(Volume 64, #3, Chanukah 2009)
Editor’s Note: The Jewish Chronicle, organ of UK Jewry, enthusiastically backed the British war effort in South Africa. Its wartime issues regularly carried war news, specifically relating to the Jews on active service. The example of the latter was played up to the hilt, as evidence that Jews were not shirking their duty but indeed “doing their bit” for Queen and Country. Another understated motive was to counter accusations that the war had come about through the machinations of Jewish financiers.
Amongst those items published were letters from Jewish soldiers describing their experiences. The following extracts from such correspondence record how several of the war’s most significant military engagements were seen by the Jewish Tommies who participated in them.
Private B. Davis and the Battle of Elandslaagte
Writing from Estcourt, Natal, to his elderly father back in Birmingham on 2 March 1900, Private Benjamin Davis (No. 937, A Company, 1 Section, Imperial Light Infantry) provided a dramatic account of his part in the British victory at Elandslaagte. On 21 October 1899, a Boer commando under General Kock took up a position on the heights overlooking Elandslaagte station, some fifty kilometers north of Ladysmith. A significantly larger British force were dispatched to dislodge them, and succeeded in their aim after several hours of stiff fighting. (Davis’ real name was Berkovich; a number of Jewish volunteers chose to Anglicize their names when they enlisted)
Our first fighting was at the Battle of Elandslaagte, where we acted as reserves. We lay down for about seven and a half hours, and the suspense was horrible. About two miles further up the valley, big guns were booming, musketry rattling, horses screaming and men yelling; while now and again a battery of guns would crash past us on their way up. None of us were hurt, though several shells burst around us. One buried itself quite close to the Major without bursting, and he was as cool as ice; a fine, big chap.
The majority of our fellows are old soldiers, having served in the previous Boer War and some of the Kaffir wars. This is a volunteer corps, all picked men, and, by a stroke of luck, I was put in the picket company of the lot ‘A’. After we had lain a good while, orders came for the advance of A, B and C Companies. We advanced almost at the double, so eager were our men to get at the enemy. In about twenty minutes we were halted, and then we knew we were in the line of fire. So far, we had only seen our own men, who were steadily advancing from cover to cover, crouching and crawling towards the hill where the Boers were entrenched. Suddenly, there was a lull. A small band of Boers having been cut off, hoisted the white flag. The General in command thought the Boers were surrendering, and ordered the bugler to sound the “cease fire.” He soon found out his mistake, and the fighting was renewed. In the meantime, as the smoke cleared off, I was able to obtain a grand view around, my first view of a battlefield. For miles around the veldt was dotted with dead and wounded. Thousands of our men could be seen as they advanced from trench to trench. Close to me lay a wounded Fusilier. He asked me for some water, and I gave him my water-bottle. I was just handing him a cigarette when we were ordered to fall in. We struck off to the right to take up a position on a small kopje, and were within about three hundred yards of it when the bullets started flying around us. When I saw the stern looks of our fellows, I nerved myself for the rush to cover. It soon came, with the shot whistling about us. We had hardly settled down to return the fire when we heard wild yelling and cheering, and, for a moment, as the smoke cleared, we saw the bayonets flashing as our gallant Tommies charged the hills. The cheering continued for a quarter of an hour, when it suddenly increased three-fold, and, as our artillery galloped up the hill, we knew the battle was won and the Boers routed.
Two Views of the Battle of Colenso
The repulse of General Redvers Buller at Colenso on 15 December 1899 was the third, and most humiliating, of the defeats the British suffered during the so-called “Black Week”. Strongly entrenched and virtually invisible on the north bank of the Tugela, the Boers under General Louis Botha quickly brought Buller’s columns to a standstill, inflicting heavy casualties while suffering minimal losses themselves. Ten artillery field pieces fell into their hands when the British retreated later in the day.
The first extract, taken from a letter written by an unnamed Jewish officer from Pietermaritzburg, appeared in the JC on 26 January 1900.
