we were reviewed by H.R.H. the Duke of
Connaught, and, towards the end of May, by the Commander-in-Chief,
General Allenby. Both these officers expressed themselves as pleased
with the smart soldierly appearance and steadiness of the men, the Duke
of Connaught remarking that "the men all appeared to be triers."
Towards the close of our training at Helmieh, and just as I was
beginning to congratulate myself that the battalion was shaping well and
would soon be fit for the front, I was staggered by the receipt of a
letter from G.H.Q. which aimed a deadly blow at our very existence. It
was nothing less than the proposal to break up the battalion and allow
the men to join Labour units! This was undoubtedly a clever move on the
part of the Staff to rid themselves of the Jewish problem and, at the
same time, bring the derision of the world upon the Jew.
[Illustration: THE BATTALION ON PARADE]
[Illustration: TOMB OF RACHEL, NEAR BETHLEHEM
(_See page_ 93)]
It put me in a very difficult position, for I felt very keenly that, if
the battalion were disbanded and turned over to Labour units, it would
throw an indelible stigma on Jewry.
I felt that it was my duty to protect the battalion from the disgrace
that would attach to it if it could be said that the only Jewish unit
raised for war purposes had refused to fight--even for Palestine.
I therefore ordered a parade of the men by Companies, and got the
officers to point out to the men their sacred duty, and gave
instructions for any malcontents to be sent before me for a final
appeal. Only twelve men were found who wished to join a Labour unit, and
to these twelve (I thought the number appropriate, as it was one for
each tribe) I made a strong personal appeal, and after I had pointed
out, in the best language at my command, what a stigma they were placing
on the battalion, and on their fellow Jews throughout the world, ten saw
the error of their ways and cheerfully said they wished to do their duty
as soldiers, and continued serving with the battalion, and I am glad to
be able to place on record that these ten did very well afterwards in
the field, one of them making the supreme sacrifice. Two only remained
obdurate to all appeals, and insisted on being posted to a Labour unit,
and I think Jewry should remember them to all time. Their names and
numbers, and the evil which they did, are recorded in the chronicles of
the battalion. They were turned out of the camp and drafted to a Labour
unit at a moment's notice, just as if they had been lepers.
Towards the end of April, 1918, we were delighted to welcome the 39th
Battalion from England, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Margolin,
D.S.O., and with them as M.O. I was glad to see Captain R. Salaman. We
gave the new arrivals a very hearty welcome, the band of the 38th
Battalion playing them into Camp amid great enthusiasm.
There was much friendly rivalry between these Jewish Battalions, and
honours were about easy in our sporting competitions. We gave one or two
"At Homes," to which all Cairo seemed to flock, and I am sure our good
Cairene friends were favourably impressed with what they saw of the
Jewish Battalions at work and play.
Just about this time we were visited at Helmieh by Dr. Weizmann, Mr.
Joseph Cowen, and Mr. Aaronson. All three gave addresses to the men. Mr.
Aaronson moved his audience to fury by graphically describing the
torture which the Turks had inflicted on his aged father and young
sister in Palestine, because they had dared to help England. Mr.
Aaronson lived to see his home land freed from the Turk, but soon
afterwards lost his life in an aeroplane disaster while crossing from
England to France.
Dr. Weizmann has done much and suffered much since he addressed us on
that peaceful evening in the Egyptian desert. If he could have foreseen
everything I doubt if even his undaunted soul would have faced
unblenched all the trials and tribulations which have fallen to his lot
since he undertook the arduous task of leading his people back to the
Land of Israel. His task has been, if anything, more difficult than was
that of the great Lawgiver. The latter had only to surmount the
obstinacy of one Pharaoh, while Dr. Weizmann had to overcome that of
thousands--not a few of them being Jews!
What a pity it was that the modern leader had not the power to dispense
a few of the plagues which Moses eventually found so efficacious. It is
a striking testimonial to the genius of Dr. Weizmann that so much has
already been accomplished towards the Restoration; the fact that the
Jewish people are now within sight of their hearts' desire is, without
doubt, mainly due to the patient, persistent, and able diplomacy of this
brilliant leader.
It must not be forgotten, however that he was at all times, and often in
the teeth of bitter opposition, given the ready help and sympathy of Mr.
Lloyd George and Sir Arthur Balfour.
CHAPTER IX.
WE SET OUT FOR THE FRONT.
By the end of May our training was completed and on the 5th June, 1918,
we left Egypt for Palestine, getting a very hearty "send-off" from Col.
Margolin and the 39th Battalion.
Before we set out I had the gratification of receiving from General
Robertson the following letter:
SAVOY HOTEL,
CAIRO,
4TH JUNE, 1918.
DEAR COLONEL PATTERSON,
On the eve of your departure for the front I desire to wish you and the
officers and men of the 38th Royal Fusiliers God-speed, and success in
the tasks which you may be called upon to undertake in the future.
From what I have seen of your battalion I know it will uphold the
glorious traditions of the Regiment to which it has the honour to
belong, and its career will be watched with interest and sympathy by its
well-wishers in all parts of the world.
Personally I am proud to have been associated with the battalion even
for a short time.
Its well-known good behaviour must be a source of satisfaction to you,
because that will provide a sound foundation on which to build a solid
battle discipline, while the progress it made in the training at Helmieh
augurs well for its future efficiency.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) A. B. ROBERTSON.
Lieut.-Col. J. H. Patterson, D.S.O.,
38th Battn., Royal Fusiliers, E.E.F.
The Battalion entrained smoothly and quickly at the railway siding close
to our camp and we were soon rolling onward to realize our ideals and
aspirations in the Promised Land.
Our Chaplain, who was a man of insight and vision, arranged that our
trumpets should sound, and that a short prayer should be said by the
troops as they entered, for the first time, the ancient land of their
Fathers.
All through the night, as we sped across the Sinai Desert seated in our
open trucks, we could see the funnel of the engine belching forth a
pillar of flame, and we were greatly reminded of the wanderings of the
forefathers of these men in this very Desert, who in their night
journeys were always guided by a pillar of fire. Nor did the simile
cease as dawn broke, for then the pillar of flame turned into a cloud of
smoke shot up into the still morning air.
Soon after sunrise we passed Gaza, the scene of Samson's exploits, and
saw, in the distance, the hill to the top of which he carried the gates
of the town. Gaza may be considered the bridgehead leading into or out
of Egypt. In Biblical times it was always a thorn in the side of the
Jews, and they were never able to capture it. It was, however, captured
from the Philistines on various occasions both by the Egyptians on their
expeditions into Syria and by the Syrians on their expeditions into
Egypt. No army could afford to leave it untaken on their lines of
communication. It will be remembered that we ourselves made two costly
failures here in our first attempts to enter Palestine during the Great
War. The third time of course we succeeded, and with its fall the whole
plain of Philistia was at our mercy.
As we rolled onward historical places cropped up every few miles and
kept us spellbound with interest. Beersheba was away thirty miles to the
east, and we hoped in good time to see Dan; meanwhile the Shephelah
downs ran parallel to us, ending up with Mount Gezer where David won a
victory over the Philistines. This hill was well known to every invading
force that has passed through Palestine, and around its base gallant men
of many nations have fallen.
In the distance, like a cobalt mist, loomed the mountains of Ephraim and
of Judæa, while the "utmost sea" occasionally shimmered on our left.
About noon we steamed through a grove of olives into Ludd (the ancient
Lydda), where we detrained. It was one of the hottest days I have ever
experienced, and our march to Surafend, under a blazing midday midsummer
sun, loaded up as we were with full kit, was a severe test of the
endurance of the men.
[Illustration: CHOIR OF THE JEWISH REGIMENT]
Almost as soon as we reached our bivouac at Surafend the Jewish
Colonists of Richon-le-Zion, Jaffa, Rechoboth and all the surrounding
colonies came out in their hundreds with flags and banners, on foot, on
horseback, and in chariots, to greet us, and show us how much they
thought of their brethren who had come all the way from England to help
them to redeem their country. Amongst the Zionists from Jaffa and
Richon-le-Zion were many scores of both men and women who had already
volunteered for service with the Army.
It was an inspiring sight to see how these young men and women rode and
managed their horses. No cowboy of the Western States of America could
be more expert. It is quite evident that a new and free Jewish race is
arising among the colonists of Palestine, for even the small children of
eight and nine years of age can ride and manage horses with ease. We
celebrated our first Sabbath in Palestine at Surafend, where special
prayers for the occasion were recited, including one composed by the
Haham Bashi of Egypt, Rabbi Simeon.
Richon-le-Zion, besides sending its quota of young men and women to
greet us, sent us also three casks of choice Richon wine, which in those
thirsty days the battalion much appreciated.
We remained at Surafend for three days, and during our stay there, were
inspected in our bivouac by General Allenby, who again expressed himself
as well pleased with all he saw.
Major James de Rothschild came over from Jaffa, where he was then doing
recruiting duty, and gave us a God-speed as we left our pleasant
surroundings at Surafend for our journey to the Front.
We marched off at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of the 9th June, and
reached El Kubab at 8.15 the same evening. Personally I only went
half-way, for I was recalled to Cairo to preside at a General
Court-Martial assembled there for the trial of three Royal Air Force
officers who had been performing some unauthorised stunts. I rejoined
the Battalion at Umm Suffah, a few miles short of the Turkish lines.
While the 38th was at this place there was an air raid on our lines, but
no damage was done.
From El Kubab the Battalion went to Beit Nuba. They left on the 11th,
and reached Harith the same day, where they came under the orders of
Brigadier-General E. M. Morris, a first-rate soldier commanding the 10th
Irish Division. They marched out of Harith at 5 p.m. on the 12th, and
arrived at Umm Suffah at 10 p.m. the same day.
We were now among the hills of Samaria and the transport was much
delayed on this march owing to the frightfully rough and stony road.
Several wheels got broken and, as a matter of fact, the transport, with
the food, etc., did not arrive until the early morning of the 13th.
On the 13th June the Battalion was placed in Divisional Reserve. On
Saturday the 15th it first came under shell fire while we were holding
Divine Service. Shells exploded quite close to the men, but no damage
was done, and the battalion took its baptism of fire quite cheerfully.
