(Author: Naomi Musiker, Vol. 69, No. 3, Chanukah 2014)
The creation of the Jewish Legion during World War I was largely due to the efforts of two Russian Zionists, Joseph Trumpeldor and Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Both were deeply influenced by the writings of Theodor Herzl. Trumpeldor, a professional soldier who had fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, immigrated in 1912 to Palestine with a group of his comrades and worked at the Migdal farm and the Kevuzah Deganyah. He also took part in the defence of the Jewish settlements in Lower Galilee. When World War 1 broke out, he refused to take Ottoman citizenship and was deported to Egypt. In Alexandria, he agitated for the formation of a legion of volunteers from among the Jewish deportees that would help the British liberate Palestine from the Turks. In this, he was assisted by Jabotinsky, a former correspondent of Rousski Vedomosti, and a distinguished author and poet.
Trumpeldor accepted the British Army’s proposal to form the Zion Mule Corps, which he regarded as the first step toward the formation of a Jewish military force to liberate Palestine. However, Jabotinsky refused to serve in the Corps because it was used for transport purposes only. The Corps, under the command of Colonel Patterson, took part in the Gallipoli campaign against the Turks in 1915, in which Trumpeldor distinguished himself by his bravery. After Gallipoli, the corps was disbanded. Trumpeldor now joined Jabotinsky in London in efforts to form a Jewish Legion from among the Russian Jews living in England, using a group of soldiers of the Zion Mule Corps as a nucleus.
In 1917, following three years of protracted negotiations, Jabotinsky succeeded in persuading the War Secretary, Lord Derby, to authorize the formation of the 38th, 39th and 40th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, which became the first Jewish Battalions. These took part in the Palestinian campaign under General Allenby. Jabotinsky was commissioned Lieutenant in the British Expeditionary Force and received command of a company in the 38th Battalion headed by Colonel Patterson. He was subsequently decorated and his company given the honour of being the first to cross the Jordan in pursuit of the Turkish forces. The battalion was renamed the Jewish Legion.
An interesting South African connection with the Jewish Legion is that of Jack Rich, who was to become Secretary to the SA Jewish Board of Deputies in February 1939 and held the position for 35 years. Born on 4 March 1897, in Hanley, Staffordshire, Rich revealed his extraordinary abilities in early boyhood by helping his father in the compilation of the minutes of the local congregation, of which his father was honorary secretary and later president. He was a brilliant student, but interrupted his studies at Cambridge in order to volunteer for military service in World War 1. He was a member of the Manchester University Officers Training Corps and then of a Cadet School in Cambridge. He was then commissioned and served in the 39th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers under Colonel Margolin.
When a new Jewish battalion was recruited from the Sabras of Palestine, known as the First Judeans, Rich was given command of a company as Assistant Adjutant and Education Officer. He remembered the Hebrew he had learned at cheder playing a large part in their initial training. The regiment served throughout the Palestine campaign. Rich was among the contingent which entered Jericho and then Jerusalem under Allenby. After the occupation of Palestine, he was appointed Officer Commanding the troops at Jericho and the Dead Sea, remaining on active service until 1920.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row] Jack Rich as an officer serving in Palestine, 1920 One of Rich’s memorable experiences of this period in Palestine had nothing to do with military matters. Rather, it was the friendship he cultivated with the famous pioneering Hebrew lexicographer, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, in whose Jerusalem home he was a frequent visitor. After the war, Rich completed his studies at Cambridge, where he took his M.A and LLB degrees and became chairman of the University Zionist Society. On the recommendation of the eminent Jewish scholar and writer Dr Israel Abrahams, he was appointed Assistant Secretary and subsequently Secretary of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Additionally, he served as Secretary to the Joint Foreign Committee, the policy body of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Anglo-Jewish Association. In 1931, Rich became editor of the prestigious Jewish Chronicle of London. Cecil Lyons, chairman of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, met him in November 1938 and recruited him for the post of Secretary of the SAJBD, commencing in February the following year. Rich went on to become one of the most important functionaries of the Board, respected for his high sense of duty, administrative ability, thoroughness and methodical approach. He was enormously erudite, a prodigious reader and music collector. He remained in service to the Board until late in his career and after retirement acted as Secretarial Consultant. He died in 1987, aged 90. Naomi Musiker, a veteran contributor to Jewish Affairs and long-serving member of its Editorial Board, has contributed numerous biographical articles for the Dictionary of SA Biography and the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa and, as an indexer, has worked for some of South Africa’s leading publishers and indexed many important reference works. She has held the position of archivist at the SA Jewish Board of Deputies since 1992. Baneshik, Percy, ‘Late Jewish leader served with Allenby in Palestine’, Star 30/10/1987. Bernstein, Edgar, ‘Jack Rich: In the Anglo-Jewish Tradition’, South African Jewish Times,2/9/1960. Goldberg, Aleck, ‘Jack Rich at 90’, Jewish Affairs, March 1987. Jack Rich Turns 75. Devoted Record of Communal Service. (Notes by Maurice Porter, President of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies c.1972)
References
