Menorah 2019

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VETERANS AND SERVING MEMBERS OF HM FORCES

AUTUMN 2019/5780

“This is the best thing in the world for Ros! She could not be happier. She has made a home for herself!”

Ros’s sister, Stacy. Ros has been living in a Jewish Blind & Disabled apartment for over three years.

LIFE.

Our Helpline receives 15,000 enquiries every year. The expert staff and volunteers are there to support everyone who calls on us for help. But our Helpline receives no government funding. We depend entirely on voluntary support to keep it running. For people like Jan and Monty, it’s an absolute lifeline. This Rosh Hashanah, please help make sure it stays that way.

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“I’LL NEVER FORGET THE DAY I RANG. THAT ONE CALL CHANGED MY DAD’S WHOLE

AND MINE.”

Jan, with her

dad Monty, who is living with dementia

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The Menorah Team

Editor: Col Martin Newman MBE DL FCIPR

Editorial Board: Capt Mike Poloway, Jeffrey Fox MBE, Paula Kitching, SLt Ashley Sweetland MBE

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FROM THE EDITOR

This time of year is always one of reflection. As we mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two the Jewish community has come under the sort of pressure from rising anti-Semitic rhetoric

that we haven’t experienced since the days of Oswald Mosley and his thugs.

Once again we are hearing insinuations that we don’t understand British irony; that we have dual loyalties and even worse Jews don’t serve this country. We know differently and the fact that our wider military Jewish family existsfrom veterans to serving regular and reserve servicemen and women and even as members of our cadet forces – combats these dreadful lies. Menorah, our magazine, is just one device that we can use to raise public awareness that British and Commonwealth Jews did serve, with great distinction and continue to serve to this day.

L ooking back since the last edition we now have a new team at the helm of AJEX. It was a privilege to serve as National Chairman for two interesting years when we re-developed the brand and many of the ways that we do business. The chair is now in the very capable of hands

of Mike Bluestone, a former TA and IDF soldier himself, with Dan Fox, a serving Army Reserve sergeant as his deputy. They have already been working with veterans and serving personnel to take the message out to synagogues, school and community groups and they are generating great interest.

The serving members have also been active under the leadership of Air Commodore Phil Lester and Lt Col Danny Sharpe and you can read their updates in full in this edition.

Education is an important part of our work and our education officer, Paula Kitching has written an informative update and an appropriate piece on the battles of Monte Casino and Kohima which are being marked this year.

Major Danny Yank and the head office team have worked relentlessly to change the format of the after parade tea into a pre-parade lunch to make life easier for those

who have to travel distances for our important annual Ceremony of Remembrance on 17th November. Details are included in the magazine.

We have been honoured by a number of leading community personalities who have agreed to become patrons of AJEX and undertake ambassadorial roles to highlight our work for the benefit of veterans and the serving community. More information is included.

I am delighted to welcome SLt Ashley Sweetland to the editorial team to represent the serving community and again may I remind you that this us your magazine. Our readers want to hear your news so keep the articles and photographs coming in. Material can be submitted to editor.menorah@ajex.org.uk

The editorial team wishes all our readers and their families a very happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

DISTINGUISHED PATRONS JOIN AJEX

Hon Vice Admiral The Lord Sterling who stood down earlier this year after seven years as president of AJEX has become one of a group of high profile personalities from the community, the military and the world of security who have become patrons of AJEX.

The patrons will be acting as ambassadors to promote Jewish veterans and spread the word about

the Jewish contribution to our armed forces and defence of the country.

“It is so important that we raise awareness of the price paid by the

Jewish community in times of conflict and service continuing to the present day,” said National Chairman, Mike Bluestone.

“I am delighted that the following have accepted our invitations to become our firs National Patrons: Lt General Richard Nugee, Hon V Adm Lord Sterling, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, former Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, distinguished lawyer and security expert, Lord Carlile, Lord Beecham, Baroness Henig, and Colonel Sir Lloyd Dorfman.

“All our new patrons are enthusiastic about the work of AJEX and the wider Jewish military family and we welcome them to our team. They bring with them a wealth of experience in a wide range of disciplines and they are eager to support our work.”

COL MARTIN NEWMAN MBE DL FCIPR

Shannah Tova

FROM THE AJEX NATIONAL CHAIRMAN

Some two months have now passed since I took the helm at AJEX as National Chairman, and what a hectic and eventful eight weeks it has been! During these eight weeks I was present at two major remembrance events, which I highlight below, as well as attending the annual fund raising dinner for Bet Ha’Lochem UK, plus a civic service at the kind invitation of the Mayor of Brent, and a host of other meetings relating to AJEX activities.

S ince taking office, I have been struck by the positivity, optimism, and enthusiasm within AJEX for the associations’ future. Although AJEX is experiencing a natural reduction in the numbers of members who served in WW2, and during the post-war period of National Service, there is no shortage of interest in AJEX from the hundreds of Jewish members of today’s armed forces, along with many other members of the wider Jewish community, both young and old, who identify with the core objectives of AJEX, namely: Remembrance, Welfare, and Education The launch during my predecessor’s term of office of the umbrella body known as the ‘Jewish Military Association’, has provided a ‘cradle to grave’ approach, whereby serving Jewish military personnel are provided with community support both during, and after their period of service.

A JEX has demonstrated its own commitment to this approach through the appointment of Major Danny Yank, recently retired from the Regular Army and now serving as a Reserve Royal Artillery Commando officer as its Chief Executive. Dan Fox, a serving member of the Army Reserves was also elected as my Deputy, and it is my fervent wish that Dan will take over the mantle from me when my term of office ends.

A t a recent meeting of the AJEX Executive Committee, we also resolved to raise our profile in the fight against a worrying resurgence in anti-Semitic activity. In this regard we can support the work of the CST and the Board of Deputies by highlighting the support we provide to our Jewish armed forces personnel, and for Jewish veterans. The values espoused by AJEX need to be heard across the UK at this challenging time for the community, and we will not remain silent in the face of those who defame and malign our community. T hrough our ongoing support for initiatives such the WW1 ‘We Were There Too’ educational programme, and this year’s highly successful ‘Veterans Games’ for British and Israeli disabled veterans which was held in Israel, AJEX will be further focusing on veterans’ welfare.

M y Head Office leadership team, under the stewardship of Major Yank, is now fully engaged in the planning

and implementation of a number of key remembrance events and ceremonies, which commemorate the sacrifice of British Jews and non-Jewish military personnel in the preservation of our freedom.

I n June we saw two key remembrance events pass off successfully, the first being a ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum, to commemorate the WW2 Battle of Monte Cassino, where Jewish soldiers played a significant role, and where many fell in battle. Our keynote speaker was Brigadier Simon Goldstein, who gave an insightful talk on the modern British Army, an equally excellent talk was given by our Education officer, Paula Kitching. Paula leads on our Jewish and nonJewish schools outreach programmes, supported by AJEX stalwart Ron Shelley. At the second event, which took place at Marlow Road Jewish Cemetery, we had the privilege of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis being present with us for the annual remembrance ceremony, where our dedicated Padre, Rabbi Major Reuben Livingstone officiated for the Military element of the service. As I write, our hard working team is busy planning this year’s AJEX flagship Annual Remembrance parade at the Cenotaph, which we are confident will see increased numbers of marchers drawn from Jewish schools, cadet forces, and other youth organisations.

I cannot speak highly enough of the scores of volunteers who work tirelessly to raise the profile of AJEX through a wide range of activities. Of course, we certainly need and welcome more volunteers, with or without previous Military service or experience. The key attributes are a caring attitude for our Veterans, and serving forces community, and a willingness to give up some time. Our volunteers derive huge personal satisfaction in helping to preserve the future of AJEX, and I have nothing but praise for these dedicated AJEX volunteers, whose contribution is so vital.

A JEX has a solid future, but we cannot succeed without the support of the entire community. Volunteering is never easy, but the reward is to help perpetuate the memory of those who sacrificed so much, and those younger serving personnel who continue to place their lives on the line, so that we can live in freedom.

Mike Bluestone MA CSyP FSyI National Chairman

THE JEWISH COMMITTEE FOR HM FORCES CHAIRMAN

’S NOTES

BY AIR COMMODORE PHILIP LESTER RAF

Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?

It’s been a year since I assumed the role of the Chair of the Jewish Committee for HM Forces (JCHMF) and it’s been a busy one at that. The Committee has worked tirelessly to codify a new constitution; one that puts the serving community at the heart of everything we do. As many know, through Facebook and WhatsApp, we now have a two-tiered governance structure. The first level is two subcommittees one looking after our community interests, the second our Endorsing Authority responsibilities for Jewish Chaplaincy. The second tier is the cohering and executive body and this provides the interface with the Ministry of Defence, the Chief Rabbi, the synagogue denominations and AJEX. The latter we grow ever closer with to inculcate a ‘cradle to grave’ approach for those who are serving and those who have served. It means we can do so much more for both groups,

maximising expertise and sharing resource where and when it is needed. Martin Newman, Mike Bluestone and Danny Yank have been at the heart of that endeavour - and we thank the three of them wholeheartedly.

On the community front, there is lots to report and those tracking social media will be up to speed on most of what we have done. Danny Sharp the community dynamo and chair of the AFJC along with Rabbi Reuben our illustrious Chaplain and stalwart Jeffrey Fox delivered a first class moral leadership event at Amportexcellent food, wine (and some other more dubious alcoholic beverages) along with first-class presentations and discussions made for a truly fantastic weekend. Such weekends only come with hard graft, eager participation (I won’t ever forget Simon Soskin’s eloquent oration on Britannic Star and the newly purchased chalice) and, of course, sponsorship.

B’nai B’rith and AJEX did us

proud once again - thank you. Danny Sharp and his committee have done so much this year to increase internal connectivity through several events and gatherings - keep it up guys.

So, as I move into my second year as Chair, we are establishing an Armed Forces Jewish Covent - along the lines of the Armed Forces Covenant - with each of the synagogue groupings to ensure Jews are not disadvantaged through their Service. We have also established a cross-denominational Rabbinic Panel with all the major UK denominations to assist Rabbi Reuben with maximising faith-specific support to our wide and diverse serving community. These two steps are big leaps forward for us and demonstrate maximum inclusivity. Furthermore, we have two potential candidates for endorsement as Chaplains. If these rabbis are successful we could see another rabbi in the Army and one in the RAF. If we achieve this, we will be

‘punching well-above our weight’. So, thank you to Stuart Taylor for leading the Endorsement sub-committee so well.

So, what for the coming year? Well, Let’s see...but if it’s anything like the last, it won’t be boring!! But off the top of my head I’m thinking of Belsen Liberation Remembrance, potentially another Staff Ride, potentially a heritage-related event (any volunteers to help?), greater civilian community outreach (well done Dan Fox) and taking every opportunity we can to promote what serving Jews do - to both the wider MoD and to our civilian communities. We now have a very strong, truly representational committee structure, with clear constitutions, committed members and a collective determination to do our very best for every serving Jewish woman and man. So, to close, thank to everyone who supports us and to every serving Jew for ‘flying the flag’ in the service of our country

PADRE'S CORNER

BY RABBI REUBEN LIVINGSTONE CF

COMMUNITY NEWS

BY LT COL DANNY SHARPE FRCEM FIMC RCS (ED) RAMC

80 Years Since the Beginning of WW2

Normally, it is the end of conflict not the beginning which is commemorated. Thus, the 80th anniversary of the commencement of WW2 would not be marked this year but for the fact that it ushered in one of the most punishing and painful chapters in our long Jewish history - and indeed that of the world. There is a rabbinic source for this in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem (TB Taanit 29A) which says, ‘The beginning point of tragedy is the most severe...’ meaning that the origins of cataclysm often lie in a sequence of early events which change the moral terrain and open the door for great catastrophe to ensue.

W W2, however, was not only an unutterably profound Jewish tragedy and the zenith of two millennia of scapegoating antisemitism - but also, paradoxically, had elements of Jewish triumph. Even as the Nazis murdered 6 million, over 1.5 million Jews fought back; with many volunteering themselves into the forward phalanx of a disparate Allied force of hundreds of millions that would bring the rule of evil to its knees. A core of these battle hardened fighting Jews and survivors became the backbone of the IDF and saw it victoriously through the War of Independence in 1948 - and subsequent conflicts - against all odds.

Through the experience of the war, Jews and Judaism would never be the same. Even as myriad of our people were slaughtered without being able to resist, other Jews on the Allied and Soviet sides fought back ferociously and thereby created a new template of the fighting Maccabeans who would never again be passive victims. Spiritually, this is the origin of the military self-empowerment of the State of Israel and the guiding IDF doctrine of preemptive self defence.

The tradition of Jewish soldiering is in fact rooted in the Torah and evidenced by the way in which the tribes of Israel were enumerated by Moses based entirely on eligibility for military service. The Jewish Military Association UK (JMA) combining AJEX (The Association of Jewish Ex-Service Men and Women) for veterans, and AFJC (The Armed Forces Jewish Community) for those currently serving, is a proud expression of this ancient martial tradition of service and selflessness.

W hen G-d charged Abram to leave his past behind and go forth to a new land and mission, the Torah says, ‘And you shall be a blessing’ (Genesis 12:2). Being a blessing to others through engendering a positive moral example is a theme that pulses through the rest of the Torah.

Those Jews who serve their people and country - whether in the UK or Israel - model the blessing of Abraham incorporating values, standards, faith and valour; and by that ensure that our young people have committed role models. Furthermore, they reinforce an acute sense of history which imbues vigilance in the face of ongoing existential threats to Jews and wider society. By marking 80 years since the dark clouds of 1939 we show solidarity for the victims - but we also muster eternal respect for the victors.