During the week that followed the Companies were posted to units already
in the line, to gain some knowledge of the country, and to learn the
nature of the duties to be carried out in the fighting zone.
Before we took our place in the line we were inspected by the G.O.C.
10th Division, who, when the inspection was over, expressed himself as
very pleased with the general appearance and steadiness of the men.
On the 27th June A, B, and C Companies were detailed to garrison
supporting points on the front occupied by the 31st Infantry Brigade, to
which we were now attached, and which was under the command of
Brigadier-General W. B. Emery, a genial gunner.
Battalion Headquarters and D Company moved up to the front on the 30th
June and took over the second line of supporting points, from a place
known as the Wadi Tiyur to the Wadi Belat, just to the west of the main
road running from Jerusalem to Nablus (the ancient Shechem), where it
cuts the Wadi Jib some twenty miles north of the Holy City.
On the 3rd July the Battalion relieved 2/101 Grenadiers in the left
sector of the 31st Infantry Brigade front, the relief being commenced
after dark and completed by 10.15 p.m.
We found the piece of country we took over most interesting. We occupied
the summits of the hills facing the Turkish position, and were
responsible for some three or four miles of front.
Our right rested upon Jiljilia, a pretty hamlet of Samaria, and our left
upon Abwein, a strong, stone-built Arab village, nestling half-way down
a steep hillside, surrounded by fig and olive trees. Our line on the
hills between these two places twisted and turned about like a snake,
for of course we conformed to the nature of the ground. Our frontage
towards the enemy descended into the valley, some 200 feet below, in a
series of rocky terraces, each having a drop of from six to twenty feet.
These terraces and hill slopes were dotted with olive trees. A wadi,
called the Wadi Gharib, ran through the narrow valley which lay at the
bottom, and then there was a very steep ascent up the opposite side to
the Turkish line.
Our front wire was actually a few hundred yards down over the crest of
the hill on the Turkish side, for from this position we had a better
field of fire.
When we took over this position from Lieut.-Colonel Strong, the O.C. of
the 2/101 Grenadiers, a considerable amount of work necessarily remained
to be done, building stone sangars, digging trenches, making roadways,
and generally improving the position in every possible way.
Our line was divided into four sections, one company guarding each part,
Major Neill on the extreme right holding Jiljilia, and Captain Brown
with his Company in Abwein.
We at once assumed a vigorous offensive policy; our patrols were pushed
out every night down into the valley, and often up to the Turkish wire
on the opposite hills. During daylight only the Observation Posts were
manned along our front wire. A couple of men in each vantage point,
equipped with field glasses or telescopes, and provided with a
telephone, kept us informed of any movement in the Turkish lines. As
soon as darkness had fallen each company marched its men over the crest
of the hills and took up position in the sangars and defence posts along
the barbed wire fence. All night long work and building, etc., went on,
the unfortunate men getting very little rest. Listening posts were
established well out beyond the wire, and strong patrols went down the
ledges looking for trouble in Turkish territory. Our aggressive policy
thoroughly scared the Turks, so much so that they never once attempted
to come anywhere near our front.
Just as dawn was breaking, having made certain by means of patrols and
scouts that no Turks were in the neighbourhood, the troops returned to
their bivouacs behind the crest, leaving only the Observation Posts on
the watch.
I had a very good Intelligence Officer in Lieutenant Simon Abrahams, who
explored "no man's land" very methodically, and who earned a high
measure of praise from our Brigade Commander. Abrahams would go out with
a daring scout like Pte. Angel (who afterwards won the M.C.) and sketch
roads, routes, tracks, etc., right under the very noses of the Turks,
and so careful was he, and so secretive, that his presence on the
debatable ground was never even suspected by the enemy.
It might be thought that when the men had finished their night's vigil
they would be allowed to rest, but instead of this, as soon as a hasty
breakfast had been swallowed, they immediately had to fix up barbed wire
entanglements, build stonework redoubts, gun emplacements, make
railways down the hills, or bury animals which had died or been killed
in somebody else's camp.
Anything and everything was demanded from the battalion, and every call,
no matter how distasteful, was responded to with readiness, if not with
cheerfulness. All the time we were holding this bit of the Nablus front,
from the Wadi Jib to the Wadi Gharib, the men were constantly running
about on arduous jobs and as busy as bees.
About this time there was a rumour that we were soon to take the
offensive, and I was especially pleased when I got a confidential
communication from our Brigade Commander ordering me to prepare a
careful reconnaissance of the country to our left front, where the
surprise attack on the Turks was to be made. A good track up to the
enemy wire, concealed as much as possible from his view, had to be
found, the general idea being that once there we would make a sweep to
the right along the Turkish front opposed to our lines. I detailed
Captain T. B. Brown for this important task, which he carried out
admirably. A suitable route by which to return with the expected
prisoners and loot had also to be discovered and sketched, and
Lieutenant Simon Abrahams was in his element when I selected him for
this adventure.
The hope of coming to grips with the Turks buoyed us up considerably,
and the prospect of a battle in which we felt sure we would do well
helped us through the trying and weary round of daily routine.
Our Brigadier was a soldier whom we all liked, but he had a mania for
putting up barbed-wire fences, and at last we erected so much on our
front that we caused a serious shortage of this material in the E.E.F.,
and further wiring was prohibited.
On the 10th July our Transport was shelled. Luckily only one mule was
killed and one wounded.
We were heavily bombarded by guns of various calibres at 2.30 in the
morning on July 14th, but it was an absolute waste on the part of the
Turks, for not a single casualty of any kind was sustained.
On this day the Turks and Germans attacked in the Jordan Valley and got
severely mauled by the Anzac Mounted Division. We, too, expected an
attack, but soon after dawn the shelling ceased and the situation became
normal.
While the Battalion was holding the forward trenches I always made a
round of the posts every night to see that every one was on the alert
and that they knew what to do in case of attack.
I made the men place white stones along the wire so that they could take
aim on them in case of a Turkish assault in the dark, and arranged
bombing parties at various points; in fact, we were all ready to give
the enemy a very warm reception if he ever came our way.
Once, on going my rounds, I heard a noise a little way down the hill, so
I ordered a young soldier to throw a bomb; he failed to get the pin
quite out and slipped the "dud" into his great-coat pocket; fortunately,
a sergeant standing near saw what had happened and, on examining the
"dud," found the pin practically released! The slightest movements would
have set the bomb off and we should all have been blown sky high.
No matter at what hour I returned from my tour of inspection along the
battle line, I always found my faithful orderly, Corporal Hutchinson,
awaiting me with a "nightcap" such as could only be mixed by the
dexterous hand of an old campaigner. Hutchinson served with me when I
commanded a battalion of the Irish Fusiliers, and followed my fortunes
when I went to command the Dublin Fusiliers. On asking him if he would
go with me to the Jewish Battalion, he replied, "Oh, be the hokey!--but
shure, Sir, that's where you'll be wanting me the most."
Hutchinson remained with me until we set out for the Jordan Valley, when
he was taken ill and invalided home. I missed him sadly, for he used to
remain by my tent door and ward off any undesirable intruder like a
well-trained watch dog. A more faithful, loyal and trust-worthy soldier
never shouldered a rifle.
CHAPTER X.
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.
CHAPTER XI.
WE MARCH TO THE JORDAN VALLEY.
Within two days of the receipt of General Allenby's letter cancelling
the mixed Brigade formation, we were suddenly ordered to leave the cool
and pleasant hill-tops of Ephraim and march down to the sweltering heat
and fever-stricken desolation of the Jordan Valley, 1,300 feet below sea
level, in the very hottest and most unhealthy month of the year.
We, of course, took our orders for the deadly Valley quite cheerfully,
feeling that it was "not ours to reason why," but we did feel that it
was a blow below the belt to be taken out of the line on the Nablus
front, just as an attack, for which we had done most of the spade work,
was about to be made.
Had we remained with General Emery, I feel sure that he would have given
us a chance to show our mettle in the raid which was timed to take place
on 12th August, 1918.
Even when we were transferred to the Brigade in the 60th Division we
still looked forward to taking part in this move, and, as I have already
mentioned, we slaved away at every kind of preparation for the affair,
but, alas, we were taken out of the line, and ordered to march to a new
front, just three days before the attack.
It almost looked as if our enemies feared we would do well, and our
prowess would then get noised abroad to the discomfiture of our
detractors.
On the 9th August we marched from our pretty camp at Inniskilling Road,
where we had revelled in the grateful shade of the olive trees which
abound there, and took the road, bag and baggage, for Ram Allah, our
first halt, where we were to bivouac. Here we were to get further orders
from the G.O.C. 53rd Division, whose headquarters were in that ancient
town. It was midnight when we got to our camp, where we found that
someone had carefully chosen a site for us which was literally one mass
of stones. It must have been the favourite place of execution in olden
days when stoning to death was in vogue, and the stones had never since
been gathered up! There was no grumbling, however; every man cleared a
little patch whereon to lie down on his waterproof sheet, and slept the
sleep of the tired. We remained at this delectable spot for the best
part of two days, and on the afternoon of the 11th we marched to
Jerusalem, where we came under the orders of the Desert Mounted Corps.
We bivouacked about a mile or so short of Jerusalem, and, as the camp
was reached long after dark, the City remained hidden until dawn next
morning. I had a cheery and welcome dinner the evening we arrived with
Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Chetwode, who commanded the 20th Corps, at
his headquarters at the German Hospice on the Mount of Olives.
[Illustration: THE WAILING WALL AT JERUSALEM
(_See page_ 93)]
I was awake about 5 o'clock next morning, just as the mist was
beginning to disperse, and woke up everybody all round about me to have
their first look at the Holy City. My officers were all very tired, so
merely gave one peep at it out of sleepy eyes, and then buried
themselves once more in their blankets. Later on the men spent the whole
of the forenoon visiting Jerusalem, and especially the celebrated
Wailing Wall, which is the only authentic portion of the Temple
enclosure which still remains. Its huge blocks of stone seem to be as
indestructible as the indomitable race which designed, shaped, and
placed them in position so many centuries ago. The Jewish "bevel" is a
noticeable feature in the stones. Here the Jews for nearly two thousand
years have wept and wailed, placing their foreheads against the walls
and copiously watering the masonry with their tears. The wailing of the
Jews at this remnant of their Temple is one of the most pathetic and
curious sights I have ever witnessed.
