Jewish Legion

For other uses, see Jewish legion (disambiguation).

The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army's 38th through 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. The initial unit, known as the Zion Mule Corps, was formed in 1914-1915 during World War I, when Britain was at war against the Ottoman Empire, as Zionists around the world saw an opportunity to promote the idea of a Jewish National Homeland.

Jabotinsky (L) and Trumpeldor in uniform.

In December 1914, Zeev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor raised the idea of the formation of a Jewish unit that would participate in the British military effort to conquer Palestine from the Ottoman Empire, and by the end of March 1915, 500 Jewish volunteers from the Jews in Egypt who had been deported there by the Ottomans had started training. The Zion Mule Corps served on the Gallipoli front, as for political reasons the British opposed the participation of Jewish volunteers on the Palestinian front, but ultimately, in August 1917, the formation of a Jewish regiment was officially announced. The soldiers of the 38th and 39th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, made up almost entirely of Jews from Britain, Russia, United States, Canada, and later the 40th Battalion composed of Jews from the Ottoman provinces of Palestine and other areas, served in the Jordan Valley and fought the Ottomans some 20 miles north of Jerusalem.

Background

The British opposed the participation of Jewish volunteers on the Palestinian front and they were put to serve as a detachment for mule transport on another sector of the Ottoman front. Trumpeldor formed the 650-strong Zion Mule Corps, of whom 562 were sent to the Gallipoli front.

Gallipoli Front

Main articles: Gallipoli Campaign and Landing at Cape Helles

Cape Helles landing map

On April 25, 1915, together with the first British, Australian, New Zealand and French troops, the Jewish Legion landed on Gallipoli peninsula. Its Commanding Officer was Lt. Colonel John Henry Patterson, DSO, an Irish Protestant, and was met with heavy shelling and machine gun fire at the shore of Cape Helles. Trumpeldor was Second-in-command; Jabotinsky served as an officer. There, a Distinguished Conduct Medal was awarded to Private M. Groushkowsky, who prevented his mules from stampeding under heavy bombardment and despite being wounded in both arms, delivered the ammunition. Trumpeldor was shot through the shoulder but refused to leave the battlefield. Patterson later wrote: "Many of the Zionists whom I thought somewhat lacking in courage showed themselves fearless to a degree when under heavy fire, while Captain Trumpeldor actually revelled in it, and the hotter it became the more he liked it..."[1]

Official formation of the Jewish regiment

Between the dissolution of the Zion Mule Corps and the formation of the Jewish Legion, Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor and 120 Zion Mule Corps Veterans served together in Platoon 16 of the 20th Battalion of the London Regiment.

Finally, in August 1917, the formation of a Jewish regiment was officially announced. The unit was designated as the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and included British volunteers, as well as members of the former Zion Mule Corps and a large number of Russian Jews. On April 1918, it was joined by the 39th Battalion, made up almost entirely of Jews who were resident in the United States and Canada.

Thousands of Palestinian Jews also applied to join the Legion and in 1918, more than 1,000 were enlisted. 92 Ottoman Jews who had been captured in the fighting earlier were also permitted to enlist. This group was organized as the 40th Battalion. The 41st and 42nd Battalions were Depot Battalions stationed in Plymouth, England. In his memoirs about the Legion Jabotinsky described the composition of the 5000-member Legion as: "34 per cent from the United States, 30 per cent from Palestine, 28 per cent from England, 6 per cent from Canada, 1 per cent Ottoman war prisoners, 1 per cent from Argentina."

Action in the Jordan Valley, 1918

Main articles: Battle of Jerusalem (1917) and Battle of Megiddo (1918)

In June 1918, the volunteers of the 38th Battalion began engaging the Ottomans some 20 miles north of Jerusalem. In the fighting in the Jordan Valley, more than 20 Legionnaires were killed, wounded, or captured, the rest came down with malaria, and 30 of this group later died. The Legion then came under the command of Major General E.W.C. Chaytor, who commanded the Anzac Mounted Division.

Besides various skirmishes, the Legion also participated in the Battle of Megiddo in mid-September, 1918, widely considered to have been one of the final and decisive victories of the Ottoman front.

The Legion's mission was to cross the Jordan River. Jabotinsky led the effort. Later, he was decorated and General Chaytor told the Jewish troops: "By forcing the Jordan fords, you helped in no small measure to win the great victory gained at Damascus."

Legacy

The Legion casualties in World War I

Battalion	Fatalities
38th	43
39th	23
40th	12
42nd	3
38th/40th	9
Transferred from Jewish Legion	1

The Jewish Legion cap badge: menorah and word קדימה Kadima

The Jewish Legion Veteran ribbon.

Almost all the members of the Jewish regiments were discharged immediately after the end of World War I in November 1918. Some of them returned to their respective countries, others settled in Palestine to realize their Zionist aspirations. In late 1919, the Jewish Legion was reduced to one battalion titled First Judeans, and awarded a distinctive cap badge, a menorah with the Hebrew word קדימה Kadima (forward) at the base.