Earlier this year, we asked members to stand for election to positions on the newly formed AFJC Leadership Team . As a result, we now have a motivated, dynamic group drawn from all three services, including Regular, Reserve and Cadet Force personnel and with a rank range of Lance Corporal to Lieutenant Colonel.

This Main Effort of this team is to support Jewish personnel and their families in all aspects of their service life as well as inspiring and facilitating opportunities to increase access to Jewish life and experiences for the benefit of our community, whether that be through cultural, social or religious means, supporting personal development and education, or connecting to the wider Jewish community in the UK.

The AFJC Leadership Team came together this month to set out the direction of travel for the community over the next three to five years. This meeting was skilfully led by the professional strategist, Dr Lynette Nusbacher. The message that came from the team was clear. We need to provide a tangible difference to our community; things that our members can point to and say “the AFJC helped me achieve this”. By working in a joined up way with our colleagues in the Jewish Committee for HM Forces led by Air Cdre Philip Lester, and with our charitable arm, the Friends of Jewish Service Men and Women, as well the team at AJEX, we hope, within the

next year to significantly expand the offer we make our serving personnel and their families.

It has been inspiring to witness some of the extraordinary activities of our people this year. Despite being relatively few, it is clear our community is full of those who excel in their professional lives and in their contribution to their Service. Whether that be securing high profile postings, being noted for academic excellence, outshining counterparts in basic training or representing their service on the sports field our people are delivering the goods with an equal measure of pride, humility and determination.

We have also seen a busy period for our community of deployments overseas on exercise and operations. Over the last 12 months we have had members serving on almost every continent and in a multitude of different roles at sea, on land and in the air. My plea to those reading this in synagogues and community organisations is to remember that today and every day, Jews continue to serve this country and its people, often with significant personal sacrifice. Do not let their contribution go unnoticed.

If you want to follow the work of the AFJC and see some of the amazing people that make up our Community, or if you are a member who wishes to reconnect, you can follow us and get in touch on Twitter @HMAFJC.

May I take the opportunity to wish you and your families a Shana Tova, a happy, sweet, safe and successful year ahead.

It is a pleasure to be able to address you in this edition of Menorah, for the first time as the Chairman of the Armed Forces Jewish Community (AFJC), the body that brings together our serving regular and reserve forces personnel, our Cadets, and families.

TOO FAR? A Jump

BY JON TYLER

Ping! The email arrived in October 2018 asking if ex members of 21 SAS would like to join a group of mainly veterans to carry out a commemorative parachute jump from a Dakota C47, WWII plane in June 2019 for the 75th anniversary of D Day. And then to also do the same in September at Arnhem.

What a ridiculous idea, I would be 64 years old by then. And they said it would involve 5 jumps in Holland beforehand to qualify for Dutch Military B Parachuting Wings, whatever they are. The thought of ground training and

all those practice PLFs (Parachute Landing Falls) with my very dodgy knees (14 operations on them so far) sounded even more far-fetched. Besides which, I have always been scared of heights. So I ignored the email. Various of my mates talked about the prospect of perhaps

parachuting again, and we all said it was insane and no-one would allow it. Then in April, a photo arrived via Facebook of 10 of my old regimental friends, all having re-qualified as military parachutists using MC-1C round parachutes. Their average age was 62, yet in the photo they were all grinning!

I didn’t sleep that night. Old memories of jumping out of Hercules C130s and Chinooks at night, loaded with my own body weight of weapons and equipment, caused the adrenaline to surge through my body. I thought, if those old bastards can do it, surely I still can.

There was one final course in early May that I could creep on to as long as I completed a long list of administrative details, made the

payments and persuaded a doctor to sign a certificate that I was not likely to die. We had to have military equipment from our era, or WWII kit. After digging around in my loft, garden shed and garage I found my old 1970s/80s kit. The leather on the boots DMS had gone too hard, so they were binned. My beloved jungly trousers seemed to have shrunk by about four inches around the waist over the thirty years they had lain in the garage, but strangely they were still the right length! In fact, the only items that seemed to still be useful and that still fitted were my 40-year old para helmet, the socks and the camouflage scrimnet scarf. When you open a trunk after such a long period of time, the unique smell of the army kit still takes

you right back to the day you were issued with it – what is it that they put into army kit to make it have that distinctive odour? Anyway, a quick trip to the local military surplus store sorted me out. We also had to have special life insurance. My wife seemed suddenly to be strangely enthusiastic about my ridiculous and perilous adventure once she was sure that was in place.

So, all preliminaries taken care of and I booked a B&B just by Teuge airfield, half an hour north of Arnhem in Holland, and drove there the following Sunday.

The course began on the Sunday evening with the normal admin. From the course intake of 24 students there were four of us from the Regiment; we had all served in the same Squadron together so we looked forward to a week of reminiscing and mickey taking. The other students were from eight different countries, including Australia, Canada and Poland. I was the oldest.

Sunday and Monday were taken up with learning to pack parachutes, a totally new experience for all of us. Amusingly. we had to wear our military kit whilst trainingno insignia nor rank. It was extraordinary as once we were dressed it felt, for all of us, as though we had never been away. All the drills were familiar to us, as indeed was almost all the equipment, and we found we ended up helping to train some of the students. At our age, we all found falling was easy; getting up was just much harder than it used to be!

By Tuesday we were ready to jump. I was renowned for getting airsick in the days of low-level Hercules flights so, not knowing what to expect, I doped myself up and took a plastic bag with me, much to everyone else’s amusement, and slight concern.

Teuge is the Dutch International Parachuting centre and also an “International” airport, although the whole time we were there we saw only a few small local private planes. Hence, with air traffic control permission we were to be jumping onto the DZ which is right beside

the runway – but which is also bounded by trees and drainage ditches and some very cowpatheavy fields! Our plane was a Cessna 208 “Caravan”. It normally takes 12 jumpers, which is a tight fit, and climbs very quickly to 2000ft. I found that there was no need to worry about airsickness; there is no time! We got in, hooked up, sat down and within a few minutes of take-off we were back over the airfield.

In a Cessna you don’t exit from a standing position but sit on the floor, with the static line attached to a cable on the floor, and you sort of bottom shuffle out of the door. I went out as No 3 of the first stick. We all exited with no twists and were significantly spaced out that there were no mid-air incidents. As so often happens, the first was easy, old experience kicked in, I assessed my drift, and instead of aiming for the big DZ cross I aimed for the recovery vehicle and landed softly. I checked the rest of the stick were OK, bagged my chute and was first into the vehicle. However, the second stick were not so fortunate and one of them ended up in the trees, from where the local fire brigade had to come and rescue him, and embarrassingly ending up on the local TV station news!

The second jump of the day was not quite so straightforward. You are always more nervous for the second jump; there seem to be more things to remember to worry about! This time I was No 1 in the stick. My colleague Paul somehow misjudged his drift and ended up a long way away, landing in a very large pile of cow dung, which I thought was enormously funny until I realised I was driving him back to our B&B in my car. I, however, had the embarrassment of losing both my helmet as I exited the aircraft. We can only presume I hadn’t fastened the chin strap properly, something that had never happened before. Luckily, I had another good landing. Some of the guys had seen my helmet fall, from 2,000 ft, and indicated very roughly where it came down. However, the vegetation was about 12 inches high in this area

so we decided to write it off at that point, only to recover it later.

I went to get my log book signed and realised, looking back at my recorded jumps, that it was 30 years since I last jumped (when on exercise with the Portuguese army) and exactly 43 years, to the day, since my first ever jump at Para school in Aldershot.

That evening, after repacking chutes four of us headed out for a quick drink, still dressed in our camouflage uniforms. As we sat nursing our beers we started to giggle as we realised the locals were looking at us in wonder. They must have questioned why four overweight, balding, grey haired old men were still in the British Army; was Dad’s Army reforming?

The next two days reminded us of what parachuting was all about. The weather was not kind to us, with high winds and low cloud, so there was an awful lot of sitting around, drinking coffee, teasing each other and lying about how damn good we were

when we were young! However, in between rain squalls, etc. we managed to squeeze in another three jumps, some in winds of 12 – 15kms on the ground, which exercised our steering abilities and PLFs. Luckily, we four regimental friends all survived unscathed, although a few other students were quite bruised. We also witnessed the rather worrying sight of two of the Polish lads descending so close to each other that they alternately stole each other’s air until they finally separated just before they hit the ground, what could have been a quite dangerous incident.

So that was that, we were now qualified to jump in Normandy for the D-Day celebrations. We had a brief wings ceremony and celebratory beers and then headed out, via a sightseeing trip to Arnhem, back to Blighty.

The D-Day 75th anniversary celebrations were taking place

all through the 1st week of June, with the main jump for us all to be on Wednesday June 5th, with further jumps over the next two days. On the 5th one group of 24 parachutists from the Pathfinder group eventually managed to jump out of a WWII Dakota, escorted by two Spitfires. The Dakota even had about 50 bullet holes in it, all patched up.

We were told we had to jump in WWII uniform. Most of us opted for reproduction Para smocks. I was honoured that the widow of my first sergeant major asked me to jump with his helmet, which was an original SAS para helmet from 1943.

I arrived in Troarn late on Thursday 6th with half an hour to spare to quickly draw and fit a parachute, to be prepared to move early the next day. There was just time, in the local gym where we were based, to be given a quick briefing on how to hook up and then exit from a Dakota, as I had never been inside one before.

We got on the buses for Caen

Carpiquet airport early the next morning but halfway there we got the signal that the jump was off. Sadly, the Gods were not on our side and the heavens opened as a large storm progressed through from the South and totally wiped

out parachuting activity for all the various units. The following day opened with the Met forecast suggesting that at some point the winds would drop. Caen Carpiquet is a small international airport with very few facilities, so we ended up hanging around all day as we watched the windsock mock us by being permanently stretched horizontal by the winds. After waiting 10 long hours, at around 18.00hrs we received a message that the winds were expected to drop and very soon the DZ party phoned to say that that was indeed the case. We immediately received the order to kit up and then we waddled out through the security barrier to wait on the tarmac. As usual, there was a lot of “hurrying up and waiting”, some of which was taken up watching the US President’s helicopter being towed in, accompanied by dozens of, we presumed, CIA operatives, all lined up each side of it in case anyone dared to approach. Finally, our Dakota C47, named “Dumbo Express” taxied over to us. What an iconic sight, complete with RAF roundels on it. I was one of the last to board and needed a hand up as I was too short to get myself, from the box we stood on, into the plane! Eventually 24 of us emplaned, all as excited as little school kids. The

Dakota is really quite small and it must have been very crowded for the lads 75 years ago, loaded with all their kit, ammunition etc.

We were to drop on DZ Sannerville, which is about 15K east of the airport, just the other side of the famous Pegasus bridge. My main concern was that, despite being fields, the DZ was bordered on three sides - by the town of Sannerville on the East, a power line on the West and, to the North, a tree lined road that would have civilian traffic on it. There was also a cement factory located by the road.

The plane only had about an hour of air clearance left to drop 48 personnel in two flights (chalks) with two 12 man sticks in each, so speed was of the essence and there was very little time to be in the air and be ready.

Within minutes the order came to “Stand up” and “Hook up”. Followed by the familiar cry of “Check Equipment”, as we checked our own kit and then checked the person in front of us. The adrenaline really started coursing as the Jump Master yelled “Tell off for Equipment Check” and the rear man started the count “12 OK” slapping the shoulder of the man in front who yelled “11 OK” and it progressed to me at No 5 and onwards to the front man who yelled “1

OK, Port stick OK!” Any ex Para hearing those commands will immediately feel his heart racing. We were jumping in daylight with no weapons nor extra equipment, and with no bullets and no flack coming through the plane – imagine how scary it must have been 75 years before.

The Red light went on and the No1 man stood in the doorway, one arm braced against the side to prevent him falling out, the rest of us shuffled forward in line. “Green On, Go!” and we exited in a well drilled line out through the door, like Lemmings.

“1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, Check Canopy”; it’s amazing how the training from 43 years ago is still deeply ingrained. We all exited well; my helmet stayed on my head this time and I quickly kicked out of a couple of twists in my rigging lines and assessed where I was. I couldn’t see the DZ cross, so I looked around for a landmark and I, like the other jumpers in the stick, realised we had dropped above the DZ but the winds at 2,000 ft were much stronger than anticipated and we were rapidly drifting North.

I landed perfectly and having taken the obligatory photos, packed our chutes in the special bags, hoisted them on our backs and started walking the 500 plus metres back to the DZ. I remember when that would have been a pleasure – however at 64 years old and with two dodgy knees I was sweating buckets by the time we all assembled at the DZ RV.

The pilot with the next three sticks learned from our drift and navigated a line such that the jumpers landed nicely close to the DZ marker. I was amazed that in the two days of jumps over 20 ex (old) members of the reserve SAS managed to jump, together with about another 70 jumpers from numerous countries and military backgrounds. And, it seems, no serious injuries.

Over 4000 Allied Jewish soldiers took part in the D Day landings, around 100 of them died in those first three days. “May their memory be a blessing”

OF THE LIBERATION OF HOLLAND 1944

BY MERVYN KERSH

Hell’s Highway and Market Garden were two of the main battles which led to the liberation and a rapid supply of food to the starving population.

Th is September, on the 75th anniversary of the action, twenty-two Veterans now all in their nineties, half from the UK, were brought to Holland as honoured guests, along with a carer each. I had my daughter, Lynne with me. Military medics were supplied as well as the volunteer committee.

We were wined and dined during the many commemorations, which included a cruise in Rotterdam with musical entertainment, and a football match in Arnhem which was dedicated

to the Veterans. It culminated with a huge gala dinner with government ministers and military chiefs mixing freely.

