Part 15 (2/2)

CHAPTER XXI.

LIFE AT LUDD.

On the 9th October the battered remnant of the battalion moved from Jerusalem to Ludd by rail, where it was taken on the strength of Lines of Communication troops for garrison duties.

When we heard that we were to be severed from the Anzacs our feeling was one of regret, for every individual in the battalion had the greatest admiration, respect, and affection for General Chaytor and his Staff, and, in fact, a feeling of real comrades.h.i.+p for every officer and man in the Anzac Mounted Division.

My sick and ailing could not even yet be taken into Hospital owing to lack of accommodation, so I left them attached to the 39th Battalion, under the care of Captain Salaman, R.A.M.C.

Our transport had been ordered to proceed from Jerusalem to Ludd by road on the 5th October, but as the animals were worn to mere skin and bone by hard work, and nearly all the drivers were down with malaria, I represented to the authorities that it would be impossible for them to move for at least a week, so they remained in Jerusalem for some days after Battalion Headquarters had left the City.

When eventually the transport marched in to Ludd I found both animals and men in a most pitiable condition. One of my best N.C.O.s, Corporal Lloyd, was delirious with fever, and several other men who should have gone into Hospital at Jerusalem but were unable to gain admission were brought down on the wagons. All these I sent into the local Hospital; Corporal Lloyd unfortunately did not recover, and died soon after he was admitted. Of the half-dozen officers who had so far escaped the malaria, one after another went down and were carried off to Hospital, until, out of the whole battalion, only Captain Leadley, Lieutenant Bullock, and myself were left in Camp!

Major Neill was one of the last to succ.u.mb, and his attack was so severe that his life was despaired of. He was on the ”dangerously ill” list for some time, but fortunately recovered.

Day after day the few remaining men we had left went to hospital until, in the end, I was put to such straits that I had to appeal once more to the Australians, who had a reinforcement camp near us under the command of Major Ferguson. I rode over and told him the difficulty I had in finding men even to feed my animals, and asked him to spare me a score of troopers to help with the exercising, watering, and grooming, etc., of the transport animals.

As usual, the Australians were all out to help, and readily gave me all the a.s.sistance I asked for.

Soon after the 38th Battalion left Jerusalem, Colonel Margolin also received orders to proceed to Ludd, although it was well known that hundreds of sick were in the camp. What would have happened to these unfortunate sufferers if he had obeyed orders and marched away leaving them to their fate, sick and helpless as they were, I shall leave the reader to imagine. Luckily for these poor fellows Colonel Margolin refused to leave until such time as they could be accommodated in Hospital.

Eventually he succeeded in getting his men into medical wards, and then he and what was left of his battalion came and camped within a mile of us at Surafend, a village between Ludd and Jaffa.

On the evening of the 22nd October Colonel Margolin and Captain Salaman rode into my camp and complained to me of the discrimination and unfair treatment to which the Jewish soldiers were being subjected in the Hospitals--giving me various instances to ill.u.s.trate certain of their statements.

As the Senior Officer of the Jewish Battalions, not being myself a Jew, I was deeply hurt at the un-English methods adopted towards men who had done so well in the field in England's cause, and felt that I would not be doing my duty to those under my command, and to Jewry generally, unless I protested against this unfair discrimination.

I considered that the best way of bringing matters to a head was by requesting to be relieved of my command as a protest against the anti-Jewish policy which prevailed. I accordingly sent forward my resignation. This found its way to G.H.Q., but as certain individuals there had no desire to see me land unmuzzled in England, my resignation was not accepted. Some of the Staff knew only too well that if I were free to return to England I would at once let the authorities there know that their representatives in Palestine were not carrying out the declared policy of the Imperial Government, but, on the contrary, were doing their best to make of the Balfour Declaration a mere ”sc.r.a.p of paper.”

As G.H.Q. was then only some two miles from my Camp I thought it might help matters if I could see Major-General Louis Jean Bols, the Chief-of-Staff, and get him to put a stop to the persecution that was going on, and see that his underlings ”played the game.” I therefore called on this gentleman, but he, for reasons best known to himself, refused to see me.

I told his A.D.C. that I was camped close by and would be glad to see the General any time that was convenient to him, but I left his office feeling there never would be a convenient time, and so, in fact, it turned out.

When my resignation was refused and my request for an interview treated in the same manner, I made a vigorous protest against the anti-Jewish policy which prevailed, and stated that if it was not altered I would have the matter placed before the Secretary of State for War in Parliament.

As a result of this I got a letter from G.H.Q. requesting me to furnish a list of the complaints I wished to make, and also asking me to forward recommendations for the improvement and comfort of the Jewish Battalion.

In my reply I pointed out how the battalion had suffered owing to the discrimination to which it had been subjected, and gave specific instances of unfair and unjust treatment during our service with the E.E.F.

I also forwarded a separate memorandum recommending various changes for the improvement and comfort of the men. I made five specific suggestions; not a single one of these was carried out.

One of my suggestions was that a special Jewish name and badge should be given to the battalion. This had been promised by the War Office, but the fact that it was granted was _purposely withheld from our knowledge_ by the Staff, and it was only by accident, a whole year later, that I discovered this deliberate shelving of Army Council Orders by G.H.Q. in Egypt.

This could not have been an oversight because I had written more than once to enquire whether this distinction had yet been conferred on the battalion.

Having seen the majority of my officers and men all carried off to Hospital, and feeling ill and depressed in my lonely camp, I sat down late one night and wrote a letter of condolence to Mrs. Cross. I told her that although we had wired to every Turkish Hospital, from Es Salt to Damascus, we could obtain no information about her husband; I wound up my letter by stating that although there might still be some very faint hope, she must steel herself to face the facts, for I feared she would never see her husband again.

<script>