The heritage
The military heritage and the tradition of courage do not begin with the service of modern Jews in the British Army. The ancient Hebrews fought their enemies in the days of the ancient Hebrew Kingdom, during the period of the Prophets and eventually during the Great Revolt. For a thousand years the ancient Hebrews fought their enemies and successfully defended their Homeland. The Bar Kochba revolt was the last chapter of Jewish struggle in the antiquity.
The Jews were always known as fierce fighters but during certain periods of history they were forced to surrender in face of the overwhelming superiority of the enemy. But time and time again they rose and fought again for freedom and for their country. In the Diaspora too Jews often distinguished themselves as soldiers in the Armies of their host countries. In the modern history many Jewish names can be found amongst those of commanders and leaders.
It was during WWI that the Jews fought for the first time in a sort of a semi national framework within the British Army. The so-called "Jewish Legion" (Royal Fusiliers) took part in the conquest of Palestine - Eretz Israel, and freed the country from the Turks. Again during WWI Jews volunteered in their thousands to the British Army establishing the foundations of Jewish Armed Forces in the Jewish Homeland.
Immediately after the outbreak of WWII the Jewish Agency and the National Council of the Yishuv in Palestine approached the British Government asking for the establishment of a Jewish armed force within the British Army, so that the Jews could participate in the struggle against the Nazis. Mr. Moshe Shertok (Sharet) the Head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency led the struggle of the Yishuv for volunteering to the British Army and for establishing a Jewish Formation under the National flag.
Volunteering to the British Army began a week after the outbreak of the War and lasted until its end. When Italy entered the war and after the initial success of Rommel in the western desert, the war came dangerously close to Eretz-Israel. The proximity of the danger encouraged the volunteering to the British Army. Eventually some 30,000 young men and women, approximately 7% of the Jewish population of Palestine, enlisted in the British Army.
The volunteers served in many units of the British Army. The first volunteers enlisted in the Pioneer Corps as early as September 1939, and they fought in France, in Greece, and in Crete. Over 1000 of them were captured by the Germans and became prisoners of war. Amongst the prisoners was also an entire Port Operations company.
The first 12 volunteers to the British Army, enlisted in 7.9.1939, that is just one week after the outbreak of the war. These first volunteers joined an Anti Aircraft unit in Haifa. The British were interested mainly in professionals and in tradesmen to fill essential jobs, both in the front line and in the rear areas. Many of the volunteers joined engineering units, transportation units, maintenance depots and the Medical Corps.
In 1944, the enlistment commenced into the ATS (women corps). The women served in many functions: clerks, hospitals, ambulance drivers, heavy Transport drivers, Air Force, etc. The senior soldier was Brigadier Kish, who became the Officer Commanding Royal Engineers in the British Eight Army, fighting in the desert. Brigadier Kish was killed in action in the Western Desert.
Jewish Transportation Units (Royal Army Service Corps) fought in the Western Desert, in North Africa and in Italy. An entire Transportation Company was lost at sea when their ship en route from Africa to Italy was sunk by the Germans. It is worth mentioning that these Transportation Units were the first to meet the Jews in North Africa and in Italy. They organized schools for them, and other facilities. The Transportation Units were also the first to meet the Holocaust survivors.
Jewish doctors from Palestine served in all theatres of War, when attached to British Units. The enlistment to the Royal Air Force was initially for various ground services: signals, maintenance and administration. At a later stage, the first volunteers were allowed to join Pilot schools. Towards the end of the War, the volunteers from the Yishuv served as fighter pilots in the Royal Air Force. One of them, a resident of Hadera, enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an Australian (his parents were "olim" from Australia). He was killed in action, when his airplane was shot down, while attacking a German warship, close to the shores of Greece.
A number of Jews from Palestine, who at the outbreak of the War happened to be in England, enlisted in UK, became fighter pilots and participated in the Battle of Britain in 1940.
The volunteers served also in a number of Commando Units. A considerable number of volunteers served in the British Navy, on board warships.
The apex of volunteering came with the formation of the Jewish Brigade. After a five years struggle headed by Moshe Sharet, the British Government finally consented to the establishment of a Jewish fighting formation. The Brigade came into being in the middle of 1944, its official badge was a Shield of David on a yellow background, and its flag was the Jewish national Blue and White. The official name of the Brigade was "Jewish Infantry Brigade Group". In Hebrew, the name was abbreviated to one word: "Hay"l". However, right from the beginning, the new formation was called "The Brigade".
When the formation of the Brigade was announced, Mr. Sharet said the following on the Jerusalem Radio: "the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group is the reward for the efforts of all the volunteers, it's the victory of the faith which burned in their hearts. It is a proof that there is a reward for a consistent effort, that there is a reward for the determination and for the will which consistently advance towards the target. All in order to give the Jewish soldiers their hearts' desire: to fight the Germans.