Th ere were also visits to the concentration camp in Vught where one of the local guides invited me to spend the Sabbath with his family. We also visited the British Military Cemetery at Kleeve, Germany, where I laid an AJEX wreath. I had previously asked for vegetarian food but our hosts kept plying me with sealed Kosher meals.

Th ere was a reception at the Royal Palace and another at the Military Academy. We were introduced to many schoolchildren to make sure that the allied sacrifice for the Dutch Liberation will never be forgotten. They presented each of us with flowers and

a personal note of gratitude which I shall always keep.

We watched as one on our number jumped out of a Dakota airplane by parachute to demonstrate that he could still do it aged 95. Another Veteran, a Briton, had a flight in a Spitfire.

The largest event was at the Arnhem British Military Cemetery at Oosterbeek with an estimated attendance of about 5,000 people. I again laid a an AJEX wreath and afterwards placed wooden Magen David markers at several Jewish graves. A visiting Israeli major chanted the Memorial Prayer and sounded the shofar.

It was a hectic ten days but one which will never be forgotten by the veterans, some of whom were brought from as far as Vancouver Island

The Nederland-Amerika Committee of Holland veterans from the UK, USA, Canada and Poland who served in Holland in 1944 during the liberation of the country.

A narrow bridge, requires wide vision…

BY MIKE BLUESTONE MA, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN AJEX, JMA

The i mmortal words associated with the late Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, are embedded in Jewish memory, especially so since the Holocaust, when those words were frequently uttered by Jewish victims as they met their dreadful, and unspeakable fate in concentration camps.

W hy, you may ask am I, as National Chairman of AJEX, the UK’s Jewish veterans’ organisation, writing today in this vein?

The answer is that many members of our community are today simply afraid. Sadly, fear has entered the Jewish psyche in the United Kingdom, a country which for generations has been a sanctuary for our community, a country and people who

have been good and kind to us for hundreds of years.

Th ese fears emanate from political uncertainty, and a clear and worrying rise in anti-Semitism, both from the extreme left, and the extreme right. We live in a highly charged political climate where the spotlight is very much on our community, a spotlight which we wish would switch itself off…

O f course, you know all of this, but the reason AJEX is now ramping up its engagement in combating anti-Semitism is that despite the feelings of many of us that we are possibly reliving the 1930s and 40’s, (although the landscape today is different to that dark period) we as the principal Jewish veterans’ organisation

cannot and must not remain silent. It is after all a fact that many of our members, grandparents, and in many cases, our parents, helped in their tens of thousands (60,000 to be precise, plus 30,000 Palestinian Jews) to serve as fighting comrades alongside the millions of British, Commonwealth, and other Allied troops, to bravely defeat the scourge of Nazism and Fascism. So how does this impact on the fears that we currently feel?

Firstly, and foremost, history does not repeat itself in exact terms. There are similarities in historical events and crises, but the outcomes of fear and threats depend to large extent on how we face up to them and how we manage our responses. Strong communal leadership is vital, as is adopting a defiant stance, not cowering or living in denial, and these are all key factors in fighting hatred, and racism.

Th e core pillars of AJEX are to provide welfare, educational, and remembrance services and support to our members, but

whilst we at AJEX take heart from the boldness of other communal organisations who are calling out anti-Semitism and combatting it, such as the CST, Board of Deputies, JLC and CAA, we as former servicemen and women will not remain silent either. We will continue to promote the values of AJEX and service to Queen and country, and just as in the post-WW2 period, when fascists once again appeared on the streets of the UK, we will play our part in combatting such hatred, be it anti-Semitism or any other form of racism or bigotry. We will also steadfastly continue to support the hundreds of current serving Jewish servicemen and women in HM forces, through the umbrella Jewish Military Association (JMA) of which AJEX, and the Jewish Committee for HM Forces are key components.

Th ere is no ‘magic bullet’ which cures fear, but maybe we should keep in mind the words of Rebbe Nachman, and work hard to quell our fears, however narrow the bridges in front of us may seem…

‘Kol Ha'olam kulo, gesher tsar me’od, lo le’fached…’ ‘The whole world is a narrow bridge, and a person passing over that bridge should not be afraid…’

JEWISH BOOKS FOR ARMED FORCES FAMILIES

Amegillah, the Haggadah and, of course, the Torah – Jews love a good religious book. If you’re an English Literature graduate you may appreciate the beautiful poetry in Psalms. For the rest of us, it can be challenging to find meaning, especially for younger members of the community.

PJ Library, an organisation that gifts books to over 7,000 children across the UK, celebrates Jewish values and traditions through colourful and creative stories. This September they are distributing these titles, using highquality illustrations and informative inside covers of the books to inspire both children and parents alike.

Sammy Spider’s First Book of Jewish Holidays

Sammy Spider is curious about everything -- especially Jewish holidays and in this story, he learns a little bit about all of them.

Michael’s teacher told all her students to bring their favourite fruit to school so they could hang them from the roof of the sukkah. But Michael’s favorite fruit is a big, heavy watermelon -- and the roof of a sukkah is really just branches! How will they solve this problem?

Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons

Rabbi Benjamin’s congregants love him -- so they make him a lovely homemade vest for Rosh Hashanah. They also make him all sorts of delicious foods throughout the yearand before Rabbi Benjamin knows it, that vest is a little bit tight. Uh oh!

Even Higher! A Rosh Hashanah Story

In this old-world tale, a skeptical visitor to a village determines where the rabbi goes when he disappears each year just prior to Rosh Hashanah.

1. Speak their language! If your child knows more about swiping than synagogue, download Jewish content on their screens

A Watermelon in the Sukkah

PJ Library suggest these top tips, beyond bedtime stories, to strengthen Jewish identity in the home.

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader!

via Jewish Interactive, a charity that creates Jewish apps for children. Check out their Hebrew reading series ‘Learning the Aleph-Bet’, which invites children to make their own games and puzzles.

2. Bring books to life. While we are all for children reading about Judaism, why not bring the stories to life? Earlier in the year, one PJ parent took her children to a local garden centre on Tu B’Shvat to plant some seeds and read a story together. Another family, on a holiday to Israel, used the PJ Library book Ella’s Trip To Israel , to inspire their itinerary.

3. Food glorious food! We are blessed to be part of a religion that has such a colourful and meaningful

food history. Make Jewish food together and use that time together to talk about why the food is special.

4. Lead by example. Make Friday night Shabbat dinner a no-phone time for the family to light candles, eat challah and catch up. Or if your child attends a non-Jewish school, offer to read the class a story about a forthcoming festival. With over 500 titles, email the PJ Library team if you need to borrow one or are looking for a simple craft or activity suggestion.

If you know a child aged eight or under who hasn’t yet signed up to PJ Library, don’t let them miss out on their FREE monthly book, visit www.pjlibrary.org.uk

found it very overwhelming and emotional to visit my brother’s grave after so many years. I cried for my father; now as a bereaved mother myself, I understood and felt the pain that he had carried inside since Chucky’s death, until his own death at the age of 73, but had never shown. I found myself thinking: “How did you go on after losing first your wife and then your only son? How did you deal with your pain? Who helped you? Who supported you? Why did you never speak to us – your daughters - about your son?”

A CANADIAN GRAVE

in Surrey

BY DAVID BENTATA

My beloved son, Lt. Daniel Mandel z”l, was shot in Nablus while arresting terrorists in 2003. This visit to England was one I had wanted to make for a few years, and in May 2019, Mizrachi UK invited me to be one of their guest speakers at a Yom Ha’atzmaut event in London.

Our story starts in Romania, where my father, Henry Males z”l, was born in 1899. He moved to Canada as an infant, grew up there and lost his first wife to illness and his son in World War II. He went on to marry my mother and I was the second of four daughters, born in 1948 in Toronto, where I lived until I made Aliyah with my husband and five children in 1987. My father died when I was a young married woman

and I didn’t really get to know him. He was a quiet man.

A few years ago, I realized that my father had been a bereaved father from the Canadian Army, just as I was a bereaved mother from the Israeli Army. He never talked about his first wife or his son, and as a young person I was interested in many things but not my parents and their stories! So I started to investigate and found out that my half-brother Charles z”l was buried in England at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey.

Charles, or Chucky as he was known, volunteered to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force along with five other guys from his neighborhood, but only 2 returned. He was a gunner on a Lancaster Bomber and was killed by anti-aircraft flak over

Bochum, Germany, on October 9th 1944. His plane returned safely to England and he was buried at Brookwood. My father, already a widower, received a telegram informing him of his only child’s death. He was one of 35,000 Canadian parents that received that dreaded telegram. A short time later, he received a letter of condolence saying where his son had been buried, and that was that! For 75 years, no one from the family had ever been to visit his grave. I was determined to change this.

With a little help from friends, I was escorted to Brookwood Military Cemetery by Stanley Kaye, a wonderful, kind exserviceman and military history buff. Brookwood has around 1,000 military graves, mostly marked by crosses, but Chucky’s grave had a Magen David. I

W hen my son Daniel z”l was killed, it happened in a different country and a different era, and our experience was drastically different. Daniel received a hero’s burial, attended by family, friends and community, including his soldiers and many others. Our home was flooded with people who knew and loved Daniel and wanted to tell us their stories about him. We were supported by professionals in the army, by the Ministry of Defense, by our community. We felt loved and we were given the strength and support to go on with our lives. I have made it my life’s work to speak about heroism and resilience wherever I can.

Now, thinking back to World War II, when the scale of the tragedy was so enormous and overwhelming, I appreciate my own experience differently. There were so many beloved sons, so many graves, and not enough time to mourn them properly. Mine was the first stone to be placed on Chucky’s grave.

Cheryl and David Mandel have built a website in memory of their son Daniel: www.daniel-mandel.co.il

It wasn’t my first visit to England, but it was my first visit since I had become a bereaved mother of the Israeli Army 16 years ago.

EDUCATION NEWS

BY PAULA KITCHING

At the National Memorial Arboretum in June we had over ten students and their teacher attend our service of Remembrance for National Armed Forces Week. The students had a number of special workshops at the site and took part in Remembrance activities. WE will be developing this programme in future years.

Over the last six months we have been visiting schools to talk to young people about what AJEX does and with Veterans providing personal testimony of their experiences. A new pop up exhibition for displays has been developed for schools and community groups and there are new programmes and resources.

The AJEX Ambassador Scheme is a new programme to get young people involved with AJEX. There was a time when many of us had a either served or had a relative that had served in one of the World Wars, now that

direct relationship has died out or been lost. That means fewer young people going to the Parade and to AJEX events to march or sit alongside their relatives. However, to ensure that young people continue to take part in Remembrance and understand and appreciate the role of AJEX in the past and the present we need to get them engaged. That is why one of our new programmes works directly with young people to get them involved with AJEX.

We would like young people of all ages to sign up to a programme of activities and talks about AJEX over a year. All the children will get the opportunity to attend workshops on the History of Jewish Military Service, learn how to research about their family and community connections, create Remembrance wreaths and memorials and take part in activities and events. Children in year 10 and above will be offered additional opportunities to develop leadership skills. All the young people who take

part will receive a certificate of participation and information that can be used for University Statements and applications.

The programme is to run in schools, synagogues, or community organisations by AJEX but with the support of the host organisation.

Of course the big priority for the next few months is the Remembrance Parade, and while lots of children and young people take part in events at schools and in their local areas we really want to see a strong presence on Whitehall on the 17 November. Very few organisations have been granted the privilege of their own Parade and Service in such an important place – let’s make sure that we demonstrate why that privilege should continue. Schools with existing Rolls of Honour will be encouraged to find out more and march on behalf of those men and women at the Parade. Those schools that have been created since the major

DIARY OF EVENTS

Thursday 7th Nov Westminster Abbey Field of Remembrance

Saturday 9th Nov AJEX Shabbat

Sunday 10th Nov National Remembrance Day

Monday 11th Nov Armistice Day

Saturday 16th Nov AJEX Shabbat

Sunday 17th Nov AJEX Ceremony of Remembrance and Parade 10-12 January Armed Forces Jewish Weekend Amport House

conflicts will be asked to adopt some of the regiments or military units listed British Jewry Book of Honour or the AJEX Roll of Honour to march carrying some of those names – all helping to keep Remembrance alive.

Young people don’t have to attend the Parade with their schools or organisations – if you know of someone who would like to march get in touch with the AJEX office.

If you want to know any more about the AJEX education and outreach activities or you are a veteran that would be happy to contribute your time to going into these places then please contact the AJEX office.

Next year 2020 will be the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Concentration Camps and Death Camps created by Nazi Germany. If you have any relatives that were there at the liberation or shortly afterwards as serving personnel could you please contact the AJEX office

FULL DETAILS OF ALL EVENTS ARE AVAILABLE FROM AJEX HEAD OFFICE. NOTE THAT AJEX SHABBAT SERVICES ARE SPREAD OVER TWO WEEKS AS ADVISED BY INDIVIDUAL SYNAGOGUES.

It has been a busy year getting things ready for the parade, developing some new programmes and developing resources for schools and community groups.

IN FOCUS

AROUND THE BASES AND BRANCHES

WEDDING BELLS

MAZELTOV TO MAJOR LAURENCE AND HOLLY BAUM ON THEIR RECENT MARRIAGE

A big welcome to Holly on joining our Jewish military family

HMS RALEIGH GOES KOSHER –With Winning Results.

including the Royal Navy fitness test, military swimming, selfnavigated across Dartmoor, kit musters, first aid assessment and the Naval General Training exam.

Able Seaman

Gabriel Kagan was presented with the Captain’s Prize at the Royal Naval Reserve Ratings Confirmation Course which marks the end of Phase 1 Training. This prestigious prize is awarded to the best overall recruit.