Post World War I Palestine and the Legion

Former members of the Legion took part in the defense of Jewish communities during the Riots in Palestine of 1920, which resulted in the arrest of Jabotinsky. Two former members of the Legion were killed with Captain Trumpeldor at Tel Hai. One former member of the Legion was killed in Tel Aviv-Jaffa during the Jaffa riots of 1921. Some members of the Jewish Legion settled in moshav Avihayil. Another former member died in service in World War II,

Gallery

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  A recruitment poster published in American Jewish magazines. Daughter of Zion (representing the Jewish people): 'Your Old New Land must have you! Join the Jewish regiment.

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  December 1917. Jewish Legion soldiers at the Western Wall after the British take-over of Jerusalem

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  February 22, 1918 The 38th battalion of the Jewish Legion marches in the streets of London.

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  Col Margolin leading the 39th Battalion of the Jewish Legion through Bet Shemen

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  The Choir of the Jewish Legion

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  The flag of the First Judeans 1919-1921.

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  Lt. Jabotinsky in the uniform of the Royal Fusiliers

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  Private David Ben-Gurion, a volunteer in the Jewish Legion 1918

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  Yaakov Dori, one of Legion members, photographed around 1948

Members of Jewish Legion

• Gershon Agron, Mayor of Jerusalem.
• Nathan Ausubel, Jewish-American author.
• Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second Israeli President.
• Yaakov Dori, Haganah leader; first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
• Sir Jacob Epstein, British sculptor.
• Levi Eshkol, third Israeli Prime Minister.
• Louis Fischer, Jewish-American journalist and author.
• Eliyahu Golomb, founding member of the Haganah.
• David Grün, later Ben-Gurion, first Israeli Prime Minister.
• Nachum Gutman, Israeli Painter
• Dov Hoz, Zionist activist, Haganah fighter.
• Bernard Joseph, later Dov Yosef, Governor of Jewish Jerusalem during the 1948 siege; longtime Labor MK.
• Berl Katznelson, Zionist philosopher and activist.
• Reuven Katzenelson-Sgt under Joesph Trumpeldor at Battle of Gallipoli and father of Shmuel Tamir
• Bert "Yank" Levy Internationalist in Spain and Military instructor for the British Home Guard.
• Gideon Mer, physician, veteran of Zion Mule Corps, Jewish Legion and British Army in World War II. Served as medic in Israeli War of Independence; later worked in the Israeli Ministry of Health. {Note: he is the unnamed Officer during World War II in charge of anti-Malaria program mentioned in Martin Sugarman's article on the Zion Mule Corps}.
• John Henry Patterson (author)-Commander of Zion Mule Corps and 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers {Jewish legion}
• James Armand de Rothschild, D.C.M. Major, 39th Royal Fusiliers Battalion; Captain Royal Canadian Dragoons; a member of the Rothschild family.
• Edward Sperling - humorist and later director-general of the Ministry of Trade and Industry under the British Mandate of Palestine
• Edwin Herbert Samuel, 2nd Viscount Samuel; CMG son of Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel.
• Eliezer Sukenik, Israeli archaeologist; father of Yigael Yadin

See also

• Jewish Brigade, a similar military formation of volunteer Jews that fought in the Second World War.
• Tilhas Tizig Gesheften, organization which grew out of the Jewish Brigade

Further reading

• Patterson, John H. With the Judeans in the Palestine campaign. Uckfield : Naval & Military Press, [2004 reprint] ISBN 1-8434-2829-6
• Jabotinsky, Valdimir. The story of the Jewish Legion. New York: Bernard Ackerman, 1945. ISBN B0007DE88U
• Freulich, Roman. Soldiers in Judea;: Stories and vignettes of the Jewish Legion. Herzl Press, 1965. ISBN B0007-EN0G-K
• Gilner, Elias. Fighting dreamers; a history of the Jewish Legion in World War One,: With a glimpse at other Jewish fighting groups of the period. 1968. ASIN B0006BT7KM
• Gilner, Elias. War and Hope. A History of the Jewish Legion. New York; Herzl Press: 1969. ISBN B0006C2O2E
• Kraines, Oscar. The soldiers of Zion: The Jewish Legion, 1915-1921. 1985. ASIN B0006YWX5U
• Marrion, R.J. "The Jewish Legion," 39th (service) battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), 1918-1919. 1987. ASIN B000719GOS
• Watts, Martin. The Jewish Legion and the First World War. 2004. ISBN 1-4039-3921-7
• "When the spirit of Judah Maccabee hovered over Whitechapel Road - The march of the 38th Royal Fusiliers" by Martin Sugarman, Western Front Association Journal, Jan 2010. Also google on virtual Jewish Library using title

External links

• The Zion Muleteers of Gallipoli (March 1915 - May 1916) by Martin Sugarman (JVL). Accessed June 21, 2006.
• Jewish legion and Jewish East end of London Link