I am sorry to say I am lying in the hospital, having been wounded in last Friday’s engagement at Colenso. The battle was a terrible failure; the Boers held a perfectly unassailable position beyond the River Tugela. They were practically invisible in sheltered trenches, while out poor fellows had to advance over perfectly open ground and attempt to cross the river. The enemy knew all the ranges, and the hail of bullets was appalling; the pluck shown by our troops was magnificent, but the task was impossible, and after about seven hours’ fighting we had to retire.
I was shot through the ankle early in the day, but the wound did not bother me; and it was not until fighting had nearly ceased, that I got a worse wound in the thigh, which bowled me over. My regiment lost very heavily, two officers killed and nine wounded, and about 100 non-coms. and men killed or wounded.
You need not be anxious about me; on the contrary, I thank God that I came out of it alive. I am quite comfortable and well cared for in the hospital; an army nursing sister looks after us, besides the usual orderlies. The enthusiasm and patriotism in the town is enormous. I was carried off the field by civilian stretcher bearers for about two miles who did not funk though under rifle fire, and this Hospital is full of civilian doctors who are assisting the military doctors. Although not badly hurt, I am afraid my convalescence will be slow, as I shall not be able to walk for some time. Thank heaven more troops are coming out from home. Of course, we must win in the long run but it will be a long time; the Boer forces have been absurdly under-estimated, and unfortunately our artillery has not guns of equal range to theirs.
Private Edwin Samuel Lyons (2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers) was deployed in the sector where the British guns were lost. He gave the following account of his experiences in a letter published in the JC on 19 January 1900:
It was one of the most awful experiences by a British soldier. My regiment, with only four Companies engaged, lost six officers and 91 non-commissioned officers killed, wounded and missing. There is another man named Lyons who was wounded in the neck, but always remember my regimental number is 4297, so as to distinguish between the two. Notwithstanding the deadly fire on us we could not see the enemy. We did not retire: we were on an open plain, under a boiling sun, without food and water for 10½ hours, and could not return the fire because we could not see the enemy. I was busy with the wounded, with bullets and shells all round me. Two artillerymen were recommended for the V.C. right next to me. . . .
I told you when you parted with me that I would do my duty like an Englishman and a Jew, and you bet I’ll not disgrace my uniform or my race. I am living, that is the main thing, and what is more, I hope to march with the remainder of our troops into Pretoria victorious, and come home again. I am all right; I am too ugly for the Boers to shoot, but I tell you it is not too pleasant carrying our wounded chums to the rear in face of a hot fire of bullets and watch their sufferings and bind up their wounds, and the next day to bury the poor fellows who fell never to rise up again. You will see by the papers that we were well to the front, and have earned a good name. . .
Buck up, mater. It would have been a bitter disappointment to me had I been left at home while my comrades were fighting out here. I am glad I am here to share the honors and the sufferings of my chums, and to do my little bit for the credit of dear old England and the grandest Queen who ever reigned (God bless her)….
The Central Front
Considerable activity took place in the North-Eastern Cape theatre of operations, centering on Colesberg, during the first five months of the war. Unlike in the Kimberley and Ladysmith theatres, where full-scale engagements involving thousands on either side were common, this largely took the form of numerous smaller actions. The following extract, from a letter by Private Sidney Levy, F.M. Rifles, published in the JC on 23 February 1900, depicts the harshness of daily life on active service.
You cannot imagine how welcome to us volunteers, living as we do and have done for three solid months on the bare veldt, devoid of all comforts, is a letter from home. Letters are so scarce that the few that reach us from outside are looked upon as treasures, and valued accordingly. No doubt, dear mother, you would like to have a long account of myself, but you must remember that time is not my own; that I am liable to be called to duty at any moment.
We have been on active service since November 5th, and we have already had an engagement, and a shell from the enemy dropped but a few yards from me, but luckily did not burst. Twenty-two of our men were engaged in a bigger fight at Dordrecht, and some were killed. I am not mentioning this to make you anxious . . . but it is every man’s duty in Africa to fight for his country, and why should I remain idle? Will you not be proud of your son, mother, when he returns home after the war with a medal on his breast! Until then we are all having a rough tune of it, more than you think, and I pray that this terrible war may soon be ended.