The Jewish mendicants who are allowed to congregate in the vicinity of
the Wailing Wall are not a pleasing spectacle, and I hope that one of
the first acts of the Zionists will be the removal of this blot on
Jewry.
Bethlehem can be reached in a few minutes by motor from Jerusalem, and
near to it Rachel's tomb stands by the roadside, while almost opposite
is the field in which Ruth gleaned.
At 4.30 in the afternoon of this day (12th August) we marched off under
the walls of Jerusalem, past the Damascus Gate, skirted the Garden of
Gethsemane, and wended our way on to the road which would take us down
to Jericho. It was a lovely sight as we halted and looked back over the
Valley of Jehoshaphat, with the brook Kidron between us and the walls
of the venerable city, the beautiful Mosque of Omar overshadowing the
Temple area, the mysterious Golden Gates fronting us, sealed up, and the
westering sun gilding Mount Zion.
I have seen Jerusalem since from many points, but the view from the
corner of the Jericho Road, where it skirts the Mount of Olives on the
descent to Bethany, is, to my mind, by far the most beautiful and
impressive. I halted every platoon there, so that all might look well at
the glory of it--a glory which, alas, some of them would never again
return to look upon.
We bivouacked about three miles beyond Jerusalem, and next morning (13th
August) marched through Bethany while it was yet dark, and reached our
bivouac at Talaat ed Dumm at 2.30 in the afternoon. I reported our
arrival to General Chauvel, of the Australian Mounted Division, whose
headquarters were at this place, and from his hut I had a splendid view
of the beauty and desolation of the Jordan Valley which lay spread out
before me.
Talaat ed Dumm is a weird uncanny spot. It is mentioned in the Book of
Joshua as Adummim, and is the gate of the Judæan wilderness. The red and
yellow barren hills and rocky narrow valleys have a peculiar desolation
all their own, while the heat at the time we were there was scorching.
By some jugglery on the part of the Staff, all our transport animals had
been taken away from us, and we found ourselves stranded without a
particle of shade, shelter, or food on this God-forsaken spot,
sweltering in the fierce rays of the burning sun. At last, towards
sundown, our baggage and rations arrived in motor lorries, dinners and
teas were rolled into one, and peace reigned once more in this drowsy
wilderness.
When the terrific heat had become somewhat less scorching, accompanied
by the Padre, I wandered up to an ancient ruin which topped the summit
of a hill dominating the roadway. This proved to be the castle of a
redoubtable robber chief, who had lived here in bygone days and taken
his toll from every traveller. From time immemorial this had been the
stronghold of the robber bands who waylaid, robbed, and even murdered
those journeying to and fro between Jerusalem and Jericho. It was close
to this bandit's castle that the Good Samaritan poured oil and wine into
the wounds of the unfortunate wayfarer who had fallen among thieves. It
was an ideal spot for a robber's lair, because it commands a full view
of what is practically the only route for caravans through this dreary
barren wilderness.
We were not sorry to leave our camp at dawn, and strode out so merrily
that we overtook a Cavalry Brigade which blocked our way! As we marched
down the steep descent to the Jordan Valley we had on our left the Wadi
Kelt, which wound its tortuous course through the boulders at the
bottom, hundreds of feet sheer below us. Some people say that it was
here that the Prophet Elijah was fed by the ravens, but it has been
satisfactorily proved that the brook Cherith, where Elijah hid, is now
known as the Wadi Fusail. It runs into the Jordan from the westward,
near a place called the rock of Oreb.
This suggested an idea to me that the "ravens" spoken of in the Bible
were not birds but people, for the word "Oreb" means a raven. Now we
know there was a prince called Oreb, for we have an account of his death
in Judges, Chapter 7, Verse 25. It is also a well-known fact that in the
East tribes take their names from their prince or chief man, so that in
all probability there was a tribe called Orbim (the plural of "oreb" or
raven).
The place where Prince Oreb was slain was the rock of Oreb, and it is
known to this day as "Tel el Orbaim." Moreover, this place is in Gilead,
which was Elijah's old home, so it was quite natural that he should flee
to this neighbourhood and be fed with flesh and bread, night and
morning, by his friends the Orbim, or "Ravens."
How similar, too, are the words used in the 4th and 9th verses of 1st
Kings, Chapter 17: "I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there," and
"I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee!"
Can it be possible that the ravens were people and not birds, and that
our old and learned translators fell into the error of thinking that
they were birds, because they did not know of the possible existence of
a tribe called "Orbim" or "Ravens"?
We continued our march down through the Judæan wilderness, the place
where the High Priest yearly turned loose the Scapegoat which bore on
its head the sins of the Children of Israel.
Occasionally, away to our right, between the desolate, dusty,
sulphurous-looking hills, we caught a momentary glimpse of the emerald
sheen of the Dead Sea, while away on our left on the edge of the valley,
stood out the Mount of Temptation.
[Illustration: THE JERUSALEM-JERICHO ROAD]
[Illustration: NEAR THE WADI KELT
(See page 95)]
The moment we got down to the Jordan Valley (or Ghor, as the Arabs call
it) the real trials of the men began. The heat was intense, and the
going became very heavy, for we had no longer a good metalled road on
which to march. Dust lay a foot deep on the path; it was exceedingly
fine and looked like the best powdered cement. As the men marched clouds
of it arose and choked them, while their feet were actually sucked down
at each step, and an effort had to be made to draw the foot out again,
as if some devil were below, pulling at the sole of the boot.
The sixteen platoons forming the battalion marched well apart in order
to evade as much of this blinding, choking, sulphurous dust as possible.
Jericho, the city of the Palms, lay a little to our right. We passed its
outskirts and halted for a rest under Old Jericho, the walls of which
the Bible tells us miraculously fell to Joshua's trumpets over 3,000
years ago. This was a thought which acted as a spur to every Jewish
soldier, and although the march was a hard one and the worst of it had
yet to be done, the men came through the ordeal triumphantly, and very
few dropped out by the way. Those who did fall by the wayside were
helped along by our Padre, the Rev. L. A. Falk, who gave up his horse to
the footsore and carried the pack and rifle of the weary, thus cheering
them along into Camp. This time it was the Priest who proved the Good
Samaritan on the road to Jericho.
Soon after we recommenced our march from under the walls of old Jericho
a huge black column of fine dust, whose top was lost in the Heavens,
arose in front of us and gyrated slowly and gracefully as our vanguard,
leading us onward to our bivouac on the banks of a cool and pleasant
brook, where it vanished. I felt that this was a good omen for our
success in the Jordan Valley, for it was a case of the Children of
Israel being led once more by a pillar of cloud.
The Headquarters of the Australian Mounted Division was close beside our
bivouac, and here I had a very welcome breakfast with Major-General H.
W. Hodgson, its capable and genial Commander. The General told me that
he would review the battalion on the following afternoon, on its march
out to the new camping ground on the Auja.
Next morning, while the men were resting and refreshing themselves on
the banks of the Nueiameh (for so the cool stream was named), I rode
down the Valley to the eastward of Jericho, accompanied by our Padre.
We waded through the Wadi Kelt, luxuriant grass growing where the water
had overflowed its banks, showing how fruitful the Valley would be if it
were irrigated. We searched the plain to discover, if possible, some
traces of the ancient Gilgal, Joshua's G.H.Q., and eventually we came
upon what we took to be the site, some three miles to the south-east of
Old Jericho. At all events we found some very ancient stonework buried
in grass-grown mounds just about where Gilgal might be looked for, and I
feel sure that if excavations were carried out here some very
interesting discoveries would be made.
After we had briefly examined the ruins, I suggested to the Padre that
we should go and breakfast in Jericho, if indeed we could find a
caravanserai there, so in search of a hostelry we rode into the modern
city of the Palms.
It proved to be but a poor tumble-down jumble of buildings, as might
have been expected. However, as we rode along, we came upon a somewhat
pretentious looking building on which was painted "The Gilgal Hotel."
Whatever doubt there may have been about the ancient Gilgal, here at any
rate was a modern one, the discovery of which at this moment was most
opportune, for we were both decidedly hungry after our explorations.
As we rode into the courtyard a dozen Arab urchins who had been lounging
about made a dash for our horses, each eager to grasp the reins in the
hope of some "baksheesh." An elderly dame, on hearing the scuffle,
emerged from a doorway, scattered the surplus boys, and called loudly,
"Victoria, Victoria." A musical voice from a room above responded to
this familiar name, and, on looking up, we saw a buxom, olive-tinted
damsel step on to the balcony. A voluble dialogue then took place
between mother and daughter, the result of which was that Victoria, in
excellent English, invited us up to breakfast. We had a most sumptuous
feast, or so it appeared to us, inured as we were to plain Camp fare. I
was particularly pleased with the flavour of the honey, which Victoria
informed me was taken from a hive in the garden. The milk, too, was
good and plentiful, so we had at last reached the "land flowing with
milk and honey."
Before we left, I asked our fair hostess how it came about that she, a
Syrian damsel, was known as Victoria, to which she promptly replied,
"Because I am Queen of Jericho."
Some time afterwards I made a special visit to Old Jericho. Naturally,
during the 3,000 odd years that have elapsed since its capture by
Joshua, the old city has got silted up and the place has been covered
over by soil washed down from the Judæan hills; but just before the War
a party of Antiquarians commenced excavation work and exposed several
buildings of the old city, some twenty or thirty feet below the surface
of the ground. There the lintels and door-posts of wood may still be
seen embedded in the brickwork, but they are all turned into charcoal,
probably from the fire which consumed the city by Joshua's command.
It will be remembered that the rebuilding of Jericho was forbidden under
a terrible curse, "Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and
buildeth this city Jericho; he shall lay the foundation thereof in his
firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it."