The demanding course contains several pass or fail elements,

Being the one of the first religious Jewish sailors passing through HMS Raleigh, the challenges presented themselves from the onset. However, with the support of Padre Reuben Livingstone and HMS Raleigh’s training, chaplaincy and catering staff, fully kosher food was provided and the programme designed to allow complete observance of Shabbat.

He is now continuing his specialisation training, joining the Warfare Seaman Branch of the RNR at HMS President in London. BZ Gabriel!

IMMANUEL COLLEGE STUDENT SAMPLE SERVICE LIFE.

St udents from Immanuel College, Bushey, joined serving personnel from across all three services at Permaent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), Northwood in October as part of a Royal Navy led leadership programme. The

Jewish students heard directly from serving Jewish personnel, including Cdr Dan Weil RN, Lt Cdr Jon Littman RN and Plt Off Sam Hulsenrath RAF. Mazel tov to all the students involved on their achievements. There will be a full report on the initiative by Lt Cdr Jon Littman in the next edition

LEEDS SUPPORTS NORMANDY MEMORIAL

Nobody could have failed to be moved by the recent coverage of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy Campaign. The Normandy Memorial Trust is raising funds for a memorial in Normandy to all those

who lost their lives there.

W ith all this in mind, a collection for the Trust was made on the AJEX coach from Leeds to the National Memorial Arboretum for the AJEX Annual Service at the Jewish Military Memorial. A bag was passed round

the coach and even the driver made a contribution. A very pleasing total of £196.17 was raised.

I n its handsome “thank you”, the Trust made reference to The Jewish Military Association, which it had been told about when the

donation was sent. This was particularly pleasing as it is so important that nonJewish organisations are well aware of the contribution which the Jewish community has made, and continues to make, to the wider population. Vivat AJEX!

IAN WINS HIS DOLPHINS

Sub Lieutenant Ian Player has become the first Jewish submariner that we have been made aware of for some years. Ian passed his Basic Submariner Qualification and Officer of the Day Board and received his Dolphins, the qualified submariners’ insignia, from his CO, Commander Haskins, Rear

at their Summer Ball.

I an follows in the footsteps of another Jewish submariner Tommy Gould VC. A Blue Plaque is to be unveiled in London in the near future in memory of Tommy Gould and Ian hopes to be present at the ceremony.

IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

Private Daniel Levy has joined 1st Military Working Dogs Regiment as a dog handler. A big

thank you to Apo, his sidekick, for keeping an eye on Daniel during his training. Well done both and biscuits all round.

FLYING THE FLAG

ARMY RESERVE SERGEANT, DAN FOX, WHO IS NOW ALSO DEPUTY NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF AJEX, HAS BEEN ORGANISING A SERIES OF WELL RECEIVED TALKS TO SCHOOLS, SYNAGOGUES AND COMMUNITY GROUPS, ON JEWS IN HM FORCES.

He is pictured with Joe Silver of The Friends of Jewish Servicemen & Women at a presentation held at Maidenhead.

Joe said: “The talk was beyond good. One of the

audience, an international lecturer who travels the world described Dan as one of the most professional speakers he has ever heard.

To arrange a talk by Dan and his team contact AJEX Head Offic e

Admiral Submarines, Sir John Weaste and Commodore Jim Perkes

IN FOCUS

AROUND THE BASES AND BRANCHES

UNDER THE CHUPPAH

DYLAN MARSHALL & MIR I SCHNEIDMAN

MAZELTOV TO DYLAN MARSHALL AND MIRI

SCHNEIDMAN WHO TIED THE KNOT IN HAIFA, ISRAEL ON TU B'AV, THURSDAY 15 AUGUST 2019. WE WISH THEM WELL FOR THE FUTURE AND WELCOME MIRI TO OUR JEWISH MILITARY COMMUNITY.

SILVER MEDAL FOR TOP ENGINEER

Congratulations to Lt Louis Trup on being awarded the Institute of Royal Engineers Silver Medal for being the top engineer troop commander on The Royal Engineers Troop Commanders course No 181.

It’s been a busy time for Louis who also took part in London Public Duties earlier in the year with The Queen’s Gurkha Engineer Regiment.

RUNNING FOR AJEX

Th anks to an initiative by Army Reserve dog handler, Pte Daniel Levy, a group of serving personnel took part in the Annual Maccabi Fun and raised over 1,000 for AJEX. The group comprised members of all three services, of all ages and ranging in rank from Private to Brigadier.

A JEX fundraising coordinator, Jonathan Kober, said: “For the first time we had a number of young men currently in the Armed Forces who participated in the five kilometers, as well as other runners who took part in both the one and five kilometer races. The serving troops also helped us on the stand and with their help we raised record sums for both Education and Welfare needs.”

Th is year the event had over 3,000 runners as well as over 4,500 spectators, with quite a number visiting the stand, engaging with AJEX

100 NOT OUT...

MAZEL TOV TO JOE SLYPER, PRESIDENT OF FINCHLEY BRANCH OF AJEX ON HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY. JOE, WHO HAS BEEN AWARDED THE AJEX GOLD BADGE IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE LONGEST SERVING BRANCH COMMITTEE MEMBER. THERE WILL BE A FULL PROFILE IN THE NEXT EDITION.

THE CHIEF RABBI'S

Rosh Hashanah Message 5780

On 23rd June 2019, something extraordinary happened in Turkey; something which provides an insight into how each of us might successfully navigate a society which feels more divided and despondent than it has for many years.

globe, from here in the UK, right across Europe, the United States and even in Israel. These are times of disharmony, which many of us never believed we would see.

Citizens in every country are prompted to make a choice: Will we do the easy thing? Will we sit back and allow ourselves to be swept up by the dangerous currents of hostility to ‘the other’? Or, can we find a port somewhere in the storm where we can remain considered and temperate; where we can be discerning about truth and justice within our fragile world?

In creasingly, when faced with a major problem, public figures discover that they find acclaim by apportioning blame. Immediate, oversimplified solutions are promised and their impassioned rhetoric alone can be enough to generate widespread public support. Over time, those holding an opposing view feel compelled to resort to many of the same tactics in order to be heard and society becomes polarised. Those who might be cast as an obstacle to the success of one side or another are scapegoated. Before long, people become defined by their perceived ‘allegiances’ and a destructive culture of demonisation

of ‘the other’ sets in. Today, we call this populism. Its impact is felt across the

The signs thus far have been less than encouraging, but earlier this year a Turkish man, Ates Ilyas Bassoy, provided a flicker of light in the darkness.

Mr Bassoy had observed how actor, Robert De Niro had publicly insulted President Donald Trump at a high profile awards ceremony the previous year. His expletive-ridden remarks were greeted by a standing ovation, but they also served to motivate and embolden the President’s supporters.

Not surprisingly, anger generated yet more anger. Mr Bassoy concluded that a more effective strategy would be one of what he called ‘radical love’ - to meet aggression with peace, insults with praise and hatred with love. To most, it sounded like a naïve – if honourable – approach, but he was provided with an opportunity to prove it could work when he became the campaign manager for a virtually unknown district mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. Mr Imamoglu was to stand for Mayor of Istanbul against the might of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powerful party regime. Bassoy described his campaign strategy as having two simple rules: Ignore Erdogan and love those who love Erdogan.

Few people believed that his candidate stood any chance. After all, Istanbul had long been a stronghold of the ruling AKP party and President Erdogan had a large base of support in the Turkish capital. Astonishingly, on 23rd June this year, against all the odds, Ekrem Imamoglu was elected mayor of Istanbul, striking a blow for civility, selflessness and decency.

The lesson of this most unlikely political earthquake is that the port in the storm is not in fact beyond our reach, nor is it something that we must wait for others

to provide. On the contrary, the answer is and has always been right under our noses.

Our societies can take a lesson from our Torah tradition:

םולש

םענ יכרד היכרד

“The Torah’s ways are pleasant and all its paths are peace.” (Proverbs 3:17)

It is within our power to break free from the cycle of polarisation. It begins by modelling what Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land, referred to as ‘Ahavat Chinam’ –causeless love: making time to give of ourselves to others with no expectation of reward or reciprocity.

Our Sages taught: We become truly wise by learning from every person. We become truly mighty by conquering our own negative inclinations. We become truly honourable by honouring others and we become truly heroic by turning enemies into friends.

A highlight of our Yom Kippur services is the repetitive chanting of the

היתוביתנ לכו

“These are times of disharmony, which many of us never believed we would see.”

“…the port in the storm is not in fact beyond our reach, nor is it something that we must wait for others to provide.”

“It is within our power to break free from the cycle of polarisation.”

13 attributes of Hashem’s mercy. The Talmud explains that we do so in order to inspire us to emulate the ways of the Almighty: just as He is merciful, so too should we be merciful; just as He is kind, so too should we be kind. (Shabbat 133b).

Over the High Holy Day period, when we lower our heads for viduy (confession), we will admit to the sins of sneering, impertinence and obduracy; of disrespect, hard-heartedness and insincerity; of deception, tale-bearing and baseless hatred. Are these not among the most transgressed sins of the social media generation? In these times, when decency is no longer the norm and humility is mistaken for weakness, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur inspire us to buck the trend and to change ourselves so deeply that those around us cannot fail to be influenced by it. This is how the seeds for real global change are sown.

Valerie and I extend our heartfelt wishes to you all for a happy, peaceful and fulfilling New Year.

ISRAELI AIRCRAFT in the Skies Over Britain

Israeli military aircraft have flown over the UK in a joint exercise for the first time ever during September as part of a three week multi-national coordination effort with The Royal Air Force as well as German, Italian and US planes.

Fo r UK-Israel defence cooperation, Exercise Cobra Warrior marks a landmark moment, and the training based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire was expected to last for over two weeks.

and flown in Britain. The deployment will help improve IAF readiness and capability. We view this exercise as the highest standard of training, an excellent opportunity for mutual learning and bolstering cooperation between partners.”

Chief Rabbi

Ephraim Mirvis

September 2019 •

Tishrei 5780

The five nations possess some of the most advanced fighters in the world and the RAF described the exercise as “high intensity large force tactical training” involving around 50 aircraft, which the Israeli delegation said would be a great help.

“We are happy and proud to participate in the Cobra Warrior exercise,” said Brigadier General Amnon Ein-Dar, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) head of training.

“This is the first time IAF fighter aircraft have deployed

The exercise “develops the tactical leadership of aircrew and supporting elements within a complex air environment” and allows the teams to develop, plan and practice tactics and procedures during war-like scenarios.

Israeli aircraft have reportedly been in action over Syria, Iraq and Lebanon in recent weeks, and Britain this week welcomed the input of other nations as a learning opportunity.

“The RAF welcomes the participation of our Air

Force colleagues from other nations,” said Group Captain Robert Barrett. “We welcome the opportunity to train alongside all of the participating nations’ forces on this challenging exercise.”

The UK and Israel already spend hundreds of millions of pounds purchasing each other’s defence equipment, and next year the military partnership looks set to solidify, as Israel hosts RAF pilots taking part in Blue Flag 2020, Israel’s largest international air exercise. It will be the first time that RAF jets will have trained in Israeli airspace.

Several Israeli combat pilots took part in a joint training seminar with RAF Typhoon pilots last year, and in 2017 senior RAF personnel toured Israeli bases.

MY UNCLE WAS FINALLY LAID TO REST The Day

BY NICK FREEMAN

At t he end of the line was my cousin, Richard Graine, and what he had to say utterly shocked me.

‘ Nick,’ he began slowly. ‘They’ve finally found where Frank went down.’

F or a moment it felt like the world had become as still and silent as the watery depths which had claimed the life of 20 yearold sub lieutenant Frank Freeman: my father’s older brother and the man after whom I had been named.

D ecades after his boat sank following the D Day landings, I felt myself go rigid with shock: how had the ocean finally given up the secret of Frank’s final resting place?

Trembling with emotion I listened in amazement as Richard explained how divers from the SouthSea Sub Aqua Club had stumbled upon the wreck of Frank’s ship. But it was hard to process what I was being told.

A fter all, this was Frank, a man adored by his family whose untimely death had

splintered my grandparents’ hearts into a thousand pieces.It seemed incredible.

I already knew the broad facts surrounding Frank’s death. As a curious child, I’d wanted to know why I bore Frank as a middle name. So I would listen in wonder when my late father, Keith, seven years Frank’s junior, spoke of his charismatic older brother and what seemed to be a tale of derring-do, excitement and boyish adventure.

A strong swimmer and keen athlete, Frank was only 16 when, in 1939, he hoodwinked the Navy into believing he was old enough to sign up.

A nd, as befitting his character, he would go on to prove his courage and resilience. Yet in the end Frank’s death was as horrifically premature as it was tragically avoidable.

I t happened in the early hours of June 7th, 1944. Frank had been on board landing craft LCT 427, where he was believed to be second in command of the 12 man crew. The ship was returning to Portsmouth

having successfully delivered a cargo of Sherman duplex drive (DD) tanks to Gold Beach on D-Day as a part of the British lead assault under Operation Neptune

B ut just four miles from the harbour, disaster struck. The craft collided with HMS Rodney, a 34,000-ton battleship, which sliced the boat in half. Within seconds

Working from home on a bleak winter afternoon, my mind was absorbed by the complex legal argument surrounding a client’s case, when the phone rang and fractured my concentration.

LCT427 had plunged to the bottom of the Solent. The crew never stood a chance.

W hat made this all so horribly ironic was that the crew had done ‘the hard bit’: crossing to France, surviving enemy fire and successfully delivering the cargo of tanks - only to be dispatched to their death by their allies and countrymen.

