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INTRODUCTION

In the darkest days of the War, the British Cabinet decided that it would be good policy to create a Jewish Regiment, and accordingly, in August, 1917, the first Jewish Battalion was formed.

From that day forth, as a matter of duty and loyalty to King and Country, it was clearly incumbent on all those in authority to treat this new unit with justice, and do everything in their power to make it a success.

It is to be deplored that this Jewish Battalion—this ewe lamb of Israel—did not receive, while on Active Service in the Holy Land, that measure of justice and fair play that was its due.

In common with the vast majority of my countrymen I have the "fair play" sense strongly developed. I am always prone to be on the side of the under dog—more especially when I see that the poor devil is getting more kicks than in all fairness are his due. In Palestine, unfortunately, I was constantly called upon to ward off unfair blows aimed at the Jewish Battalion under my command by certain members of the local staff of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

I have passed over many of our sufferings in silence, and no record of them will be found in this book, but I am afraid they have left an indelible mark in the mind and heart of every man who served in the Jewish Battalion under my command, and I fear that the evil effects of the local Military Administration will reverberate throughout Palestine for many a long year.

But before I proceed further, let me first of all make it clearly understood that I am not a Jew,—indeed, at the outbreak of the Great War I knew nothing of this ancient people, always excepting what I had read about them in the Bible, and other Jewish books. My first contact with Jews was in the Gallipoli campaign, where I was sent in command of a Corps composed of Zionists who had escaped from Palestine at the outbreak of war and taken service with the British Forces. Presumably because I had had this experience, I was appointed to the command of the first Jewish Infantry unit raised for service with the British Army. The career of such a unique unit is bound to be closely followed by all Jews, while it would not surprise me if the historian of the future seizes upon this dramatic appearance of the Jewish warrior, fighting for the redemption of Israel under the banner of England, as one of the most interesting episodes of the great World War.

Unfortunately for us, with a few honourable exceptions, the local Staff of the E.E.F. were "troublers of Israel." Instead of furthering the policy of the Home Government by holding out a helping hand to this new unit, on the contrary every obstacle