The Battalion left its pleasant bivouac by the Nueiameh at 5 o'clock in
the afternoon, and waded across through its cool waters; when we had
marched through the appalling dust of the Valley for some three miles, I
observed General Hodgson waiting to review us on the far side of a steep
nullah. I cantered on, and took my place beside the General and his
A.D.C., Captain Buxton.
I am certain that a review was never held under more peculiar
circumstances.
The men marched in column of fours, platoon after platoon, down one side
of the steep gully and up the other, and then past the General, who
apparently expected to see them marching as steadily as if they had been
in the Long Valley at Aldershot; and the strange part of it is that they
_were_ marching steadily, shoulder to shoulder, in spite of the
difficult ground which they had to negotiate and the enormous load they
had to carry. They were one mass of dust from head to foot. Nothing
could be seen of their faces except a pair of eyes blinking out of a
countenance which looked as if it had been dipped in a flour barrel and
then streaked with lines of soot, for rivulets of black sweat ran in
parallel lines down their dust-covered faces.
It was the funniest sight I ever saw in my life, but the men were as
grave as owls. I could hardly keep my face straight when, on the command
"eyes left" being given, they turned their comical looking faces boldly
up to the General!
I remarked to him that it was a bit of an ordeal to review them just
after scrambling down and up the steep sides of a gully, and he replied,
"That is exactly why I am here. I want to see how they shape under the
most difficult possible circumstances, and I must congratulate you on
their soldierly bearing and steadiness."
The Battalion certainly did itself credit that day, for it was no light
ordeal to go through, considering the dust and heat, and the enormous
weight that the unfortunate men had to carry stowed away on every part
of the person.
When we had completed about six miles of the march towards our camping
place at the Auja, we were met by the Brigade Major of the 12th Cavalry
Brigade, an energetic Staff Officer, who, besides coming himself, had
thoughtfully provided guides to lead us into the Camp in the darkness.
It must be remembered that we were now within sight and range of the
Turkish guns, and all large bodies of troops had to move in the dark. We
were very glad to reach our bivouac on the Auja, which is a pleasant,
swiftly-flowing streamlet, with many cool and shady nooks amid the
foliage which grows in profusion along its banks.
CHAPTER XII.
OUR POSITION IN THE MELLAHAH.
We were now attached to the 12th Cavalry Brigade, commanded by
Brigadier-General J. T. Wigan, and on the 16th, 17th, and 18th August we
took over D and E sections of the Desert Corps front line, relieving the
19th Indian Lancers and the 6th Indian Cavalry Regiments. We were
unfortunately only a few days with the 12th Brigade, which was moved to
Ludd soon after we were posted to it.
The Jordan Valley, at the place where we were entrenched, is about
fifteen miles wide and is over 1,200 feet below sea level. It is for the
most part fairly flat, but is intersected here and there by huge
ravines, which are in places quite narrow, and at others some hundreds
of yards across, with sheer cliffs some thirty to fifty feet high as
banks. Looking at the valley from the hills that border it, one would
never suspect the existence of these great rifts. The River Jordan runs
in the centre of one of these depressions, which in places is 50 to 100
feet below the ordinary level of the rest of the valley.
The Wadi Mellahah is another huge cleft or rift, running about a mile to
the west of, and more or less parallel to, the Jordan. It is some 10
miles long, and varies from a few score yards to a mile in width. Steep
cliffs and slopes shut it in on both sides, and make the bed of the
Mellahah about as hot and stifling a spot as can well be imagined,
while, to add further abomination to it, noxious fumes arose in places
from its barren and desolate looking sides and bed. A tiny, briny
streamlet runs its straggling course through it in the dry season,
although in places it spreads out into large reed-covered swamps. The
water of this rivulet was so salt that a single drop was more than one
could bear to take on the tip of one's tongue.
We made our headquarters in this gully some three miles from where it
flows into the Auja, of which it is a tributary, and here we fixed up a
reed hut as our mess house, under the shade of the only tree in this
depressing spot. Of course we had to keep down in the depths of the
ravine, otherwise we would be seen and shelled by the Turks.
This Mellahah Wadi had been made in the course of ages by the rush of
water coming down from the Judæan range and from other hills to the
north where there is a heavy annual rainfall. Here and there in the
ravine, where it is at its broadest, stand isolated hillocks which the
water has not worn away, and on these had been constructed some of our
more northern redoubts; they were easy to defend and commanded a good
view, for their tops were on a level with the surface of the surrounding
valley.
One of our redoubts was named "Salt," and just to the north of it a
sparkling spring bubbled out of the side of the cliff. It looked so pure
and inviting that I took a mouthful, and was nearly poisoned for my
pains. It was the most briny, sulphurous liquid imaginable. There is a
fortune awaiting the man who exploits its medicinal properties!
The northern end of the Mellahah was held by the Turks, and there it
opened out into a huge swamp. Of course the mosquitoes bred and thrived
in this natural reserve, and played havoc, not only with the Turkish
Army, but with our men too; when the wind blew from the north it carried
the little demons amongst us in swarms. We had drained the swampy part
of the Mellahah within our own lines at enormous pains, so that unless
the wind blew from the north, we were fairly free of the irritating
pests.
As a matter of fact we used to go out every night half a mile or so in
front of our wire, deepening and diverting the streamlet, in order to
dry up the swamp and remove the breeding ground of the mosquitoes as far
as possible from our posts. This was always risky work, for, if the
Turks had discovered what we were about, they would no doubt have made
it very lively for us with rifle and machine-gun fire.
From a military point of view our position in the Mellahah was a
hazardous one.
We were now on the extreme right flank and extreme north front of the
British Army in Palestine--the post of honour and danger in the line,
with the Turks practically on three sides of us in the salient which we
held. We had the most exposed piece of front to guard which it is
possible to conceive, and we were so badly supported by guns, etc.,
that, had the Turks made a determined attack in force, we would probably
have been annihilated before succour could reach us. It was altogether
an extraordinarily risky position in which to place a raw battalion. The
authorities must have had great faith in our fighting abilities.
We were the only troops in the Mellahah, or within miles of it, our next
nearest neighbours being the West Indian Regiment, which had a much
better position than ours, close under the Judæan hills, with the swift
sweet waters of the Auja running through their lines.
The 20th Indian Infantry Brigade held the Jordan some three miles to the
south of us, and it would have been quite feasible for the Turks to have
concentrated a considerable force and thrust themselves into the gap
between our lines and theirs, and by so doing we would have been
completely cut off.
The Anzac Mounted Division was strung out a long way southward, from the
Auja to the Dead Sea, and some considerable time would have to elapse
before these doughty warriors could come to our assistance. The guns
guarding our section of the front were very few--about six 13-pounders
and a couple of howitzers, the latter being rarely brought into action.
We had in our neighbourhood part of the 4th Turkish Army, some 10,000
strong, with over 70 guns, so it can be seen how precarious our position
was. In our infant days some wag had bestowed upon us the unofficial
motto of "No advance without security," but here we did not live up to
it, for we were indeed well advanced without any security.
The Turks were in possession of the important Umm esh Shert Ford on the
Jordan, and held very strong positions covering the ford on our side of
the river, and their entrenched line ran right across our front and
onward to the Judæan foothills, some ten miles to the west of our
position.
To the southward of the Umm esh Shert Ford we had an observation post on
the cliffs which overlooked the Jordan, and on a moonlight night it was
an eerie experience to stroll across to it and lie on the warm sand,
listening to the melancholy howling of the jackals and hyenas which
filled the air with their dismal cries and wailings. I often wondered if
the thick growth of tangled trees and shrubs which spread out over 100
feet below me up and down the river banks did not conceal many strange
wild creatures, still unsuspected in these regions; the place lends
itself to the weird in all things, but the only uncanny thing I saw
there was a reddish coloured hare with enormous ears, which, on that
occasion at all events, got away safely to the shelter of the reeds.
The Turkish outposts at this point were established on the opposite bank
of the Jordan, but they never molested us, or attempted to cross at this
point.
Our sector of some seven miles of front stretched from this point in a
north-westerly direction, and we held a series of redoubts, some on the
Jordan bank of the Wadi Mellahah, others on hillocks in the ravine, as I
have already described, and three more on the right bank of the Wadi.
This sector was divided into two. I placed Major Ripley in command of
the north-western part, while Major Neill commanded the south-eastern
wing. Each of these officers had some six redoubts to defend, and
several of the posts were quite isolated and had to depend entirely on
themselves in case of attack.
I recommended that two of these posts should be abolished, for they were
unsuitable for defence purposes. The Corps Commander (General Chauvel),
the Divisional Commander, and all their staffs came out one day to see
if my suggestion was sound. I remember we all stood in a row looking
over one of the parapets of the useless redoubt in full view of the
Turks; if they had only fired a lucky shot from "Jericho Jane" that
morning they might have made a good bag!
All the generals agreed that the two posts were useless, so we
dismantled them gladly, for it meant less men to find for duty each
night--a most important consideration when one's men are all too few for
the work in hand.
This was the last I saw of General Chauvel and General Hodgson, for they
were soon afterwards ordered out of the Valley to prepare for the great
concentration which was being secretly carried out on the extreme left
of the Army near Jaffa. When the Australian Division was removed we were
attached to Major-General Sir Edward Chaytor, who commanded the Anzac
Mounted Division of immortal fame. This was a piece of rare good fortune
for us, for we found in General Chaytor a man of wide sympathy and
understanding, a demon for work and efficiency, but always ready to give
honour where honour was due--even unto Jews.
Although our position in the Mellahah was such an isolated and
precarious one, we had no pessimistic forebodings with regard to our
ability to give a good account of ourselves if attacked. We felt that
"the greater the danger, the greater the honour," and it behoved us to
be all the more vigilant, and up and doing at all times.
The magnificent way in which the men responded to the call of duty in
that desolate, nerve-racking region, is beyond all praise. All day long
the sun beat down mercilessly on them, their only shelter being a flimsy
bit of bivouac canvas, and the nights were stifling. Perspiration
streamed from every pore, even when resting. Flies and mosquitoes
deprived everyone of sleep, for our mosquito nets soon became torn and
worthless, and could not be replaced.