O n the day of Frank’s death, countless ships had been cross-crossing the waters between England and France. Due to the scale and magnitude of the Normandy invasion, the incident went unreported for two months and during this time the landing craft was reported as “missing”.

I ndeed one reason my grandfather, Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Freeman, never got over the death of his son, was that he didn’t know of Frank’s final resting place. Like many other relatives , he believed Frank’s ship had been lost in Normandy under enemy fire.

( Manny was also a notable war hero - on his 101st birthday he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest decoration, in recognition of his service during the First World War.)

O ne consolation - the only consolation - was that grandpa never knew that the death of his much loved son was entirely avoidable.

S pool forward to 2011 and the twisted wreck of Frank’s ship was discovered one August day as the Southsea Sub-Aqua Club’s carried out a diving survey and historical research in the Solent area.

T he area is normally out of bounds for diving, but the club had been given

special permission by Portsmouth Harbour Master.

A s the divers picked their way through the murky waters they found the ship cut in two pieces, both lying upright and several hundred metres apart.

A stonishingly the anti-aircraft guns and ammunition boxes were all there There was also a large capstan at the stern and, at the bow section, the landing craft door was open.

A fter the divers made their discovery they approached the Media to see if the family of the crew and their comrades could be located. My cousin Richard heard the story on local radio in Nottingham and on learning that one of the crew was a Sub Lt Frank Freeman told the rest of the family.

F ollowing the discovery of the wreck, it seemed fitting to hold a memorial at sea for those lost souls.

N ow, I may share Frank’s name, but ironically, unlike this brave seaman I am an appalling traveller. I’m crippled with motion sickness and won’t go anywhere unless I drive myself. That rules out travelling on trains, planes and boats. Although I desperately wanted to be as close as I could to where Frank had died, I didn’t want to disturb the beauty of the wreath laying with the voluble sound of vomiting.

I had travelled to Portsmouth with my mum, two brothers and Harry Kornhauser, a refugee of the kindertransport, whom my grandparents had taken in and who knew Frank well. But I had to content myself with watching from dry land as others including crew family members, D-Day veterans and divers from

Southsea Sub-Aqua Club journeyed to the site of the wreck to lay wreaths for the crew who had been consumed by those unforgiving waters. As I watched the boat cut a foamy path across the waves I recited the Hebrew prayer El Maleh Rachamim (God, full of compassion) on the quayside.

F rank’s death was an incalculable loss to the Freeman family. Like so many of the young men who lost their lives during the war, he showed bravery, fortitude and an astonishing sense of duty.

W hen Frank died my grandfather’s mourning was fathomless. Repeatedly he’d say that he’d lost his ‘best friend’ and my father felt the profound responsibility of trying to compensate for his brother’s loss (there were no other children).

M y own dad died in 2004 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour and it’s a source of great regret that he never knew that Frank’s resting

place had been located. He would have perhaps felt some sense of closure, or even been able to join the memorial boat ride and lay a wreath on the waters above the wreck.

B oth Frank’s medals and those belonging to my grandfather’s medals endure as emblems of pride and sorrow. I feel the weight of grief and history as I pin them on my lapel when I get the opportunity to join the annual remembrance parade in Nottingham.

M eanwhile, Frank’s picture is displayed on a cabinet in my Cheshire home. I look at it often. Staring back is a young face, whose broad grin belies the knowledge of a short and tragic future.

Yet when I look at that photograph, it also reminds me how honoured I feel to bear Frank’s name and of the precarious and precious nature of human life.

M ay his dear soul rest in peace.

PHOTO BY TANYA DUMAN

1944 – 2019 KEY EVENTS OF WWII

Next year there will be commemorations and celebrations about the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. However 2019 has also seen its fair share of anniversaries for that conflict despite the media and general public letting them pass largely reported.

DD ay and the invasion of Normandy received its usual fanfare, but little attention was paid to other key battles such as Monte Cassino and Kohima.

The Battle of Monte Cassino, was helped to lead to the successful defeat of Nazi Germany in Italy and Southern Europe. The Italians had been early allies to the Germans with Mussolini and Hitler mutual admirers but the relationship had turned sour as the war had progressed and the Italians had not matched the German capacity for war. The Allies capture of Sicily from the Axis powers in 1943 led to Mussolini’s fall but before the new Italian government could strike up full peace talks the Germans moved into the country.

Not to be deterred with the change in fortunes the Allies landed on the mainland and began the slow process of trying to capture the country, a nation whose political will was often portrayed as weak but the physical terrain was anything certainly not. The Germans were determined to make the Allies pay for any ground that they took, destroying bridges and roads whenever appropriate. In particular, they were keen to

maintain the Gustav line – part of a series of defences that ran across Italy from East to West to stop the Allies movement up the country. A key point on the Gustav line was the Liri Valley near the town of Cassino, the valley was the main access point through the mountains and overlooking it was the Abbey of Monte Cassino founded in AD 529. While the Germans had left the monastery physically alone they had set up protected points in the mountains surrounding it and it was believed by the Allies that they were using the monastery as an observation point to attack the approaching Allied troops.

The German positions were severely affecting any chance of an Allied advance, and they couldn’t be avoided as they were on the only route through the mountains. The Allies first major assault was on the 17 January 19144 but it failed to make the ground needed so that on the 15 February 1944 the American air force dropped 1,400 tonnes of bombs across the mountain range and specifically onto the monastery area. The buildings were ruined, and while the monks were forced to leave they were replaced by German paratroopers who now had an excellent position in which to embed themselves.

Frank Ashley

The Allies continued to launch assaults on Monte Cassino and further bombing raids but little success was made. Troops from across the Allied countries and Empires took part including troops from India. The ground made getting soldiers, supplies and equipment around extremely difficult. Motorised vehicles had problems due to the lack of or poor quality of the roads and often donkeys and men that were used to move things around and deliver essentials. The weather was also against them with heavy spring rains and the whole time the Germans had the vantage point and could see everything that was being done.

Eventually in mid-May it was decided to launch a huge Allied

offensive including Polish Forces of the Polish II Corps, otherwise known as Anders Army, after their leader Lieutenant General Wladyslaw Anders. The Allies used everything they had to fight up the mountain and were determined to make a way through. After very heavy brutal fighting on the 18 May the Polish forces raised the Polish flag and then the British Union Jack on what was left of the Monastery buildings –Monte Cassino had fallen.

A mong many of the Allied Forces were Jewish soldiers and that was particularly the case amongst the Polish troops. In the Polish military cemetery on the valley sides not far from the rebuilt monastery a whole

section is dedicated to Polish Jewish soldiers that fell in battle. Those men has joined the Polish Forces and people as they had fled into Soviet Territory as the Germans had advanced in 1939 and then again in 1941. As Polish citizens they were able to join the Polish Forces and they fought alongside their fellow Poles.

The overall death toll of the battles was high with the Allies experiencing approximately 55,000 casualties to the German 20,000. However, the capture of Monte Cassino was essential for the march towards Rome and on the 25th May the next German defence line the Senger line also fell following the success of the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Arnhem

1944 is also the formal creation of the Jewish Brigade that would also be sent to Italy to continue the battle against the Nazis and rid their presence from Italy all together. The work of the Brigade would also lead to the rescue of many Jewish Holocaust survivors and their journey on to Palestine.

Over in India the British and Indian Forces fought at Kohima –repelling an attempted Japanese attack on British territory. The battle that took place on a small are of ground was one of the hardest fought battles of 1944.

Following the famous events of D Day the Allies continued to try and push the Germans back from Western Europe leading to General Montgomery’s plan to attack the Nazi forces in the Netherlands.

The Battle of Arnhem in 1944 or Operation Market Garden as it was known was one of the major battles of the Second World War for the Western Allies following on from the other difficult invasions onto mainland Europe Arnhem was going to be key to liberating Northern Western Europe before the winter. Tragically the big aims of the Operation were not achieved and Arnhem is often simply reported for its failings, and an example of the dangers of a General’s over ambition. The narrative is one of a military leadership trying to do too much with not enough planning, on difficult ground with an enemy determined to not face another major defeat, the soldiers and airmen are represented as simple players doomed from the start. Arnhem ends as the story of the Allied war machine being stalled in its progress after the huge success of the 6 June 1944.

I n fact like all parts of a conflict it is far more complex than that and like all events studied with the value of hindsight it is the big picture that tells the overall story but the little ones that reveal the depth, the ingenuity and the bravery of those that were there.

Th e aim of the attack by the Allies was to push through

the Netherlands just as their forces had pushed through France and parts of Belgium during the summer months. Now they wanted to clear the Netherlands before winter weather slowed up any progress towards Berlin, giving the Germans time to regroup, resupply and continue with the V2 programme.

O ne of the key successes of Operation Overlord in the previous June had been the use of airborne troops and now it was planned to use that expertise again. The British and American forces in particular had continued to recruit and train volunteers throughout 1943 and 1944 for airborne operations and there were plenty ready and wanting to be part of an attack on Europe. Airborne troops included those parachuted into the invasion area but also those landed by gliders and the glider pilots themselves.

O ne of those pilots was a young many called Frank Ashleigh. Born in December 1924 in East London Frank had left school and trained as a welder after school – but he had always wanted to fly, an occupation that seemed remote for someone of his upbringing. Despite being in a protected trade Frank enlisted into the army as soon as he turned 18, he’s been in the cadet force so he knew he wanted to go and

serve. His firm weren’t very happy and wanted him to stay but “there were ways of making myself less useful” he said and so in February 1943 he started his military career as a Private soldier.

A fter his basic training in Nottinghamshire he was assigned to the REME as a craftsman, where it was believed his civilian skills would have a use, instead he found himself marshalling lorries into and out of a garage in Southend-on-sea. Following a posting as a regimental policeman Frank saw a notice on the camp board asking for volunteers to learn to fly gliders, with the caveat ‘caution – could be hazardous’. Frank had no hesitation in volunteering. “I applied with two friends – they were both rejected. I was accepted and checked by the RAF for flying aptitude” although it was not for the RAF that he would be learning to fly but for the army. He spent six weeks at Fargo camp in Salisbury with some of the toughest training organised during wartime, all in preparation for creating the total soldier, after six weeks approximately 60% had failed “only the best were good enough” says Frank proudly. The discipline as well as the physical demands were enormous but “once you got

used to it you just carried on”, in addition to that there were lots of lessons about flying to take on board, it was his determination as well as everything else that propelled him forward – he wanted to be the best he could be.

A fter passing that stage the Frank spent the next few months being taught how to fly a Tiger Moth Bi-plane before being introduced to the Hotspur Glider. This meant learning to fly an aircraft with an engine but one that did not have the power that the mono winged aircraft with more modern engines had. This stage of the training required being able to fly blind, so that a pilot could do everything without the help of lots of equipment. After that he was introduced to the Horsa

Glider and learnt how to fly an aircraft without its own power – one that is incapable of gaining its own flight.

He was declared operational in July 1944 and awarded the Army Flying Badge, he was also promoted to the rank of sergeant, as all pilots needed that rank – he was still under 20 years of age. He had missed D Day but he and the rest of the pilots knew that there would be more to come. For the rest of the summer he would be training with his team making sure that they were all ready for departure at any moment.

O n numerous occasions they were told they were about to depart on a mission but none actually happened. Eventually on the 17 September the day that the Operation started Frank was told that he would be departing the next day. He

and one other pilot would be flying their Horsa glider to the Netherlands that would be carrying one jeep, two trailers and four men. The plan was that 140 aircraft and 320 gliders, around 35,000 parachute and glider troops would lead an attack into the Netherlands around the three towns of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, capturing all the bridges in the area to allow the Allies to push into Germany via the industrialised area of the Ruhr – thus reducing the German capabilities there as well forcing the military back. Capturing the bridges was essential for any future movement, especially supplies. The ground was very wet and boggy with many canals and waterways.

“ It was what we had volunteered and trained for” said Frank Ashleigh nearly 75 years later “we didn’t want

to sit around waiting for the end of the war we wanted to be a part of it”. “We were told that we would be capturing at bridge and that we were to get ready to depart”. The Glider he was to fly would contain troops and a jeep and trailers.

Frank and his co-pilot were scheduled to be the second Glider team to take off but just as tug (leading engine aircraft) got underway one of its engines failed. Fortunately none of them were airborne and Frank ‘s aircraft released the connection and waited to be moved back round ready to be attached to another aircraft. Now they had gone from being near the front to second from the back. The ‘live load’ or troops that they carrying were already terrified and this did nothing to help. Frank and his copilot were unfazed they had a long night to face.

Th e crossing was extremely dangerous – it was in daylight and the glider itself had no defences. Each pilot would fly for around fifteen minutes before swapping with their co-pilot. It took incredible amounts of concentration and energy to keep the Glider balanced and stead. Eventually the pilot of the tug aircraft used morse code to tell them that there were in gliding range (radio communications were silent so as not to alert the enemy) and it was then up to the Glider pilots to decide when to detach themselves. Half a mile from the field they detached from the tug used their expertise and training to land exactly where they were supposed to. After arriving at a stop Frank and the other pilot jumped out of the aircraft and ran to the back, they undid the only four bolts that held on the tail and then set up the ramps, within a couple of minutes the load drove off with all equipment and Frank never saw them again. Later he discovered that they had flown over one of only two radar sets that were being taken into the battle.

Th at was all the flying now for Frank – they had completed that part of the mission now he became the ground soldier he had also trained to be. After joining up with his unit at Oosterbeek near Arnhem, Frank and a couple of other pilots and a Captain agreed to go on a recce to find out how far away the Germans

were. Only half a mile down the road they realised the Germans were very close. In fact it quickly became apparent that the small recce team were surrounded. The British soldiers ran into a Catholic church and hid in the tower. Over the next three days they would take it in turns to fire out of the belfry at the Germans who could not work out where the fire was coming from. Eventually realising that the only place the shots could be from was the Church the Germans stormed through capturing the four men. Frank and the other men had not had food or drink for the whole time they were in the church, so despite now being captives the first thing the German soldiers did was bring the men food.