Every day mounted patrols, picquets, guards, fatigue parties &c. Then to be woken up at midnight and have to saddle and ride 40 miles without any grub is no joke, I can assure you. Last week I was four days in the saddle, and the heat was almost unbearable. We cook our own food, and think nothing of making soup and drinking it out of the wash-basin. Still I keep up a stout heart. . . . Of course you know we are attached to General Gatacre’s column, and that another attack will shortly be made. I wonder where I shall be when your answer to this comes. . . . .
The Battle of Spioenkop
Spioenkop, fought on 24 January 1900, was the culmination of Buller’s second unsuccessful attempt to breach the Boer’s Tugela line and come to the relief of Ladysmith. The British seized the thinlydefended hill in a night raid, but failed to occupy it properly, leaving them exposed to a strong Boer counter-attack from three directions. The position was abandoned after a ferocious day-long battle. Barring Paardeberg a little under a month later, Spioenkop (called Spion Kop by the British) was the bloodiest single encounter of the war, costing some 80 Boer and over 320 British lives. Three Jews were among the dead – Private H. Dreher (Royal Lancashire Regiment), Private A. Levitt (Middlesex Regiment) and Lieutenant Frederick Melchior Raphael (South Lancashire Regiment). The following obituary for Raphael appeared in the 2 February 1900 issue of the JC.
The announcement of the death of Lieutenant F. M. Raphael South Lancashire Regiment, brings home the stern realities of war to a large number of out readers. He was, we believe, the first Jewish officer in the British Regular Army to be killed on active service. His death was notified at the War Office on Monday last, the 29th inst, as having occurred in action in Natal on the 24th, from which it may be gathered that he took part in General Warren’s attack on Spion Kop…
Lieutenant Frederick Melchior Raphael, son of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Raphael, of Portland Place, London, and Castle Hill, Englefield Green, was born in 1870 and educated at Wellington College. Joining the Rifle Brigade–Militia Battalion in 1889, he passed into the Regular Army in 1891, being posted to the 1st Battalion South Lancashire Regiment. He was gazetted first Lieutenant in that regiment in 1893, and two years ago passed the necessary qualifications prior to receiving the rank of Captain.
He had qualified in signaling and military topography as well as having acted Instructor of Musketry and Adjutant to his regiment. He was also Captain of the Regimental Cricket Eleven.
A man of strong physique, ever collected, possessing a perfect equanimity of temper, generous, an all-round sportsman, devoting much of his time to fishing and shooting, he was every inch a soldier. Always popular with those with whom he came into contact, he had the enviable capacity of making friends and keeping them, and it is to be hoped that those dear to him whom he has left behind to mourn his loss will find consolation in the fact that he has died a hero’s death, and one which he himself would most have desired.
Private Abraham Sarfaty (Seffarty), of A Company, 2nd Middlesex Regiment, took part in the Spioenkop battle, doing “a great deal for the wounded in his capacity as orderly to the Medical Officer in charge of his Battalion”. The JC described him as “one of the Sephardic soldiers in the British Army”. He served in India as a bandsman in his regiment, and was previously mentioned in the JC in a paragraph headed “A Jewish Bandsman”. The extract that follows was published in the JC on 9 March 1900.
Just a few lines to let you know that I am still alive and safe. You will by this time have read in the papers that our regiment has been in action, and of the number of men we have lost.
It was a terrible day. The night before, the men were sitting round the camp fires till one o’clock in the morning, when we had the order to advance and help to keep the hill which the other regiments were fast losing. It was a difficult mountain to climb, and we could only get up in single file. I am not sure of the name. It is either “Spitz Kop” or “Spion Kop.” Were it not for our regiment coming up and opening fire at once, the Boers would have captured the hill and made us all prisoners. I was not on the hill all the time, as the doctor sent me to the field hospital to get a further supply of brandy. The shells were bursting everywhere. I was busy all day getting water for the wounded and putting on bandages. I shall not attempt to describe some of the terrible sights I witnessed. Out of five Jews in the regiment, one was killed and one wounded. The first was Private Levitt, and the other Color-Sergeant Morris, who was hit in the nose and mouth. . . .