Just before dark every available man other than those required to go on
patrols and reconnoitring duty had to parade fully equipped and march to
his post on the redoubts. Here the apparently endless night was spent.
At dawn the men marched back to their comfortless bivouacs to snatch
what repose they could before they were again called upon to work on
strengthening the redoubts and deepening the trenches.
It was in truth an exceedingly strenuous life under such terrible
climatic conditions.
Water could only be obtained in very limited quantities; every drop had
to be carried from the Auja four or five miles away. The whole place was
constantly enveloped in stagnant dust, so it can be imagined with what
appetite a man could tackle food under such appalling conditions, every
mouthful of which was necessarily full of sand and grit.
An Australian summed up life in the Jordan Valley very well, when he
remarked one sweltering day, "God need not have troubled to make Hell
when He had the Jordan Valley."
This part of the Jordan Valley is not supposed to be habitable during
the months of August and September. Even the wild Bedouins, who linger
in these parts to feed their flocks of goats, flee from the accursed
place in these two dreaded months.
No British soldier had yet been called upon to endure the horrors of the
Mellahah even for a week; nevertheless the Jewish Battalion was kept
there for over seven weeks at the most deadly period of the year.
Looking back upon it all I can only say that the Jewish people may well
be proud of their Battalion for the admirable way it "carried on" in
this abomination of desolation. It was about the hottest, most
unhealthy, and most God-forsaken place in the universe--in fact some of
my men assured me that they saw the Devil himself there, horns, tail and
all!
Such was the position allotted to the 38th Battalion to defend and hold,
and it can be imagined that the change from the hill tops of Ephraim to
this inferno was appalling.
Knowing that our enemies had already tried to abolish the Jewish
Battalion, I was strongly reminded of the story of Uriah the Hittite!
How terribly we suffered owing to our tour of duty in this pestilential
region will be described in a later chapter.
CHAPTER XIII.
LIFE IN MELLAHAH.
Although the climatic change from the cool hill-tops of Samaria to the
inferno of the Jordan Valley differed as does Heaven from Hell, still we
had compensations in the fair, just, and kindly treatment meted out to
us by General Chaytor and every officer, non-commissioned officer, and
man of the Anzac Mounted Division.
The battalion stood entirely on its merits, and that it found favour in
the sight of these famous fighters is the proudest feather in its cap.
Their minds were as broad as the wide spaces from whence they had come,
and in their strong souls there was no room for petty spite or
discrimination. If we quitted ourselves like men and performed our
duties like good soldiers, then it did not matter, even if we were Jews.
The Anzac Mounted Division Headquarters were about eight miles from my
own, and it frequently fell to my lot to ride there through the
devouring heat of the day for a conference with the General. Never shall
I forget the delicious cool draught of shandy that always welcomed me,
straight from the ice-box, mixed by the cunning hand of Colonel Bruxner,
the A.A. and Q.M.G. of the Division. Bruxner would spy me from afar
off, and, being a man of understanding, had the nectar all ready by the
time I reached his tent, and oh, how good it was! No place in the world
can raise a thirst like the Jordan Valley, but it was almost worth
enduring when it could be quenched by a long draught of Bruxner's
elixir.
The principal objective on our special piece of front was the Umm esh
Shert Ford over the Jordan. It was some two miles to the East of our
most northerly posts on the Mellahah, and it was well protected by a
series of trenches, by barbed wire entanglements, and by the fortified
Jordan cliffs. If we could, by any chance, get possession of this
crossing, it would mean that the Turkish communications would be thrown
considerably out of gear, and all their local arrangements East and West
of the Jordan completely upset.
Furthermore, in the case of an advance on our part, by pushing mounted
troops across this Ford, the whole of the Turkish position, ten miles to
the East-South-East of us at Nimrin, would be turned, for the road by
the Umm esh Shert Ford was the short cut to Es Salt (the old Ramoth
Gilead) and Amman (the ancient Rabbath Ammon, where that splendid
Hittite soldier Uriah was treacherously sent to his death).
Our constant endeavour, therefore, in patrol and reconnaissance, was to
gather all possible information as to the ways and means of getting at
this spot and making it our own. No stone was left unturned and no risk
avoided which would lead to this important result, and in due course we
had our reward.
In such an isolated position as ours, the only thing to be done was to
adopt an aggressive attitude towards our enemies and so induce them to
think that we were a great deal stronger than was actually the case.
This policy succeeded admirably, and we put up such a good bluff, and
harried the Turks so vigorously, that they were in constant dread of
attack, and immediately began to erect barbed wire fences right along
their entire front, with every appearance of haste and nervousness.
Considering the nature and extent of the position which we held, we lost
very few men in killed, wounded, and missing during the seven odd weeks
we grilled in the Jordan Valley. We were daily and nightly shelled, but
the Turkish gunners rarely had any luck. On the other hand we harassed
them continuously, with the result that deserters began to come in
freely, sometimes singly, and often in twos and threes. It is strange,
but true, that until we came into the valley, prisoners and deserters
were very scarce.
On one occasion a prisoner was brought before me trembling violently. On
asking him what was the matter, he replied that he feared his throat was
about to be cut! His officer, he said, had told him that we finished off
all our prisoners in this way. I laughed, and (wishing to prove him)
told him that after he had had some food I proposed to send him back to
his camp so that he might tell all his comrades how well we treated
those who fell into our hands. On hearing this he cried bitterly that he
did not want to return to his camp at any price, and begged to be kept
by the British, a request to which I of course readily acceded.
A Turkish sergeant who was captured one day made us all laugh heartily.
Before he was marched off to the prisoners' compound somebody wanted to
take a photo of him. The little sergeant (for he was quite diminutive)
preened himself like a peacock, gave a rakish tilt to his headgear, a
fierce twist to his moustache, and struck a dramatic pose before he
would allow himself to be snapped. He was a regular Turkish Charley
Chaplin!
Most of our prisoners told us quite frankly that they were tired of the
war, their ill usage, and bad food, and were glad to be in our hands,
more especially as they never got any rest in front of our lines.
On the 26th August thirteen Turks of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the
2nd Regiment of the 24th Division surrendered. These men deserted _en
bloc_ while they were holding a post which guarded the flank of their
battalion. I found out from them that their relief party was due to
arrive before I could possibly get a half platoon from my battalion to
occupy the deserted post. If time had allowed me to lay a little trap, I
should like to have seen the faces of the incoming Turks when they found
themselves looking down our rifle barrels as they marched into their
post. They must have been sufficiently astonished as it was to find the
place empty.
I watched an exciting little adventure one morning as I stood in one of
the fire bays of our most advanced redoubt, just as dawn was breaking,
peering through my field glasses to the northward, along the jagged
course of the Mellahah where it spread out into many channels and
ravines near the Turkish lines.
All at once I spied, some 800 yards off, two Turkish officers standing
at the foot of a huge sand slope, gazing at something away to their
left. They looked to me as if they had come out to shoot a hare, or
perhaps a gazelle, as there were some of these pretty creatures in the
Valley. One of the officers was extremely tall and wore a long black
cloak.
Now I knew that I had an officer (Lieutenant Evans) and man out scouting
in that neighbourhood, and I felt rather anxious for their safety if
they should, unexpectedly, come upon the Turks. I therefore searched the
vicinity with my glasses, and sure enough, there they were walking
calmly along on the opposite side of the high sand bank under which the
Turks were standing. Neither party was aware of the presence of the
other. I felt it was not a time to take any chances, for I did not know
how many more Turks there might be concealed from my view behind the
many sand hills that were dotted about, so I called up Major Ripley and
sent him and half-a-dozen men at the double, to cause a diversion, and,
if possible, to capture the enemy officers.
While giving these directions I kept my glasses on my two scouts, hoping
that a lucky turn would take them out of danger, or expose the enemy to
them before they themselves were spotted. All at once Lieutenant Evans
headed up the side of the sand ridge, and I knew then that all would be
well, for the Turks had their backs to him. As soon as he reached the
top he cautiously peered over, and he must have been astonished to see
the enemy so near, for he promptly ducked his head out of view. He then
slid down the slope, took his orderly with him, and ran to put himself
between the Turks and their lines, hoping, I suppose, to ambush them as
they returned. The latter, all unconscious of what was going on, were
taking things very casually, and instead of going back to camp, they
came on a little way in the direction of our lines. This upset Evans'
calculations, so he and his man began to stalk the Turks, and just as he
was about to open fire on them they discovered him, and then both sides
loosed off their rifles and a regular duel began.
Meanwhile Major Ripley and his men had climbed half-way up the side of
the ravine, and they in turn began to blaze away at the Turks, who were
now thoroughly scared. They took to flight, and in the many twists,
turns and channels thereabouts managed to get safely away to their own
lines.
Evans and his scout got back to ours, none the worse for their
adventure.
I had a narrow shave myself in this same post a couple of days later. It
was my custom to scan the enemy's lines soon after daybreak every
morning from this commanding position in order to see if any changes had
taken place in the night. A Turkish sniper must have seen me and marked
me for his own. At all events I had just finished my survey, and stepped
down from my perch, when a bullet buried itself with a thud in the bank
just where my head had been!
A couple of days later Lieutenant Mendes and Sergeant Levy were out
scouting along the intricate course of the Mellahah, to the north of our
lines, when they walked into an ambuscade; the Sergeant fell at the
first volley, but luckily Mendes was not hit. He refused to surrender,
and, in spite of some fleet-footed Turks making the pace very hot for
him, he eluded the lot and got back to our lines safely, but thoroughly
exhausted.
CHAPTER XIV.
WE WIN OUR FIRST HONOURS.
On the 28th August a patrol of six privates, under the command of a
sergeant, crept up to the Turkish trenches near the Umm esh Shert Ford.
It was a dark and windy night, so they got quite close to the enemy
without being seen. When about thirty yards short of the Turks they lay
down and then observed a sentry standing a little way off. One of the
patrol, Private Sapieshvili, a Jew from the Caucasus, began to crawl
forward and cautiously stalk the unwary sentinel. When eventually he
succeeded in getting behind him, he stood up and advanced boldly,
pretending to be a Turk, for he was able to speak a few words of
Turkish. All at once he pounced on the sentry, seized him by the throat
and bore him to the ground.