A fter the food the men were taken for interrogation. Despite incitements and threats the captured men refused to give any information about their units they stuck to their name rank and number. However, for Frank things could have become a bit more complicated at any moment - it only took one look at Frank’s dog tags to see that he was Jewish. However Frank was lucky –his German captors made no comment on it “No none at all” said Frank “they treated me the same as everyone else – a British soldier”.

I n fact their biggest issue was where to send him and

his fellow soldiers. It was clear that they were pilots but in the German forces all pilots were officers, whereas Frank and many others like him were NCO’s, so they had a dilemma of which Stalag (Prisoner of War camp) to send them. Frank was sent to Upper Silesia to Stalag Luft vii and took part in the usual camp activities including plotting escape plans. The main problem was the lack of food – resources in Germany were becoming scarce and supplies were of food were running short, especially as it had turned into a particularly harsh winter.

I n January 1945 Frank and the rest of the POW’s in his campo were put onto a forced march into central Germany, the last thing the Nazis wanted was the liberation of pilots and aircrew. The walk was hard, according to Frank it was even harder for some of the Germans “they were old men” during the day we would carry their unloaded weapons because they found it difficult”, we tried to never leave any of the POW’s behind, although some died as they were already very weak before the march”. The men finished up at a POW camp outside Berlin. There they were liberated in April by the Red Army. “I was sent home the very next day, I weighed six and a half stone in weight, but other than that I was healthy, so after a full medical examination I was sent home on double rations”.

T hroughout his period of captivity Frank received no different treatment for being Jewish by anyone – and he made it clear to people, in fact according to Frank he didn’t you receive any antiSemitism in his British army career either. He describes his army experiences some of the best days of his life.

T he Battle of Arnhem lasted a week and two days - it involved men from across the UK and Commonwealth, who fought alongside American and Polish units. The Germans were determined to stop the Allied attack and used huge numbers of soldiers on the grounds and Panzer divisions to hold up the attack. Some of the bridges were destroyed by the Germans before the Allies could reach them while bad weather, lack of supplies and high casualties held up many of the Allied efforts. For the Allies, the attack failed to take what was needed and the Rhine remained a dividing line between the two sides until 1945.

A pproximately 10,600 Commonwealth servicemen took part, more than 1,500 were killed, 2,400 went uncaptured while the remainder were wounded or taken as POW’s. While the Dutch people on one side of the Rhine celebrated their liberation, others hunkered down for another brutal winter under German control. Frank returns to the Netherlands regularly and has good friends there.

F rank’s story is one of many thousands of Arnhem, perhaps a lucky one, his glider co-pilot was killed in the later fighting. He is a reminder that whether the overall battle was a success or a failure is only ever the big picture at the heart of it are the brave men and women that serve and helped to secure the freedoms that we have today.

Your Questions Answered

D ear Readers,

I would like to introduce this column to you as the newest feature of your ever-evolving Menorah Magazine - the Ask Me Anything column (I refuse to be called your Agony Aunt)! During my fairly varied military career I haven't ever really known what I was meant to be doing at the start of each assignment so I generally had to find someone to answer my questions. Well, that is where this column comes in.

There is no such thing as a stupid question - you will have heard that many times before and the old adage is true. So what I am after are your questions about any thing related to the military, which I shall try to answer or at least find a specialist to help you. Subjects can be on almost any topic including doctrine, procurement, leadership, history, safety, decision making, getting promoted, career decisions etc. Some answers will be factual and include policy references whilst others might be an opinion. I will

leave specialist welfare and Jewish practice subjects to the appropriate authorities but questions are welcomed from all quarters - it doesn't matter what Service you are, whether you are serving, retired or simply an interested citizen. At least one question will be selected for publication in each issue for the column. All questions will be discussed in an anonymous fashion.

you will come across these sorts of people in the military. The second thing I would add, though trite, is "we are here to defend democracy, not practice it", so we do need to be prepared to be exposed to tough talk. The Services are in an interesting position where a robust management approach can be appropriate but bullying and harassment of any kind is rightly stamped on.

To prime this article I privately asked for contributions from our community so here is our first one:

(now and for the future) is to learn from everyone around you. See what works and what doesn't and be clear about how you would approach a similar situation the next time it occurs to you or a colleague.

But what can we do about the immediate problem of this individual?

First of all in life I apply the 10% idiot rule; that is to say that generally 10% of any group (excepting the Armed Forces Jewish Community!) are idiots. Despite our best efforts the rule implies that

However as a leader, I recognise that regular robust management often doesn't get the best out of people on a routine basis, even in the military. My first broader point for you as a soldier and leader

I would always refer to the principles identified in Equality and Diversity Advisor training and the source material (JSP 763: The MOD Bullying and Harassments Complaints Procedures). There is a clear and simple path for raising such complaints however I would recommend that issues should be resolved at the lowest level, and as informally as possible, but with appropriate intervention and oversight by the chain of command. To be honest that is easier said than done in a hierarchical organisation such as ours and so it is often useful to have someone help you address the problem. That person should be your unit's Equality and Diversity Advisor (hopefully not this individual). My first port of call would be to this

“A senior permanent staff member at my unit is unprofessional, ignores emails with reasonable requests, and often verbally abuses more junior soldiers over misdemeanours. What would be a good way to raise this to the chain of command without prejudicing myself in any way?”

/Shutterstock.com© trueffelpix

nominated individual who could chat this through with you. But I won't stop there - what strategies can you employ when faced with someone like this? Let's break down your question.

Emails with requestsemail etiquette with respect to tasking someone else in the military has become an art form. It is always challenging to get someone to do something for you, especially if they are senior to you. You don't know what pressures they are under, what other work they have on or what their own chain of command has asked them to do. So in terms of submitting email requests which you deem reasonable I suggest the following strategy:

- Continue to use email as your request for action; it is an excellent audit trail.

- Write your email in a positive tone reflecting how you recognise the effort that the individual has to make (even if it isn't much) but make sure your request is SMART. What is that I hear you ask?

SMART stands for:

- SPECIFIC:

be absolutely clear what end state you are asking for (e.g. I want all of my land rovers ready to be used).

- MEASURABLE:

be clear what success looks like either in terms of figures (e.g. 100% of land rovers serviceable) or in terms of outcome (e.g. financial approval to spend money with form signed).

- ACHIEVABLE: be clear that your request is actually deliverable (e.g. if all the land rovers are broken today they probably can't all be fixed by tomorrow).

- REALISTIC:

is this even the individual's job (e.g. you wouldn't ask the unit's chef to fix all the vehicles)?

- TIME BOUND : are you exactly clear when you want it done by? For me, this is the most important one. Even if you have interim reviews be clear what you what to have achieved by each milestone (e.g. 5 fixed tomorrow and the remainder repaired by the end of next week).

- Consider the use of CC where appropriate. If you are having persistent problems with any colleague’s reliability or responsiveness by email this step will ensure the wider chain of command is aware of the level of tasking. On a more basic level the recipient will likely feel obliged to deliver in order to meet his own objectives in front of his line management.

- And then follow up. Confirm face to face or by telephone that the recipient understands the request and reinforce how grateful you are for his time (buttering people up does work). If and when he fails to deliver, forward the original email back to him with a request for an update. If this then fails to result in action go see his line manager who you have been CC'ing. However you do first need to ask yourself if your earlier emails have already followed the format above, or whether

you need to revisit any of your unanswered requests with this fresh perspective?

Verbal Abuselet's be clear, abuse of any kind is never acceptable. However, what constitutes abuse is subjective and may not be aligned between the 'abuser' and the 'abused' - any unacceptable or illreceived actions need to be highlighted to ensure all parties understand the impacts and can be afforded the opportunity to avoid any recurrence. I can imagine periods of extreme high stress on the battlefield where aggressive and violent language might be appropriate however if you are swearing and using poor language in barracks you are demonstrating that you have already lost the leadership game. As a leader you should be able to express yourself without having to use abusive language and it is always disappointing to see how sometimes we (and I include myself at times) fail to articulate ourselves effectively. Anyway, back to your question. I would definitely recommend not calling him out on his language in front of a group. You will undermine his position of authority, which will only create greater conflict. If you feel sufficiently comfortable I would

recommend speaking to him quietly, making it clear that you do not think his language appropriate. I recognise that this is easy for me to say and hard for you to do. If you do not feel comfortable then that is when you should speak to your Equality and Diversity Advisor who can assist with that conversation or even have it informally from their neutral position. This should also be recorded in your unit's Equality and Diversity log which maintains a record and acts as a barometer of the culture on your unit for your chain of command. This can be recorded anonymously so no one's name is mentioned with potential enduring career implications or awkward social ramifications.

And finally, if all else fails, ask to see your Commanding Officer or 2IC for a quiet chat. Let me be absolutely clear, what I see described in your question is a failure of leadership by an individual, in this case your senior. It is the chain of command's responsibility to ensure appropriate leadership (and followship) at every rank and to make Defence a "hoofing" (Royal Marine term for epic) and safe place to work. Your CO or 2IC will have come across this (sadly) before and should deal with it in a professional manner. Have faith in the 90%!

An Enthusiastic Jewish Conscript in Gibraltar

BY DAVID BENTATA

When I turned 18 I was called up for conscription. Now whatever you hear about the intakes of the Gibraltar Regiment (GR), & also the Gibraltar Defence Force (GDF) as it was previously known, all the stories that you have heard, half of them are untrue and the other half are exaggerations of a possible truth. But most of the stories, fact or fiction, make for good jokes over reminiscent drinks with old soldiers everywhere in the world.

I was a bad asthmatic as well as having a bad leg. Obviously when I went for my medical, I was pronounced medically unfit and excused conscription. What! My friends were going up to be soldiers and I was not? No way!

I requested “Volunteer Status” and managed to get myself in with the 29th intake after signing waivers that were I to die, the Regiment would accept no liability for my stupidity. A couple of days later we were gathered together, roll called, counted, loaded onto to military lorries and taken up to Buenavista Barracks. Sixty guys, nearly all of us 18 years old and full of beans. Oh yes, and with many a Beatles haircut, or Elvis quiff which didn’t last the next 24 hours!

Buenavista Barracks on a cold January morning, with a cold wind slicing through our civvy clothes, looked very much like Alcatraz to me. In fact it was also known as “Stone Block”. Cheerful, huh?

As soon as we got off the lorries everybody and their grandmothers were shouting at us! We looked around like lost sheep and were huddled together and told to get into straight

lines. The sergeants shouted. The corporals – even the cook shouted at us. What had we done? We were placed in some sort of loose formation and marched to the barbers who had a field day with us. Off came the Beatles haircut, the Elvis quiff, the long sideburns and everything except one-eighth of an inch stub which barely covered our very white scalps. And it was cold! January at the Barracks, with a cold wind blowing.

I remembered a story my Dad once told me he was conscripted into the Spanish Infantry in 1930, having been born in Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, to a Spanish father. As a corporal he was placed in charge of new conscripts. Just for kicks, when he herded them to the barbers, he had the barbers use the hand clippers front to back and side to side. Then he’d send them off with a shaved cross on their heads. Obviously, Dad thought it was great fun! But Karma bites again! Here was me with not enough hair on my head to do a parting anywhere.

From there we were rushed, those first few days it was rush-rush-

rush everywhere.Left right, left right double time up to the dorms on the first floor of the stone block. Two rows of eigh beds each and the green metal locker that was to be our home for the next four months. There were eight such dorms, but ours was a small intake of about 60 so half of them were left empty. Then again rush-rush-rush. We were formed into a straight line outside the stores. We went in one way and were piled with mattress one, blankets three, pillows two, sheets two, pillowcases two. Left right left right double time, out the other side and back up to our dorms. We were kids, to 18 years old kids this was fun. Until the sergeant and the corporal and the cook and everyone else shouted again and we had to rushed down to the stores.

There we were loaded with work boots pair one, best boots one, denim trousers one, denim jacket one, (no, not Levi denims, gentle reader. These were work denims in vomit-green cotton, nothing cool about them, shirts three, tie one, beret one. And rush up to the dorms again. This, our first d, the only good thing I remember was the mess. Yes, yes, there was

a mess in the dorms but this is The Mess where we were served our first military meal. Nothing like a pint of hot tea and generous portions food to bring a smile back to our faces. In all fairness despite we four Jews having to go through a few intricacies seeking out the more kosher foods available, the regiment’s Mess served good and wholesome food always.

That first week was hectic and tiring. We had gone in as boys and one week later we had been broken down and rebuilt gradually into men. Looking back, I am very grateful to have been enlisted in the Regiment. I met other Gibraltarians I had never seen before, and made friends with them, and marched, and learnt something about loyalty, comradeship, and yes, making war. By the time we were demobbed four months later, we all knew how to take care of ourselves and could count on our new friends as needed. We definitely knew how to shine boots! The fact that shining our boots to that high gloss is called “bullshit” is neither here nor there.

Natural abilities within each of us became apparent. Some

were born leaders and became Lance corporals and section commanders, my close childhood friend, Toby, prominent among them. Others were good with radio equipment and they were trained as radio operators. Brawn was well rewarded as there was a lot of equipment being transferred from one place to another as we did exercises up and down the Rock. Some of us were even trained as “nuclear specialists”. The horrors of nuclear war were shown to us as well as the plans for fallout protection and refuge for citizens in the unfortunate case of such a war ever exploding. I was in those lectures and till today I am still scarred by the films and information that we had to take on.