Minyanim in the shadow of Long Tom: The Siege of Kimberley
Kimberley was one of three British towns that were besieged by the Boers in the early stages of the war. Unlike the other two – Mafeking and Ladysmith – it had a significant Jewish civilian population. The following letter was written shortly after the relief of the town on 15 February 1900 by the Rev. Harris Isaacs, Minister of the Griqualand West Hebrew Congregation, to Chief Rabbi Marcus Adler (published 30 March 1900). Its description of how Jewish communal life was conducted under siege conditions vividly brings to life a unique episode in South African Jewish history.
Rev. Dr. – Knowing full well the interest you take in every Jewish community throughout the British Empire, I am sure you will be pleased to hear from me under present circumstances.
For one hundred and twenty-four days Kimberley has been besieged. At first we looked upon it as huge joke, Boers threatening British territory. But for many weeks towards the end we suffered such agony and such trouble and tribulations that few of us are likely to forget it for the rest of our lives. No food could be obtained without a permit, bread 10 oz. per day, no flour if bread were used; tea, coffee, sugar, the smallest quantity imaginable; potatoes none, vegetables very little, fruit very little, eggs 24s per doz., butter none, fowls 25s, each. Wood to cook the food which was served three pounds per person per week. Meat, nothing but horse flesh. We did not fatten on this fare.
Yes, medical comforts could be obtained, but only by medical certificates. And what medical comforts! A tin of jam, a tin of salmon, sardines, kippered herrings, soap, candles – these were medical comforts. It was one constant struggle from 5.30 a.m. till late in the evening to obtain provisions for the day. Had it not been for the De Beers Company we could not have held out so long. It supplied us with water, which had been cut off by the Boers, it supplied us with the little vegetables and fruit obtainable, and the relief work, which kept people in employment and in good order. Employment was given to everybody, white, colored, black; no difference was made in nationality creed, or color. What was most important, it manufactured ammunition, and a big gun throwing a projectile of 28 lbs. and named “Long Cecil,” after Cecil J. Rhodes. Strange coincidence, the gentleman [George Labram – ed.] who perfected this gun was himself killed by a 100 lb. shell thrown into the heart of the town by the Boers.
The members of our community performed their fair share in the defense of the town. Thirty-seven joined and carried arms in the Town Guard. Considering the Jewish population, this is a fair proportion to other churches. Some joined the Red Cross Ambulance Corps, and assisted the wounded. The military authorities treated our community with the greatest consideration. When the town was rationed on horseflesh, we were given kosher meat. We obtained a very small quantity, two ounces per person per day, but it was meat – beef – and what a luxury it was! People who, sad to say, had forgotten the taste of kosher meat, begged and prayed for a permit to obtain it.
Services continued uninterrupted. Amidst shot and shell, accompanied by a choir of cannon balls, the Maariv was chanted on Friday evening. With 40lb. projectiles bursting all over the town, we read the Law. Read the service and prayed fervently indeed, “May God send peace to us and to all Israel – Amen.” Only on one occasion did we fail to obtain a Minyan, and that was when we were bombarded with the 100lb. projectiles. This Saturday evening, the 100lb. shells came fast and furiously. Starting at eight p.m, it continued to twelve p.m. to the minute, at intervals of two and three minutes, when the enemy piously stopped, for was it not “The Holy Sunday”? The agonies of this one evening, who can describe?
Besides everything and every trouble and anguish, we lovers of peace, who had looked upon a little sickness as a terrible trouble and upon death under natural circumstances as a grievous blow, now saw wagons flying the red cross with wounded and dead, slowly wending their way to the hospital and mortuary, each day claiming its quota. Our hearts bled for the sorrow that and come upon us. All this time our women and children bore everything with courage and fortitude.
And now we are relieved. The town is gradually resuming its normal appearance. We have already had butter for breakfast and potatoes for dinner, and– tell it not in Gath, it is a secret – I heard that we are going to have fried fish for breakfast to-morrow –Shobbos. What a “Good Shobbos” greeting we will give each other to-morrow when we leave the synagogue…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