The enemy in the trenches heard the scuffle and opened fire and one man
of our patrol was badly hit. Sapieshvili, however, stuck to his
prisoner, disarmed him and took him triumphantly off to our camp. The
Turks in the trenches numbered about a score, and kept up a heavy fire,
so the rest of the patrol withdrew. Before doing so, Private Gordon
lifted his wounded comrade (Private Marks) and carried him back to our
lines under a rain of bullets from the Turks.
I recommended these men to General Chaytor for their gallantry and
coolness under fire.
It was unfortunate that Private Marks' wound proved to be a mortal one.
He had only joined the battalion some three days previously, and this
was his first encounter with the Turks. He had served in France and
other war centres, and had passed through many a fierce fight scathless.
We gave him a very impressive burial the following morning, under the
lea of a little hillock, with his face turned towards Jerusalem; the
spires of the buildings on the Mount of Olives could actually be seen
from the spot where we were standing around his grave.
One of the ten men who, at Helmieh, had wished to join a Labour
battalion, but who, on reconsideration, had seen that it was his duty to
remain as a fighting soldier, was Private Greyman. He was a man who
disapproved of all forms of violence. He hated war and all the
brutalities pertaining thereto, yet he carried out his military duties
most conscientiously. He happened to be one of a party on duty in the
forward trenches on the Day of Atonement, and while repelling some
snipers who were attempting to make it unpleasant for us in our camp,
poor Greyman met with an instantaneous death, an enemy bullet passing
through his head. I heard afterwards that when his widow received the
usual War Office notification that he was killed in action, she refused
to believe it, for she saw that the date given was the Day of Atonement,
a day on which she said no Jew could possibly be fighting; but alas, we
had to man the trenches continuously, no matter how sacred or in what
reverence any particular day was held by Jew or Gentile.
We were sometimes attached to the 1st and sometimes to the 2nd
Australian Light Horse Brigades under Generals Cox and Ryrie; when they
moved we were placed under General Meldrum, the Commander of the New
Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. All were keen soldiers and good and
gallant comrades.
While we were under General Ryrie I remember he said to me one day that
he would like to come out and inspect my posts.
"Very good, General," I said. "Come out with me any morning you wish."
"When do you start?" he asked.
"Generally at 3 a.m.," I replied.
"That's a d--d good time to sleep," said the General.
Another night some of our patrols scared the Turks badly, and they
started a tremendous fusillade with every rifle and gun that could be
brought into action. The noise of the battle reverberated down the
Mellahah and reached the Auja, where General Ryrie was encamped.
Thinking that a serious attack had begun, the General sprang hastily out
of bed and planted his naked foot right on to the tail of a huge black
scorpion. For a full half-hour afterwards Australia was heard at her
best.
When I saw him a couple of days later he philosophically remarked that
there was virtue even in a scorpion sting, for it had completely cured
him of ever attempting to get out of bed again in the dark, even if all
the Turks in the Ottoman Empire were at his door.
General Ryrie, afterwards promoted to Major-General, was appointed to
the command of the Australian Mounted Division, and had the K.C.M.G.
conferred on him.
Towards the end of August General Allenby reviewed the Anzacs at their
Headquarters, some four miles to the north of Jericho. The Mounted
Division was formed into three sides of a square, and into this General
Allenby galloped, followed by his Staff. It was well for the
Commander-in-Chief that he was a good horseman, for the spirited animal
which he rode gave one or two very hearty bucks, quite enough to have
unseated the majority of our Generals.
Later, the Chief decorated a number of the officers and men who had
gallantly won distinctions, and at the end of the ceremony made a good
soldierly speech to the Division.
I was invited to be present at the review, and on being presented by
General Chaytor to the Commander-in-Chief the latter remarked, "Oh, by
the way, Patterson, I fear I cannot form your Jewish Brigade, for I have
been notified by the War Office that there are no more Jewish troops
coming out." I replied that I thought this information must be
inaccurate, for I had just had a letter from the officer commanding the
40th Battalion at Plymouth, informing me that he was about to embark
with his battalion for service in Palestine. The Commander-in-Chief
seemed somewhat surprised on hearing this, but remarked that he
considered his information later and better than mine, so of course
there was nothing more to be said.
A few days afterwards, on 30th August, General Chaytor had a conference
with all his Brigade and Infantry Commanders, and as he had heard
General Allenby saying to me that he considered his information with
regard to Jewish reinforcements better than mine, he remarked: "Well,
Patterson, your information about the coming of the other Jewish
Battalions was better than the Chief's after all, for one of my officers
has just come from England, and he tells me that a strong Jewish
Battalion came out with him in the same ship and landed in Egypt a
couple of days ago."
As I considered it only right to let the Commander-in-Chief know that
the information he had received was not accurate, I wrote and told him
that I understood that another Jewish Battalion, some 1,400 strong, had
already arrived in Egypt.
In reply to this I got a memorandum from the Chief of Staff,
Major-General Louis Jean Bols, intimating that in future I was only to
address the Commander-in-Chief through the ordinary channels of
communication.
It was evident from this that the Chief of Staff was not pleased that
the Commander-in-Chief should have any sidelight from me on Jewish
affairs. Of course this had long been apparent, for anything I had
previously written through the ordinary channels--no matter how
important to the welfare of the battalion--had invariably been returned
to me with the remark that it was not considered necessary to refer the
matter further.
Some months after my interview with the Commander-in-Chief yet another
thousand men arrived from England, and altogether there were over five
thousand Jewish soldiers serving in the Jewish units in Palestine. The
formation of a Jewish Brigade had been the definite policy of the War
Office, and an intimation to this effect had been sent to General
Allenby. The Commander-in-Chief of the E.E.F. had himself written to me
to say that a Jewish Brigade would be formed, yet this promise, which
meant so much to the comfort and efficiency of the men and to the
prestige of Jews the world over, was never fulfilled; instead, we were
pushed about from Brigade to Brigade and from Division to Division in
the most heart-breaking manner, with the result that we got all the
kicks and none of the traditional halfpence!
In the space of three months we were shunted about like so many cattle
trucks and found ourselves, in that brief period, attached to no less
than twelve different formations of the British Army!
General Chaytor gave a great lift to the spirit of the battalion when he
conferred the Military Medal on Privates Sapieshvili and Gordon for
their gallant conduct on the night patrol already mentioned. We had a
special parade in "Salt" post redoubt, after Divine Service on the first
day of the Jewish New Year (7th September, 1918). Before all their
comrades the General recounted their gallant deeds, pinned the coveted
ribbons on their breasts, and then ordered the battalion to march past
and salute--not himself, but the two men whom he had just decorated.
From this moment General Chaytor had with him the heartfelt devotion of
every man in the unit. A small thing can win the respect, goodwill, and
devotion of a Regiment, but it is not every General who has the knack of
gaining it.
CHAPTER XV.
CAPTURE OF THE UMM ESH SHERT FORD.
As the date fixed for the great advance of the Army in Palestine drew
near, certain parts of the Jordan Valley began to look very comical.
Here and there would be seen a battery of artillery parked, or a cavalry
regiment, with its horses tethered in neat and orderly array, in the
most approved army style, but on closer inspection both horses and guns
were found to be merely dummies! Great camps were pitched, but there was
not a soldier in them; fires were lighted all over the place at dusk, as
if a mighty army were bivouacked round about, and every conceivable kind
of bluff was put up in order to deceive the Turks and make them think
that the long expected attack was to be made through Gilead, to effect a
junction with the Arab Army of the Hedjaz. The Jewish Battalion was even
ordered to march and counter march from Jericho to the Dead Sea by some
wight at G.H.Q. who still remembered us, but General Chaytor scotched
this stunt, for of course he knew it was quite impossible for us to
guard our front throughout the night and march some forty miles by day
as well in that terrific heat.
There were really very few troops in the Valley, if one considers the
enemy force that could have been concentrated against us. According to
General Allenby's despatch, there were some 6,000 rifles, 2,000 sabres,
and 74 guns facing us in the Jordan Valley.
General Allenby in his despatch of the 31st October, 1918, writes:--
"By reducing the strength of the troops in the Jordan Valley to
a minimum," etc., and "To prevent the decrease in strength in
the Jordan Valley being discovered by the enemy I ordered Major
General Sir Edward Chaytor, K.C.M.G., C.B., A.D.C., to carry out
with the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division, the 20th
Indian (Imperial Service) Infantry Brigade, the 38th and 39th
Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, and the 1st and 2nd
Battalions British West Indies Regiment a series of
demonstrations with the object of inducing the enemy to believe
that an attack East of the Jordan was intended, either in the
direction of Madeba or Amman.
"The enemy was thought to be anticipating an attack in these
directions and every possible step was taken to strengthen his
suspicions."
On the 15th September the 39th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, under the
command of Colonel Margolin, D.S.O., arrived in the Jordan Valley, and
took up its position on the Auja in support of the 38th Battalion in the
line.
A couple of days before the big offensive which began on the 18th
September, General Allenby visited my Headquarters, where I presented to
him all the officers not on duty. He took me a little apart and asked me
if I was sure I could trust the men to fight, and I assured him that he
need have no anxiety on that score, for the men were all right and would
respond to any call when it was made.
He then asked me if there was any other point I should like to bring to
his notice: I told him that malaria was daily becoming more prevalent
and I was losing 200 men a week from this cause alone: I also pointed
out that I did not think that the medical arrangements for the
evacuation and care of the men were all that they should be. The General
made a note of this in his book.
The only result was that I got an irate letter from the Deputy
Adjutant-General asking me for a full report as to why I had misinformed
the Commander-in-Chief about my sick, and about medical matters
generally, so that on the morning of the 23rd September, the day we were
ordered to pursue the enemy, when I should have been solely devoted to
the leading of my men and all the problems pertaining thereto, I had to
sit down and smooth the ruffled feathers of the Deputy Adjutant-General.