A nd then, there were the eternal, unending parades! We learnt to march as individuals, as platoons and as the whole intake. Simple, one would have thought, after all we only have two legs, and yet we managed to exasperate all the sergeants and all the corporals before we got it right in the end. Pride was instilled in us in those days. We became proud to be able to match in perfect formation up and down the bloody Square. Quick March!

Halt! Then Port Arms, Stand at Ease and march up and down and up again turn right, turn left, halt, quick march. (I bet you are singing “Oh the famous Duke of York” to yourselves now ). And even that very elegant slow march that looks so good when properly executed.

Again, those with natural abilities for marching, as well as the smartest in uniform, were handpicked for special duties. These were treasured prizes in themselves. One such duty was at the Frontier where UK regiments would stand guard, more ceremonial than anything else. But for one week of each intake our regiment would take over. Just across the frontier fence Spain had its own version and if you want to know what that look like you will best understand it if you remember

that their nickname, “Sloppies”, came from their display when they did the guard duty on their side. We were proud to be the better soldiers then.

A nd then, la creme de la creme did guard duty to the Governor at the Convent. This was doubly rewarded. Firstly because of the sense of pride instilled in us to be chosen for such an honour. But far greater than that, vastly more so if you ask me, is that we did Guard Duty at the convent opposite the Loreto Convent Girls School!

To chosen by the Sergeant Major was wonderful. That you were a huge source of joy and pride to your parents and family was wonderful. But being on duty at 12:30 and at 4:15 when the girls came out of school, WOW. What more could a red-blooded GR Soldier wish for! Another aspect and a very exciting one was learning about the weaponry that the army used. This is something I looked forward to immensely since from the age of seven or eight. Dad had bought me my first air gun and shooting came almost as second nature to me. To then use the real things, the Bren gun, the SLR (Self Loading Rifle), the Sterling and the Rocket Launcher (never, ever to be called the “bazooka”, that was for our American cousins, not for the British Army!) I was in weaponry heaven. So much so that I even won the coveted Cargill Shooting Trophy, as had my older cousin Isaac Abudarham, in his intake several years before.

I am convinced that my four months in the Gibraltar Regiment were pivotal to my development from brash teenager to responsible young man. I am not certain whether conscription per se is that good. Not if you’re raising an army to conquer the land of others. Making war is a “normal” part of human history but definitely not a necessary one. I can well understand a defensive army being required, in given circumstances, so as to avoid being conquered by others. But the history of humanity

leapfrogs from war to war, conveniently downplaying the millions who die ignominious deaths and the many millions more who are maimed and wounded forever, having the horrors of such a conflict branded onto their brain.

The first book I read after being demobbed was “All Quiet on the Western Front” novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. To everyone that sees glory in war I commend this book and it will touch your soul.

However, harnessing the energy of youth and its rambunctiousness at the age of 18, teaching them to fend for themselves under hard circumstances, to rely on your comrade and be the one on whom he relies, to be torn away from home comforts and learn turn to live on basics and on your own wits. What can I say?

Thankfully, even many of the less fortunate among us, though we must never forget there some still in great need, most of us have more then we need and do not appreciate it. It may be politically incorrect to say this but blocking 18-year olds from their comfort zones and teaching them real life can only make them more responsible adults, something so badly needed in our Society of millennials.

But where are the jokes? They were there. My efforts at having fun cost me a total of four blocks of seven days each, 28 days of Restricted Privileges! No pass to dress in civvies (& no pass to cross the frontier either) plus several

perks that were summarily cut off. During exercises up the Rock, we were taught how to camouflage ourselves. One soldier camouflage himself so well that we forgot him and marched all the way back for lunch at the Mess leaving him stranded somewhere near Signal Hill. Those ogres of the first days, the screaming corporals, always angry sergeants, the fearful officers, all mellowed to become excellent instructors on warfare, marching drill, dressing elegantly and infusing pride in our Regiment and in ourselves.

A nd such good friends I would never have met otherwise, One in particular was Corporal Montero, a gentle soul in charge of the armoury. Why do I remember him? The day I had to compete for the Cargill, I went to collect my SLR and he told me: “No Bentata, no. I have just corrected the sights on this one, it is far better” It certainly was, I scored 96/100!

Notes

David Bentata, a regular contributor to Menorah, is a poet, artist and jewelry designer based in Gibraltar. Conscription in Gibraltar, albeit a shortened four month version, continued until the 1970s.

WE WERE THERE TOO

Bridging a Big Age Gap and bringing home the reality of Jewish life during the First World War

BY RODNEY ROSS, NORTH WEST PROJECT MANAGER FOR BRITISH JEWS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR – WE WERE THERE TOO

Every week presents a different challenge. Whether we are working with schools or at the other end of age gap, Lunchtime Clubs and Residential Homes, the project is always making our team think about how to engage very different audiences. This was the North West’s WWTT challenge, engaging with primary school children ages 9-11 and then delivering a roadshow to people in the 60’s and beyond.

WWTT Project Senior Consultant Alan Fell and Paula Kitching Project Consultant and Historian who is also the AJEX Education & Outreach Officer, deliver both school and roadshow presentations successfully. All age groups are equally fascinated by the amazing stories that WWTT has to tell.

C hildren and young people are eager to learn and ask questions, whilst the older generation want to listen and reminisce. The main link is the richness, variety and the uniqueness of the WWTT website.

The headings alone offer an insight to into what is on offer. Discovery, Personal Stories, Collections, Remember and Education.

For primary school children the technique is to make the presentation as interactive as we can and this involves using the theme of Remembrance. We ask them to talk about Remembrance Day and in particular the Poppy. The children are invited to put their personal thoughts on paper and the feelings expressed are thought provoking. For example one letter reads: “It means to me a symbol of hope. It also reminds me of the soldiers that gave their lives because without them we would not be here today”. There are many more examples from children up loaded on the website media page.

Drawing from the 2,000 stories on the WWTT website we then give the children biographies of soldiers and nurses who served in the First World War. We encourage them to emphasis the contribution of women during

the time. As Paula very pointedly reminds her audiences, nurses and women’s contributions are too forgotten about and yet they too were heroines, many not surviving the War falling to the Spanish Flu epidemic or contracting sepsis on troop ships or in military hospitals.

To set the scene for this stage we play an audio transcribed from one of the many letters written home by Second Lieutenant Marcus Segal who served with 13th Bn., The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment and tragically lost his life at Arras France in June 1917.

he would like sending. We challenge the children to think about what he doesn’t say in the letter. He doesn’t talk about the war choosing not to worry his family. They are then given individual biographies and asked to write a short letter home.

On each biography we add in date of birth and date of death and ask the children to work out how old their biography is and then ask if they know anyone who is of a similar age. This approach brings a sense of realism even to 10 year olds.

Copies of letters and the children’s thoughts about Poppies can be seen on the website on https://www. jewsfww.uk/media-centre.php

In the letter from Marcus Segal to his parents, he talks about everyday happenings in the trenches and what items he has received and things

The highlight of the Primary school presentations is the time we dedicate to Remembrance. We explain about how the website converts the English calendar date to a Hebrew date. If a family wants to light a Yahzeit Candle the website generates a reminder four weeks before the Yahzeit date. The Remember page on

the website goes live into the classroom and children are invited to come forward and touch a triangle on the webpage.

https://www.jewsfww.uk/ bury-and-whitefield-jewishprimary-school-4619-3498.php

By the end of July WWTT, in partnership with AJEX will have engaged with over 700 children and young people and we are now gearing ourselves for requests to go into schools during November.

Working with schools whilst challenging is reasonably straight forward. You have a ready-made audience, you know how many participants you have to talk to and how long your session lasts. Its part of the schools timetable. Roadshows and Lunch clubs rely solely on

people wanting to come along. If the weather is bad or their “lift” doesn’t turn up your audience numbers change. In a sentence people come along because they want to and to encourage them to make a special effort we “pre-sell” the Roadshow weeks before the date. Working on the BBC Antiques Roadshow template we ask people to bring along their artefacts or letters and photographs of family members. Every so often we will unearth a real gemstone of a Collection. At a Roadshow in North Manchester a lovely lady brought along a whole wallet full of photographs army, pay books letters etc and when asked why she hadn’t shared this before her reply as is with many people in that demographic “Nobody has never asked me before” See https://www.jewsfww.uk/markssimons-collection-3479.php

Roadshows take on a life of their own. The people attending love to look at old photographs or her stories about names they’ve heard about and want

to hear more. A particular favourite which gets everyone talking is about a nurse Florence Oppenheimer better known as Florence Greenberg the cookery writer and columnist. Everyone has her Cookery Book but very few people know her story as a nurse serving in Egypt.

A s Alan Fell says everyone has a tale to tell, sometimes they don’t realise it but once they see the WWTT presentation the shackles are off and stories start to roll. Often we vist people in their homes to scan photographs or to talk more about relatives and memories. This is what makes the project so exciting.

We Were There Too has something to offer to every generation. Educating our children and young people about the exceptional contribution and sacrifice of British Jews in the First World War. It also serves as a conduit to unearth stories and collections which otherwise may be lost forever and we must not let that happen. AJEX along with the JLGB which is the leading partner in WWTT, will continue to raise awareness on the Jewish Communities contribution to the First World War.

Further information on We Were There Too is available by telephoning 0161 767 8890 or visit website www.jewsfww.uk

CABINET-MAKING TO PLANE CONSTRUCTION –

Uncovering the Lever Family in the Forces

BY JASON

It alked about my work for the ex-Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to recruit more adult volunteers to run all the great uniformed youth organisations. Yet, in publishing a website of the life and times of my great-uncle, Solomon Lever (1895-1959), I did learn about through family interviews and in archives research many military credentials in Uncle Solly, his brothers and in wider family lives.

In a way, we can blame the Tsar for that. For my greatgrandfather, Nachman (Nathan) Lavetsky, had been an apprentice to the craftsman who laid a new floor of St. Petersburg Cathedral. So, when the family emigrated to London in the face of pogroms, it was natural that they entered the East End furniture making business –according to the 1911 Census, as specialists in bedroom suites.

In common with many other such cabinet-makers, Solomon was not conscripted into active service in WW1 rather his skills were used in aircraft manufacture – as wood was the basic material for aircraft of the time. He served in the Royal Flying Corps. The RAF Muster Roll shows S Lavetsky (no. 104,751, Rigger (Aero)) as enlisting on 16 May 1916 for the duration of the war. When the RAF was formed from the combination of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air

Service, he was given the rank of Air Mechanic 3rd Class and the salary of 2 shillings a day. His brother, Harris (Harry) we think served similarly. Their youngest brother, Maurice, enlisted in the British Army in 1917, having lied about his age, being 16. He was posted to 42nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers and later to 8th Labour Battalion on 22 May 1918. In writing my Uncle Solly website, I came across the interesting figure that 14 per cent of British Jews served in the armed forces in WW1 compared with 11.5 per cent of the wider population.

Their half-brothers - Hyman (Hymie), Emanuel (Manny) and Joseph (Joe) – all served in the British Army in the Second World War. Manny, my grandfather, joined the Royal Army Service Corps attached to the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division and became a Sergeant . Tasked with leading supply convoys on a motorbike, he was Mentioned in Despatches for crossing the Rhine River which was on fire with burning oil in order to save the life of an officer in the river..

T/10695449 Quartermaster

Sgt Hyman Lever served in the Royal Army Service Corps Transport section, seeing service in North Africa, Norway and across Europe, while their youngest brother, Joe, served in India and Europe in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Fast forward to the 2010s

when Manny’s great-grandson, Guy, took up the mantle of marching in the annual AJEX Remembrance Day Parade in Whitehall, wearing Sergeant Lever’s medals as he himself had paraded regularly in the 1960s. This prompted me to start coming along to support the parades and since living in Brighton these last ten years my awareness of AJEX has come to the fore. This was through our small but active and Brighton, Hove, and District branch leading commemorative services on a rota basis across the Jewish community, from my Reform to the Orthodox and Liberal & Progressive synagogues. I reflected on the poignancy of Branch members raising the flag during the annual Holocaust Memorial Service on a still and stiff winter’s morning at the exposed Meadow View Cemetary. I proudly look out for the AJEX branch flag and those on parade at the city’s Remembrance Day Service, with the backdrop of George IV’s Royal Pavilion and Gardens providing some exoticism to the sombre formalities of the occasion at which the full diversity of religions, communities, ages and uniformed public services are on display to new generations and visitors to the city.

A few years ago it fascinated me to discover the role played by “elderly retired Jewish gentlemen, seemingly rejuvenated by Brighton air, wading into the fascists with

their walking sticks and umbrellas” (Ref: Bance) and helping disrupt Blackshirt rallies on The Level, our then local equivalent of Speakers’ Corner five minutes from my house. This very much reminded me that while Uncle Solly had done his service in the Forces in the previous war, as Mayor of Hackney his office was around the corner from where similar Blackshirts’ activity took place in London. My father, Charles, used to tell me about being in the cinema as a child and seeing his Uncle Solly pop up on the newsreel, speaking at the Annual Congress of the Trades Union Congress in Southport on September 4, 1947. Using his position as General Secretary of one of the smallest affiliating unions to the TUC - the London Jewish Bakers Union - Uncle Solly decried that,

When I rather nervously came for my interview with the Secretary of the Naval and Military Club (known as the ‘In and Out’) in 2013, I felt able only some make fairly spurious Forces links.

LEVER, BRIGHTON, HOVE, AND DISTRICT BRANCH.

