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OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
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Forgotten Her es
By Avi Heiligman
Ze’ev Jabotinsky Soon the need for the mule corps was negated, and the unit was disbanded. About 120 men still wanted to stay with the British Army and were sent to serve in the London Reg-
Then, in April 1918, the 39th Battalion was formed. Most of its members were Jewish American and Canadian volunteers who knew that there was a good chance that they would be sent to fight for Palestine. The 39th was formed by volunteers that were recruited by David Ben Gurion, who joined the battalion as a corporal, and Yitzchak Ben Zvi who later became the second president of Israel. Thousands of Jews from Palestine also volunteered, and they were put into the 40th Battalion. In addition, the 40th had 92 Jews that were captured fighting for the Ottomans and wanted to enlist with the British. The 41 st and 42nd Battalions were also made up of Jews but were stationed in England. These five battalions made up the Jewish Legion. An estimated 1,700 Americans, 1,500 from Eretz Yisrael, 1,400 British, 300 Ca-
iment. The main person opposing the creation of a Jewish fighting unit was reported missing when his ship sank, and a plan was formulated to include Jews from the Yishuv into the army. In August 1917, this plan came to fruition, and the 38th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers was formed under the command of Colonel Patterson. Half of the battalion came from Britain or from British-ruled lands, and the rest came from Eretz Yisrael, Russia, and other Allied countries.
nadians, a handful of Argentineans and those released by the Ottomans served in the ranks of the Jewish Legions. They were now ready for action and took part in the battles in the Jordan Valley and the Battle of Megiddo in 1918. The fighting in the Jordan Valley was 20 miles north of Yerushalayim, and the 38th Battalion sustained 20 casualties. However, they succeeded in driving the Ottomans from the area. In September,
Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.
B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M
They were called the First Judeans and were given their own insignia
the Jewish Legion fought in the Battle of Megiddo and was the nail on the coffin for the Ottomans in Palestine. After their successes, the legion was sent across the Jordan River. Major General Edward Chaytor, the British officer in command of the legion, told Jabotinsky, “By forcing the Jordan fords, you helped in no small measure to win the great victory gained at Damascus.” The war ended in late 1918. The Jewish Legion had about 5,000 men in five battalions stationed in Eretz Yisrael. Most of the legionnaires returned to their perspective countries, and the ones living in Eretz Yisrael wanted to join the British garrison. The British, who had received the land as part of the surrender agreement, had many openly anti-Semitic officers who despised the Jews in their army. The year after the war ended, the Jewish Legion was reduced to just one battalion. They were called the First Judeans and were given their own insignia – a menorah with the word kadima written in Hebrew. Even though the Jewish Legion was disbanded completely in the 1920s, many of the volunteers gained valuable experience that was brought to the underground movements during the British Mandate. Until the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the former legionnaires were the backbone of the Hagana that helped drive the British out of Eretz Yisrael. The Jewish Legion Museum, in Avihayil near Netanya, was founded in the 1960s as a testament to those who served among their ranks and whose legacy lives on in the IDF.
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or over a century in Eretz Yisrael there was a debate in the Zionist leadership if they should send soldiers to fight on either side during World War I. Many in the Yishuv had come from countries that were currently fighting, and there was concern that the Ottoman Empire was about to collapse. There had been some training of Jewish men in the Ottoman Army but the Turkish commander stopped it and instigated acts of prosecution against the Yishuv. In the end, a group of local Jews decided to join the British Army. This unit became known as the Jewish Legion, and many Jews from many backgrounds joined their ranks. Some of the members eventually helped form a defense in the post-World War I British Mandate. The problem with joining the British Army was the British regulation against foreigners serving in their ranks. This problem was bypassed with the idea of a Jewish force that would be employed by the army for mule transport. Six-hundred-fifty men served in the ranks of the Zion Mule Corps under the command of Colonel John Henry Patterson. The leaders of the Jewish volunteers were Vladimir “Ze’ev” Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor. The commanding officer of the British Expeditionary Force, General Ian Hamilton, said of the corps, “The men have done extremely well, working their mules calmly under heavy shell and rifle fire, and thus showing a more difficult type of bravery than the men in the front line who had the excitement of combat to keep them going.” Six men were killed, 25 were injured, and Private M. Groushkowsky was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for delivering ammunition under heavy fire while preventing the mules from stampeding due to the loud noise.
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The Jewish Legion