I not only proved my case to the hilt, but emphasized it by giving
further evidence which I had not troubled the Commander-in-Chief by
recounting.
General Chaytor specially warned us that, during the offensive on our
left, we were to increase our patrols and harry the enemy as much as
possible, to keep him in his lines and to prevent, if possible, any
large force of Turks crossing from the East of the Jordan to reinforce
their armies holding the line from the Jordan to the sea.
This is how the official report runs:--"Chaytor's force in the Jordan
Valley had so far confined itself to vigorous patrolling to insure that
the enemy could make no move without their knowledge. The rôle of this
composite force was to secure the right flank of the army and the Jordan
crossings, to keep in close touch with the enemy and take advantage of
any withdrawal on their part, but to run no risk of being involved with
a more powerful foe too early in the battle. This difficult task was
admirably carried out."
During the nights of the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st September we made
demonstrations against the Turkish positions along our front. Parties
would crawl out into favourable positions, such as a fold in the ground,
and open fire all down the line. This always made the Turks nervy, and
their trenches would be manned and every individual would blaze away for
all he was worth.
On the 19th and 20th they got so "windy" that they called on their
artillery to put down a barrage to prevent us from making an assault.
Each time the barrage was put down our men were well clear, and lay snug
and safe until the enemy had uselessly expended hundreds of rounds, when
they quietly returned to camp, not a whit the worse for all the
cannonading. There was very little sleep on these nights for anyone, and
the Jewish Battalion certainly did all that in it lay to further the
intentions of the Commander-in-Chief by holding every Turk in the
neighbourhood of the Jordan closely to his lines.
On the 20th we pushed well up against the Turkish trenches, found them
all manned, and again drew heavy rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire.
We had a few men wounded in this affair. Why we had not a heavy casualty
list on these occasions is a mystery to me, for the men had to advance
in the open over a stretch of ground as level as a billiard table.
Number 6 Trench Mortar Battery R.A. was under my command in the
Mellahah, and I ordered this battery to open fire on the Turkish
position round Umm esh Shert, if we should find difficulty in ousting
the enemy from this important place.
I had arranged to attack this position on the 22nd September, but at
midnight on the 21st my Intelligence Officer sent me news that the
enemy's resistance in the trenches opposite Umm esh Shert Ford was
weakening.
I immediately ordered out my reserve, and sent them under Lieutenant
Cross to reinforce Major Neill, whose duty it was to push in the Turks
and take the Ford at the earliest possible moment. I got favourable news
by telephone of the steady advance of the men; trench after trench was
occupied, and when I left my Headquarters at 4 a.m. for the scene of the
fight, I was able to report to General Chaytor's Staff Officer that we
were almost in possession of the crossing.
I galloped off as dawn was breaking, scrambled up the cliffs and across
the ground from which the Turks had fled, and arrived in time to go down
with Major Neill, Captain Julian, and Lieutenants Jabotinsky and Cross,
to take possession of this coveted passage over the Jordan. I may
mention here that Jabotinsky had been attached to G.H.Q. for special
work, but, as soon as the battalion went into the line, he requested to
be returned to duty in order to share in all our dangers and hardships.
The moment we had secured the Umm esh Shert Ford I signalled the news to
General Chaytor, who immediately took advantage of our capture by
pushing mounted troops across the Jordan, thus outflanking the Turks who
held the foothills of Shunat Nimrin, which barred the way to Es Salt.
The 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade crossed while we covered the Ford
with our rifles and machine-guns, and they never drew rein until Es Salt
was reached that evening, where a large force of the enemy with guns,
etc., was captured by the Anzac Mounted Division.
That same afternoon, two companies of the 39th Battalion Royal Fusiliers
moved up to our support and took up position in the posts which we had
vacated in the Mellahah.
It is a curious fact that the whole movement of the British Army in
Palestine, which swept the Turks out of the country, was actually
pivoted on the sons of Israel, who were once again fighting the enemy,
not far from the spot where their forefathers had crossed the Jordan
under Joshua.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE LOST TRANSPORT WAGONS.
Meanwhile I was ordered to clear away the enemy believed to be still
holding the ground to the north of our trenches round Red Hill. I
detailed Captain H. H. Harris and his Company for this duty, the
remainder of the battalion taking up position in the vacated Turkish
trenches overlooking the Jordan. Lieutenant Jabotinsky, with his
platoon, took possession of Umm esh Shert and put the captured ford in a
state of defence, making machine-gun emplacements, etc., to cover the
crossing.
I myself with Captain Julian, Lieutenant Cross, and a platoon
reconnoitred up the river, for I had heard that there was a bridge in
existence, which had been thrown across by the Turks in the
neighbourhood of the ford, and I was anxious to find it if possible.
After going some little way I found it was nearly 8 o'clock a.m., and
time to be getting back to my Battalion Headquarters, so I left Julian,
Cross, and the patrol to push on and make what discoveries they could
along the river. When I got back to my tent I found a telegram awaiting
me from General Chaytor which informed me that I had been given command
of a body of troops to be known officially as "Patterson's Column." It
was composed of the 38th and 39th Battalions Royal Fusiliers, and was
ordered to concentrate on the Auja bridgehead.
I handed over command of the 38th to Major Ripley, who was the next
Senior Officer, and issued the necessary concentration orders.
Later on I rode out to view the position which we had wrested from the
Turks on the Jordan and, on the way, I was surprised to meet Captain
Julian being brought in wounded on a camel. He was in considerable pain,
but quite cheery and able to give me a full account of what had
happened. It seems that soon after I had left them the party was
ambushed by the Turks, who caught them, in the neighbourhood of Red
Hill, with machine-gun and rifle fire. Julian, Cross, and Private
Mildemer fell; the remainder of the patrol melted into a fold of the
ground and made their escape. Julian, although severely wounded in the
foot, also managed to get away, aided by Corporal Elfman, who gallantly
helped him to safety, although under heavy fire from the enemy.
Reinforcements had been sent out as quickly as possible to the scene of
the fight by the nearest Company, but by the time they arrived the Turks
had gone. No trace could be found of Lieutenant Cross's body, but
Private Mildemer was found lying dead where he fell.
On receipt of this news I sent another party under Lieutenant Bullock to
give burial according to Jewish rites to the gallant man who had fallen,
and to make a thorough search of the locality for Lieutenant Cross's
body, but no trace of the missing officer could be found. Telegrams were
dispatched to the hospitals at Amman, Deraa, and to Damascus after we
had captured that city, but nothing was known of him at any of these
places, and in the end we all came to the sad conclusion that we had
seen the last of poor Cross and that the Turks must have thrown his body
into the Jordan after he had died from his wounds. His loss cast a gloom
over the battalion.
I was also exceedingly sorry to be deprived of Captain Julian's services
with the transport, just at the moment when we were ordered to start off
in pursuit of the enemy, for he was an ideal Transport Officer, and
never once let the battalion down while he served in that capacity, and
he had held this important position from the day he joined us.
It was not long until we had a sharp reminder of his loss, for that same
evening our transport trekked off and could not be found anywhere.
Someone (I never could discover who) gave the Transport Sergeant orders
to leave his lines on the Auja and report, with all wagons, etc., to
Major Ripley in the Mellahah. In the darkness he failed to find the
Major, and on the morning of the 23rd not a single soul in the battalion
knew anything about where the Transport had gone, or how it could be
found. They had completely vanished from the ken of everybody, taking
with them our food, forage, cooking pots, and spare ammunition. The new
Transport Officer, Captain Cunningham, who had been detailed to take
Captain Julian's place, was unable to find any trace of them when he
went to take over charge. They had mysteriously disappeared from their
bivouac and gone off into the blue.
This was a very disturbing factor in the situation, for we had orders to
start off in pursuit of the enemy at 2 o'clock a.m. next morning.
Cunningham, Quartermaster Smythe, and all available men who could be
pressed into the service, were sent in every direction to run the
Transport to earth.
Eventually Smythe came back to say that he had been tracking wagon
wheels for at least five miles, but they could not be ours, for the
tracks led steadily in a northerly direction towards the Turkish lines.
After duly strafing Major Ripley for having, this early in his command,
lost his transport, I set off in quest of the rovers.
Luckily my charger Betty was in splendid condition, and I certainly put
her on her mettle that morning. I took up the trail that Smythe had
abandoned, followed it for seven or eight miles at a steady canter, and
then lost all trace on hard ground. I had to cast round in a big circle
before I found it once more, then I went on again for another three or
four miles when I met some Australians. On asking them if they had seen
a column of wagons going northward they said, "No, we have been along
here for a couple of miles, but we have seen nothing."
This was very disheartening news, and I almost felt inclined to give up
the quest in this direction and turn back; but having come so far, I
made up my mind to go on, even to the Turkish lines themselves, before I
gave up the hunt.
I was then about eight miles short of the Turkish position, or what had
been the Turkish position at the foot of the hills towards which the
tracks still led.
When I had covered another few miles, to my inexpressible relief, I at
last caught sight of the Transport, steadily pursuing its way northward!
I made Betty put on an extra spurt and soon caught them up. It is lucky
that there was no grass about, or the prairie itself would have caught
fire when I at last overtook the Transport Sergeant. The language
addressed to the jackdaw by the Cardinal Lord Archbishop of Rheims was
angel talk compared to mine.
When I ordered him sharply to get back at once to where he came from, he
was so confused that he promptly turned his horse round and began to
ride off towards camp--leaving his baggage wagons still calmly
proceeding in the opposite direction.
I called the dazed sergeant back and told him very forcibly to halt the
column and take the wagons back as quickly as possible to his original
camp. I was never able to get any satisfactory information from the
sergeant (who by the way was a Welshman and a Christian) as to what
induced him to trek off into the unknown in such a mad fashion. I can
only imagine that the devil, who lives in the Jordan Valley, had
impersonated Major Ripley and had ordered the sergeant to push for all
he was worth for the Turkish lines, leaving us without food, water,
cooking pots, or ammunition--in fact leaving us "beggars by the
wayside."
My chase of the transport wasted some precious hours, but I was back in
camp soon after 10 a.m., where I found the battalion full of bustle and
activity, preparing for concentration on the Auja bridgehead.