“Fascism in East London marches on... like old times, you know, when Mosley and his Blackshirts marched through London before the war” and warned that the threat posed was not just to Jews but to the “preservation of freedom and tolerance and democracy in this country”

W hile the skills of Jewish and other carpenters was crucial to the early air force of the country in WW1, it was the engineers who were crucial to the Royal Air Force of WWII. On the other side of my family my grandfather, Harold Commissar, was a Territorial Army reservist gunner from 1940 but more valued as an engineer working with Sir Barnes Wallis on the famous ‘bouncing bomb’ design. In an uncanny parallel, my step-grandfather, Josh Shirman, worked on design of plane engines and after D-Day was transferred by DeHavilland to an experimental team developing the Goblin turbojet engine, which became the first to receive its Certificate of Airworthiness in this country.

Just as remembering and celebrating the role of Jewish serving and ex-servicemen and women is a vital and relevant role played by AJEX today, many of us can also filter the wider lens of our community’s contributions to the Forces in this country within their own families – those they knew and those they never had the privilege to know, like my Uncle Solly. Joining and supporting AJEX is for me a must do for all that the organisation, its staff and volunteers do to preserve the memories of past endeavours and support present services personnel, all of whom have fought above their demographic weight on behalf of the Jewish community in the aid of this country.

References:

- Bance, H, ‘Brighton on The Level’, The Preston Pages, July 2013

- Uncle Solly website: www.unclesolly.co.uk

A POEM

In memory of Sydney Slome

BY TONY SLOME (HIS GRANDSON). CHAIRMAN ST ANNES AND BLACKPOOL (Pictured seated first left) 5th Durham Light Infantry c1916.

He went to War

A soldier true

For King & Country

That’s all he knew

The Great adventure

He fought hard and long When day was done

He would recall

The sweat and smell

Under a setting sun

He looked afar

Now all was green

The distant cries

Had all but gone y et in his mind

A soldier’s song

He went to war

Vice Admiral Chris Gardner CBE TO BE REVIEWING OFFICER

Admiral Chris, who is Chief of Material (Ships) is no stranger to the Jewish Community, having taken on the role of champion to Jewish personnel throughout Defence three ago. He was a guest at the AJEX Parade in 2016 and has also attended a Jewish weekend at Amport House.

He was promoted to Vice Admiral in April 2019 to become the Royal Navy’s delivery agent for the acquisition of and in-service support of the surface fleet.

We are delighted to report that Vice Admiral Chris Gardner is to be the Reviewing Officer at this year’s AJEX Parade.

VETERANS

JOIN FORCES

BY CAPT JOHN CVANCARA

Earlier this year I was very honoured to be part of a delegation of over 60 British military veterans and reservists — many suffering serious injuries following campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland — to go to Tel Aviv with their families and join Israeli counterparts for the inaugural Veterans Games and Mental Health Conference.

Th e A JEX contingent also included Major Bob Campbell and Under Officer Jamie Morris.

It was project over 100 soldiers from the UK and from the Israel Defence Force the chance to experience the kind of competitive sports seen at the Invictus Games. Taking place alongside the physical activities at the impressive Beit Halochem rehabilitation centres in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was a three-day long conference featuring leading experts from both countries on treating injured or psychologically damaged soldiers.

T he Veteran Games were organised by Beit Halochem UK and the Embassy of Israel in London and took over one and a half years to plan.

T he project, which opened with a gala dinner in the grounds of Beit Halochem on Sunday evening for 350 people, was the result of over one and a half years work to get off the ground.

T he main thrust of the event was the games which were held at the rehab centres in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The main features were shooting, swimming and XFit individual and team events, as well as table tennis, archery, and wheelchair basketball. The sports facilities were brilliant, with Olympic standard swimming pools and large gym facilities. This was to be expected when you consider that this is where the Israeli Paralympic team train. The standard of the athletes was also exceptional, as many of the team had competed in Paralympics and Invictus games over the past few years, several of whom had set world records. The whole sporting event was based on the idea that “everyone takes part”, and the XFit team events had veterans of a range of disabilities in each group, and the teamwork was amazing.

T his was a wonderful opportunity to meet up with Veterans and families and compete against similar Veterans from the

Israeli Defence Force.

T he week began with us flying over from Heathrow to Tel Aviv, picnic lunch on the beach, followed by a BBQ opening ceremony.

T he Monday was the individual XFit competition, where the gym staff at Beit Halochem had organised a great 10 session event.

T he Tuesday was the shooting event, using the Olympic biathlon .22 rifle.

Wednesday was the team XFit event, which saw 5 teams of mixed personnel from the UK and Israel take part in 6 events, culminating in a tug o war competition.

T he Thursday saw us travel to Jerusalem, where we were fortunate enough to be invited to President Rivlins’ residence for a hosted breakfast and a personnel address.

“ I see true true heroes here who served their country’s cause and went to war to preserve our values and protect us all. I would like to say: I salute you. I’m proud and honoured to see our

own IDF veterans who took part in the Games. I salute you too. You all returned from battle. But there were those – your comrades and friends – who did not. Let’s pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

T he support for the week was amazing, and entire British delegation — which totalled 250, including the families of veterans and the doctors, academics and charity chiefs — to be put up in Tel Aviv’s five-star Carlton hotel.

D inners in the city’s port, in the Judean desert, and in the Arab village of Abu Gosh, along with visits to the Dead Sea, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem and the British military cemetery in Ramla, were also factored in.

T he Thursday evening saw us having a closing dinner in the Old City.

A ll in all a wonderful week, a fantastic experience, and the opportunity to make new friends from both Countries.

D efinitely looking forward to next year

NUCLEAR ACCIDENT RESPONSE - a look back

BY SQUADRON LEADER JUSTIN SALMON RAF

Th is was part of the UK’s Nuclear Accident Response Organisation (NARO) and we were supposed to be first responder in the case of an air accident involving nuclear weapons at airfields in Suffolk. The idea was that we would go in, ascertain the situation, establish cordons and prepare for the arrival of the wider NARO setup.

Th is was during my first tour as an Engineer officer in the RAF, and I volunteered for the SNT as a secondary or additional duty – something in addition to your day job. Thus we would do occasional training and exercises, but otherwise would be on call, in my case while I was Officer Commanding the Communications and Information Systems

Engineering Flight.

My role in the SNT was to command the two-person Special Safety Team (SST). Kitted up in our charcoal-lined NBC suits, wellington boots (in place of the normal NBC boots) and S10 respirators, we consisted of a young SAC who carried the radiation detector, and me who was essentially there for moral support. In our training, I remember our RAF Regiment instructors saying – perhaps joking – that the youngest, most inexperienced airman was the most expendable and hence did this most dangerous job: entering the irradiated crash area to measure the radiation and locate the nuclear weapon (or parts thereof) among the wreckage. But it would be unfair to send anyone in alone, so to boost

the airman’s courage and not make him feel alone, a young officer was assigned to be at their side – we would take courage from each other, the theory went. And that’s how Flying Officer Salmon became the SST Commander. It seems so antiquated to be describing that now, the idea of the expendable SAC, and surely there must have been a less risky way of locating the weapon. That definitely seems to be a legacy of the Cold War, when casualties on exercises and operations were more generally acceptable, and I remember similar logic being explained during NBC training at the time, when we

were told that the most junior SAC – theoretically the least useful person – should be the one to do the chemical sniff test to check for any residual presence of chemical weapons.

Th ankfully we never had to do it for real, and so my experience was limited to a couple of exercises. We would crash out to the accident site in our rickety LDV minibus, land rovers, and the 4-tonne lorry carrying the Base Support Team’s equipment. I always felt we had a slightly amateurish look in our ageing vehicles (I swear the minibus broke down one time…) compared to the other first responders that would also converge on

Watching HBO’s brilliant mini-series Chernobyl brought back memories of when I was on the Station NARO Team (SNT) at RAF Honington back in 2002 and 2003.

the crash, like the police, fire fighters and ambulances. I presume things have moved on in the past 16 years!

But watching Chernobyl – particularly the young conscripts doing cleanup – made me shiver slightly at the thought that we might once have been in a vaguely similar position. In theory we were much better equipped and trained, but after seeing the mini-series, I’m not sure I would have wanted to test that. Massive kudos to them for doing it.

Jewish Chernobyl

Since seeing the series, I’ve also been reading a book about Chernobyl (“Chernobyl” by Serhii Plokhy) and it caught my interest that prior to 1917, Chernobyl was known as a Jewish town, with Jews making up some 60% of the population and with strong Hasidic connections. Rabbi

Menachem Nochum Twersky, a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, made his home there in the 18th century. Pogroms during the Russian civil war reduced Chernobyl’s Jewish population to about 1700, or around 20% of the population, and a couple of decades later, the German invasion essentially brought an end to Jewish Chernobyl, with a mass execution on the outskirts of Chernobyl on 7 November 1941, although a few hundred Jews did return after the war. Separately, many Jews were later present during and after the nuclear disaster, including the turbine engineer Igor Kirschenbaum who was on duty the night of the accident.

ELBIT SYSTEMS EMERGENCY PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACON enters service with the Royal Air Force ISRAELI TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTING UK PERSONNEL

El bit Systems UK Ltd. (ESUK), part of the Israeli defence giant, Elbit Industries, has completed the certification for its Emergency Personal Locator Beacon (EPLB), following a series of successful operational evaluation trials with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The EPLB has now entered service with the Royal Air Force.

A clear example of the company’s focus on delivering innovative capabilities to support the Armed Forces, this is the first man-mounted personal locator beacon to achieve internationally recognized accreditation (known as COSPASSARSAT) for unassisted operation in water.

In the event of an accident or aircrew ejection from an aircraft, the EPLB delivers emergency alerts to the international search and rescue (SAR) satellite “constellation” as well as homing signals to local SAR teams. This will enable a quick and effective rescue of stranded aircrew, significantly increasing the probability of survival. A key benefit of ESUK’s EPLB is that it embeds two different technologies within one product, meaning that many pilots who currently must use separate pieces will now be able to use one, integrated piece of equipment.

The EPLB will be able to operate efficiently in all weather conditions and at a full range of temperatures, for a minimum of 24 hours, across Land and Sea. It activates automatically upon ejection, meaning that even

an unconscious pilot can be detected. The technology has been intensively tested in the UK and internationally, and is also in use with several different Armed Forces.

It can be fitted to a comprehensive range of aircrafts, including fast jets, helicopters, and transport aircraft.

Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK said: “Elbit Systems UK is committed to protecting and supporting the Armed Forces, here and around the world, with the best equipment and technologies available. We are proud that our pioneering EPLB has been chosen to safeguard RAF pilots, an example of how innovative but proven technology can be transferred to the UK and customised for specific UK requirements”.

Elbit Systems UK Ltd (ESUK) holds four wholly-owned subsidiaries as well as two joint ventures. In total, over 500 personnel are employed by the ESUK companies in the UK, in high tech roles in the defence, aerospace and rail sectors. The two joint ventures were formed in order to deliver the Watchkeeper programme for the British Army and to supply and support three fleets of aircraft within the UK MOD Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme.

Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of

defence, homeland security and commercial programmes throughout the world. The Company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (“C4ISR”), unmanned aircraft systems, advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links and communications systems, radios and cyber-based systems and munitions. The Company also focuses on the upgrading of existing platforms, developing new technologies for defence, homeland security and commercial applications and providing a range of support services, including training and simulation systems

Everyone has a story to tell.

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Think Print

“Don’t forget - no one else sees the world the way you do,so no one can tell the stories that you have to tell”

- Charles de Lint

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MEMBERSHIP FORM

Membership options:

Annual Membership Fee £30 or if you’d like to give more £

Annual Family Membership Fee £75

Membership benefits:

• Menorah magazine

• Membership pack

• Tickets to AJEX events

• 2 for 1 entry to the Jewish Museum, Camden

• The knowledge you’re supporting our veteran and serving community

New Membership pack £30 (one-off payment). Pack includes AJEX tie or scarf, lapel pin, cap badge (for veterans), Yarmulke

Lifetime Membership Fee £1,000

Serving military personnel / full-time education / under 18s. FREE

WELFARE

AJEX provides welfare support to Veterans and Serving Jewish members of HM Armed Forces (including spouses and dependants) supporting those with physical and mental challenges as well as providing financial support to those in need.

Who can join AJEX?

REMEMBRANCE

AJEX delivers a nation-wide programme of Remembrance and Commemoration. This includes the Annual Ceremony & Parade on Whitehall and the National Memorial Arboretum. AJEX is also responsible for the Jewish Military Museum (JMM) based within the Jewish Museum, Camden.

ANYONE! There is no need to have had a connection to the military.

Name:

Address:

Telephone no:

Email address:

EDUCATION

AJEX delivers a range of educational activities for schools and informal education groups. Our programme is suitable for inter-faith and specialist audiences to support learning and understanding of the contribution made to the Armed Forces by the Anglo-Jewish community.

If you have any connection to the Armed Forces (current or past) please give details below:

Postcode:

Volunteer for AJEX: If you’d like to know more about volunteering for us please tick this box we’re always looking for help from people like you.

Please charge my credit/debit card for the amount chosen above

I enclose a cheque/charity voucher made payable to ‘AJEX Charitable Foundation’

Direct payment: Sort code 12-20-29 Account number 00316361

Ref: AJEX (SURNAME)

I consent for you to contact me in the future by email/phone/letter

I am content for you to use my name as a supporter of AJEX on the website and in print

Gift Aid Declaration I would like AJEX, Charity No 1082148, to reclaim tax on this donation, all donations I have made for four years prior to this year and any future donations, until I notify you otherwise. (You must pay an amount of UK Income and/ or Capital Gains Tax at least equal to the tax that we reclaim on your payment(s) in the relevant tax year(s). If you pay tax at a higher rate, you can claim relief in your Self Assessment tax return.) Please tick here

Signature: Date:

Please return to AJEX, Shield House, Harmony Way, London NW4 2BZ

Thank you for your support

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