With the Judæans in the Palestine CampaignPatterson, J. H. (John Henry)
History
With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign
Patterson, J. H. (John Henry)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Palestine; World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, Jewish
I therefore ordered a parade of the men by Companies, and got the
officers to point out to the men their sacred duty, and gave
instructions for any malcontents to be sent before me for a final
appeal. Only twelve men were found who wished to join a Labour unit, and
to these twelve (I thought the number appropriate, as it was one for
each tribe) I made a strong personal appeal, and after I had pointed
out, in the best language at my command, what a stigma they were placing
on the battalion, and on their fellow Jews throughout the world, ten saw
the error of their ways and cheerfully said they wished to do their duty
as soldiers, and continued serving with the battalion, and I am glad to
be able to place on record that these ten did very well afterwards in
the field, one of them making the supreme sacrifice. Two only remained
obdurate to all appeals, and insisted on being posted to a Labour unit,
and I think Jewry should remember them to all time. Their names and
numbers, and the evil which they did, are recorded in the chronicles of
the battalion. They were turned out of the camp and drafted to a Labour
unit at a moment's notice, just as if they had been lepers.
Towards the end of April, 1918, we were delighted to welcome the 39th
Battalion from England, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Margolin,
D.S.O., and with them as M.O. I was glad to see Captain R. Salaman. We
gave the new arrivals a very hearty welcome, the band of the 38th
Battalion playing them into Camp amid great enthusiasm.
There was much friendly rivalry between these Jewish Battalions, and
honours were about easy in our sporting competitions. We gave one or two
"At Homes," to which all Cairo seemed to flock, and I am sure our good
Cairene friends were favourably impressed with what they saw of the
Jewish Battalions at work and play.
Just about this time we were visited at Helmieh by Dr. Weizmann, Mr.
Joseph Cowen, and Mr. Aaronson. All three gave addresses to the men. Mr.
Aaronson moved his audience to fury by graphically describing the
torture which the Turks had inflicted on his aged father and young
sister in Palestine, because they had dared to help England. Mr.
Aaronson lived to see his home land freed from the Turk, but soon
afterwards lost his life in an aeroplane disaster while crossing from
England to France.
Dr. Weizmann has done much and suffered much since he addressed us on
that peaceful evening in the Egyptian desert. If he could have foreseen
everything I doubt if even his undaunted soul would have faced
unblenched all the trials and tribulations which have fallen to his lot
since he undertook the arduous task of leading his people back to the
Land of Israel. His task has been, if anything, more difficult than was
that of the great Lawgiver. The latter had only to surmount the
obstinacy of one Pharaoh, while Dr. Weizmann had to overcome that of
thousands--not a few of them being Jews!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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