With the Judæans in the Palestine Campaign — John Shaqi
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
This particular piece of work was under the supervision of Major Neill,
and, as it had to be done in record time, his task was no easy one, but,
fortunately for him and his Company, the Turks never spotted what was
going on, and before we left these parts Major Neill saw the guns safely
emplaced without suffering a single casualty.
All this stone work on the steep sides of a hill, coupled with heavy
marching to and fro, and scrambling up and down, was not good for the
men's clothing, which soon got worn, ragged and dirty. A false step on a
slippery slope meant that the seat of a man's flimsy shorts was rent
asunder, and it was quite usual to see the tail of a shirt hanging out!
Yet, no matter how ragged and disreputable-looking the men were, I
found it impossible to get any renewal of clothing, although it was
freely handed out to other units.
It seemed as if it were a joy to some people to be able to withhold
necessary articles of clothing, such as shirts, boots, socks, shorts,
etc., and keep the men working on dirty jobs, and then say with glee,
"Look at the ragged dirty Jews."
It must be remembered that we could not obtain enough water even to wash
our faces, for every drop had to be carried up the precipitous sides of
the hills on camels as far as they could clamber, and then by mules and
donkeys up the steeper parts. Often there was a shortage of the precious
fluid even for tea-making.
I wrote urgent letters again and again, and protested that the men were
unfit to march for want of shoes, and that many of them were actually
exposing their nakedness for want of clothing. I sent my Quartermaster,
Lieutenant Smythe, day after day, to the Ordnance Stores trying to
extract necessary articles, but all in vain! We were nobody's children,
and consequently we could get nothing. I saw the Brigadier, and
represented to him that in many cases our men were ragged, shirtless,
sockless, and bootless, but if he made any representations on our behalf
there was no result.
Had we belonged to a Brigade instead of being merely "attached" most of
our troubles would never have arisen, but the policy adopted by the
local Staff was to keep us as "wandering Jews," pitched from one Brigade
to another, in a continuous round of General Post.
It was a heart-breaking experience as any soldier will understand.
At last I rode over to my old Gallipoli friend, Colonel O'Hara, who was
on the Staff of the 10th Division, and he, like the good soldier that he
is, helped me out of my difficulty as far as it lay in his power.
What a difference it makes when one meets a good Staff Officer! Not
nearly enough care is given to the task of selecting the right men for
this all-important branch of the Army. They are too often selected for
any reason except the right one, viz., efficiency.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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