Part 3 (1/2)
As soon as sufficient recruits justified it I recommended the Authorities to proceed with the formation of the 39th Battalion and to appoint Major Knowles, from the Depot, to the Command. This was done, and from what I saw during the time I was in Plymouth, I felt quite confident that Colonel Knowles would make an excellent commander.
Colonel Knowles was succeeded at the Depot in London by Major Schonfield, who worked untiringly to promote the interests of the recruits, and to imbue them with a good, soldierly spirit while they were pa.s.sing through his hands in Chenies Street. About the same time as Colonel Knowles was appointed, Captain Salaman so highly recommended his brother-in-law, Colonel F. D. Samuel, D.S.O., to me that I asked the Adjutant-General if this officer might be recalled from France to take charge of the training at Plymouth, and Jewish affairs there generally, after my departure for Palestine. The Adjutant-General very kindly agreed to my request, and transferred Colonel Samuel from France to Plymouth at very short notice.
Soon after I left for Palestine recommendations were made to the War Office that it would be preferable to have a Jewish officer in command of the 39th Battalion, and the result was that Colonel Samuel was appointed to the 39th Battalion in the place of Colonel Knowles. This treatment was most unfair to the latter, who had worked extremely hard and enthusiastically, both at the Depot and during the time he held command of the 39th Battalion, where he did all the spade work and made things very easy for his successor. Colonel Knowles afterwards went to France and later on served with the North Russian Expeditionary Force.
Of course, it was all to the good to have a Jewish Commanding Officer, but it should have been arranged without doing an injustice to Colonel Knowles.
About this time Major Margolin, D.S.O., a Jewish officer attached to the Australian Forces, was transferred to the Depot at Plymouth, and eventually replaced Colonel Samuel in the command of the 39th Battalion.
Outsiders will never be able to imagine the immense amount of trouble and detail involved in the formation of this unique unit. I must say that the War Office, and the local command at Plymouth, gave me every possible a.s.sistance. Colonel King, of the Military Secretary's Staff at the W.O., helped me through many a difficulty in getting Jewish officers brought back from France.
Colonel Graham, also of the War Office, came to my a.s.sistance whenever he could possibly do so, while the late Military Secretary, General Sir Francis Davies, under whom I had served in Gallipoli, was kindness itself.
General Hutchison, the Director of Organization, was always a tower of strength, and the Jewish Battalions owe him a heavy debt. Lieut.-Colonel Amery, M.P., and the late Sir Mark Sykes, M.P., also did what was in their power to make our th.o.r.n.y path smooth.
CHAPTER V.
THE KOSHER PROBLEM.
The only serious trouble we had in Plymouth occurred over Kosher food.
As most people probably know, Jewish food has to be killed and cooked in a certain way as laid down in Jewish Law, and it is then known as ”kosher,” _i.e._ proper.
This was, of course, quite new to the Military authorities, and the Army being a very conservative machine, and, at times, a very stubborn one, they failed to see the necessity of providing special food for the Jewish troops--a curious state of mentality considering the care taken with the food of our Moslem soldiers.
I have a fairly shrewd idea that all the blame for the trouble we were put to in this matter must not rest altogether on the shoulders of the Army officials, for I strongly suspect that our Jewish ”friends,” the enemy, who were so anxious to destroy the Jewishness of the Regiment, had their fingers in this Kosher pie!
Now I felt very strongly that unless the Jewish Battalion was treated as such, and all its wants, both physical and spiritual, catered for in a truly Jewish way, this new unit would be an absolute failure, for I could only hope to appeal to them as Jews, and it could hardly be expected that there would be any response to this appeal if I countenanced such an outrage on their religious susceptibilities as forcing them to eat unlawful food. I made such a point of this that I was at length summoned to the War Office by the Adjutant-General, Sir Nevil Macready, who informed me that I was to carry on as if I had an ordinary British battalion, and that there was to be no humbug about Kosher food, or Sat.u.r.day Sabbaths, or any other such nonsense. I replied very respectfully, but very firmly, that if this was to be the att.i.tude taken up by the War Office, it would be impossible to make the Battalion a success, for the only way to make good Jewish soldiers of the men was by first of all treating them as good Jews; if they were not to be treated as Jews, then I should request to be relieved of my command.
Accordingly, as soon as I returned to Plymouth, I forwarded my resignation, but the G.O.C. Southern Command returned it to me for reconsideration.
In the meantime a telegram was received from the War Office to say that the Kosher food would be granted, and Sat.u.r.day would be kept as the Sabbath.
After this things went smoothly; Sir Nevil Macready readily lent us his ear when I put up an S.O.S., and, as a matter of fact, he became one of our staunchest friends.
I was more than gratified to receive, a few days later, the following ”Kosher” charter from the War Office--a charter which helped us enormously all through our service, not only in England, but also when we got amongst the Philistines in Palestine.
14th SEPT., 1917.
20/Gen. No. 4425 (A.G. 2a).
SIR,
With reference to Army Council Instruction 1415 of the 12th Sept., 1917, relating to the formation of Battalions for the reception of Friendly Alien Jews, I am commanded by the Army Council to inform you that, as far as the Military exigencies permit, Sat.u.r.day should be allowed for their day of rest instead of Sunday.
Arrangements will be made for the provision of Kosher food when possible.
I am, etc.,
(Signed) B. B. CUBITT.