On my return to Headquarters I found that Major Ripley was ill and only
fit for hospital. He had had a most nerve-shattering time while
commanding his section; for his posts were very much exposed and there
was always the dread and anxiety of an attack in overwhelming numbers.
Sleep rarely comes to soothe a man's nerves in such trying
circumstances, especially in the awful heat we endured in the Mellahah;
in fact, Major Ripley's features had wasted away so much owing to the
worry and anxiety of all he had undergone that he reminded me of nothing
so much as one of the mummified birds I had once seen in a cave of Upper
Egypt. I never saw Major Ripley again in the battalion, but I am glad to
say he made an excellent recovery, and was eventually given a good staff
job in Alexandria.
I gave the command of the battalion to Major Neill, and from that moment
I had no further anxieties, outside my own province, with which to
contend.
CHAPTER XVII.
WE GO UP TO RAMOTH GILEAD.
When I took command of the Column I chose Captain Douglas Leadley as my
Staff Officer, and a better man it would be almost impossible to find. I
never knew Leadley to forget anything, and it was a great relief to feel
that when once I had given him any instructions, I need have no further
anxiety about them, for he was absolutely reliable and competent in
every way.
When Leadley came to me, Major Neill selected Captain T. B. Brown to
replace him as Adjutant of the 38th Battalion, and an excellent staff
officer he made, as far as I could judge.
The concentration on the Auja bridgehead proceeded as rapidly as
possible, for the Column had to move soon after midnight.
I found that the 38th Battalion could not possibly concentrate in time,
for Captain H.H. Harris's Company was many miles to the north, where it
had been sent in pursuit of the enemy. I therefore ordered Major Neill
to follow me as quickly as possible to Shunat Nimrin, a position on the
Moab foothills, some ten miles to the eastward of the Auja.
At 2 a.m. on the 24th, Column Headquarters and the 39th Battalion
crossed the Jordan at the Auja bridgehead, scrambled up the steep Jordan
cliffs, and marched on towards Nimrin.
General Chaytor had meanwhile ordered an advance upon Es Salt (the
ancient Ramoth Gilead) and Amman, with his whole force, which consisted
of the Anzac Mounted Division (less one squadron), a field battery, a
heavy battery, two mountain batteries, Patterson's Column, the 20th
Indian Infantry Brigade, and the 1st and 2nd Battalions British West
Indies Regiment.
The mounted troops pushed forward rapidly, and soon out-distanced the
infantry and guns. The Anzacs were such gluttons for battle that they
broke down every resistance and completely destroyed and broke up the
enemy before the Infantry could come into action.
The 20th Indian Infantry and the guns followed the horsemen, for, from
their position on the Jericho-Es Salt road, they were much better
situated to take the lead than any other dismounted troops.
My Column struck the advancing troops at Nimrin, where I was just in
time to see General Chaytor fly past in a motor car. The General always
believed in being well to the front when there was a fight on, and has
been known on more than one occasion to be mixed up in the fray itself.
My orders were to form the rearguard to Chaytor's Force, and all day
long the main Column wound its way slowly past Nimrin until 3 o'clock in
the afternoon of the 24th. I then gave the order for the 39th to
advance, and left orders for the 38th, on arrival at Nimrin, to follow
on to Es Salt.
It was interesting to observe the strong positions from which we had
driven the Turks, and to see overturned cannon, limbers, wagons,
ammunition carts strewing the road; "Jericho Jane," an enormous gun that
used to fire into Jericho, the Divisional Headquarters, and generally
rake us all round, was lying ignominiously on her back in a ditch; dead
bodies of men, horses, and draught bullocks made the world unpleasant in
their vicinity; Bedouins flocked around like locusts, looting machine
guns, rifles, ammunition and stores of all kinds which had been
abandoned by the Turks in their hasty flight. The Arabs in these parts
had the time of their lives, for loot is to them as honey to the bee.
General Chaytor had left word at Nimrin that he wished to see me, so I
was anxious to get on to Es Salt as quickly as possible, where I hoped
to find him. I therefore gave all necessary instructions to Colonel
Margolin, and, leaving Captain Leadley with him in case anything
unforeseen should crop up, and he should require the assistance of my
Staff Officer, I rode on as fast as possible to Es Salt, taking my groom
with me.
After great difficulty and much squeezing we forced our way through the
miles and miles of wagons, baggage, guns, etc., which were slowly and
painfully crawling up the steep mountain side towards Es Salt. I arrived
there at about 9 p.m., but failed to find the General, who had already
pushed further ahead. I was hospitably entertained by the Indian
Infantry Brigade, and afterwards turned aside, and, tethering my horse,
lay down a little way off the road, with my saddle for my pillow, glad
to have a blanket to wrap round me on these heights, which felt
decidedly chilly after the suffocating heat of the Mellahah. I woke up
in the middle of the night just in time to recover Betty, who had broken
loose and was straying off towards a forage cart. Having tied her up, I
settled down again and slept until dawn. I wondered during the night how
it was that my bed was so warm, and as soon as daylight came I
discovered the reason--I had been sleeping on a bed of dry stable
litter!
After an early cup of tea with the Indians, I pushed on through Es Salt
to General Chaytor's Headquarters, which were just beyond. Here I found
that the General had gone on to direct the operations which were then in
progress round Amman. Major Anderson of his Staff provided me with an
excellent breakfast, and soon afterwards we were joined by my friend,
Colonel Bruxner, who had had a strenuous night marshalling the guns and
transport on their toilsome journey up from the Valley.
I received telegraphic instruction from General Chaytor to make Es Salt
my Headquarters and put it into a state of all-round defence.
I put up my "bivvy" a little way out of the town, under an enormous fig
tree then laden with delicious fruit, close to the Nimrin, which flowed
swiftly by, almost at the edge of our bivouac.
Colonel Margolin and the 39th took over Es Salt and at once occupied the
commanding hills round about, where he was soon entrenched and ready to
give the enemy a very warm reception in case of attack.
[Illustration: THE AUJA
"A pleasant, swiftly-flowing streamlet"
(See _page_ 102)]
[Illustration: ES SALT
(The ancient Ramoth Gilead)]
The Turks had left a number of sick and wounded soldiers at this place
in a dreadful state. Captain Redcliffe Salaman took these poor wretches
in hand and soon brought about a wonderful improvement in their
condition. The town itself was in a state of indescribable filth, and
had it not been for the unceasing efforts of Captain Salaman and the
Sanitary Department which he organised, an outbreak of typhoid or other
dreadful disease must have ensued. No praise is too high for the work
which Salaman did during the period he was in Medical charge at Es Salt.
Soon after we had established ourselves here I found that the Bedouins
were looting the abandoned Turkish munitions, stores, etc., right and
left; as they were our allies, I did not want to interfere without
orders, so I reported the matter to General Chaytor.
The General promptly wired me to stop all looting by these marauders--a
proceeding which annoyed them intensely. I had to send out strong
parties from the 39th Battalion to patrol that part of the country
towards Amman, and the whole of the road from Es Salt back to Nimrin
had, in addition, to be watched and guarded. The 39th patrolled the
country from Es Salt as far as the El Howeij Bridge, some six miles
south of Es Salt, while the 38th took up guard duty from this point to
Nimrin. This was rather hard luck on the 38th, for they had almost
reached Es Salt when the order to counter-march came. They had to turn
and go back all that long weary way, practically without rest or food.
It was a march and counter-march that would have reflected credit on the
best marching Regiment in the British Army, and no better testimonial
could be given than that of Lieut. Cameron, a regular Highlander of the
old school, who freely admitted that this was the very worst he had ever
experienced in all his eighteen years of soldiering.
Cameron won the Military Cross, and also a bar thereto, while serving
with the 38th Battalion.
Major Neill afterwards told me that he received the greatest assistance
in getting the men along on this trying march from Captain H.H. Harris,
who had the arduous task of shepherding the weary ones along with the
rearguard.
No doubt if was one of these laggards who, some weeks afterwards, wrote
me a letter full of reproaches, which made me laugh heartily, and helped
to brighten the gloomy days through which I was then passing. I give an
extract from a very lengthy episode:--
"You kept us in torture for six and a half weeks at Nablus. Then
we left Nablus and thought after this torture you will send us
for a rest, but no, you make us march to the Jordan in full
marching order. You also gave us a bomb each man to put in our
pocket so as to lighten the burden of the transport. You had
consideration for horses, but not for humans. We travelled like
pedlars to the Jordan, living on fresh air. When we reached the
Jordan, it was a grand place, was it not? It surprises me you
could not pick out a worse place to send us. Is there any worse
place than the Mellalah in this God-forsaken country? (Evidently
a non-Zionist, this fellow!) You kept us in this hot hole for
another six-and-a-half weeks, no other troops ever being known
to stay there for more than two or three weeks--but of course
anywhere was good enough for the Jews."
From the above it will be seen that at least some of the men were of the
opinion that I was responsible for their troubles, while all the time I
was getting into the bad books of authority in my endeavours to get them
better treatment.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE CROWN OF VICTORY.
The moment things were satisfactorily settled in the neighbourhood of Es
Salt I hurried on to Amman. Jumping into a passing motor, I discovered
that the name of the officer in the car was Lowe, and on asking him
whether he was, by chance, any relation of a man I knew named Harry
Lowe, he replied, "I am his brother."
On our arrival at Amman I found that General Chaytor's camp was some
distance beyond the town and close to the Hedjaz Railway Station. Seeing
the divisional flag flying over his tent, I made for it, and was
delighted at last to run him to earth.
I heartily congratulated him on the great victory he had won in such
record time. In four days his troops had covered over 60 miles; he had
forced his way through the hills and mountains of Moab, a most difficult
country, in the face of a superior force; he had captured the two
ancient cities of Es Salt and Amman, got astride of the Hedjaz Railway,
and had completely routed the 4th Turkish Army. He had captured
altogether some 11,000 prisoners, some 60 guns, about 150 machine-guns,
hundreds of tons of ammunition of all kinds, millions of rounds of
small a
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