Part 17 (2/2)

Secondly, I want to tell you how sorry I am that I was not able to put you in the Van in the advance on Es Salt. I wished that you had been there, and I wanted you to be there, but the Indian Infantry and other units were in a more favourable position from which to spring off, while you were still entangled miles to the northward in the heavy sandhills of the Jordan Valley. In any case, even had you been in the Van you would have seen but little fighting, for the mounted men got well to the front and were able to effect the capture of Es Salt and Amman before the Infantry could possibly come up.

I am pleased to be able to tell you, however, that I was particularly struck with your good work on the Mellahah front, and by your gallant capture of the Umm esh Shert Ford and defeat of the Turkish rearguard when I gave you the order to go, for I was then enabled to push my mounted men over the Jordan at that crossing, and so you contributed materially to the capture of Es Salt and of the guns and other material which fell to our share; to the capture of Amman; the cutting of the Hedjaz Railway, and the destruction of the 4th Turkish Army, which helped considerably towards the great victory won at Damascus.

I briefly thanked the General for his praise of the battalion, and a march past the decorated officers and men concluded the pleasant ceremony. It was indeed a Red-Letter Day for the battalion.

It will be seen from the above what really good work was done by the Jewish Battalion, and how much it was appreciated by the one man who was in a position to judge of our fighting abilities by actual experience in the field.

Yet all mention of Jewish Troops was deliberately suppressed by the Staff at G.H.Q. True, Jewish Troops were mentioned in official despatches all over the world, but the part of these despatches relating to Jewish Troops was never allowed to appear in the Palestinian and Egyptian papers. This naturally upset and humiliated both Jewish troops and the Jewish population generally, for it gave outsiders the impression that we had failed to do our duty, whereas, on the contrary, the Jewish Battalion had done extraordinarily good work for England. It would, therefore, have been only mere justice and fair play if it had received recognition in the local Egyptian and Palestinian Press, but it was rigidly excluded from all mention by what the _Times_ truthfully branded as ”the most incompetent, the most inept, and the most savagely ruthless censors.h.i.+p in any country under British control.”

This omission was especially noted by all when the Commander-in-Chief in his speech at Cairo, in December, 1918, mentioned all nationalities who fought under his command, including Armenians and West Indians, but maintained a stony silence on the doings of Jewish Troops in Palestine.

Coming on the top of all our persecution, this was most marked.

The following is indeed in his despatch published in England, which must by some fluke or other have dodged the Censor:

GENERAL ALLENBY'S DESPATCH, 31ST OCTOBER, 1918.

In operations east of the Jordan.

The enemy, however, still held the bridgeheads on the west bank, covering the crossings of the Jordan at Umm es Shert, etc.

Early in the morning of the 22nd September, the 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers captured the bridgehead at Umm es Shert.

Of the fighting troops, all have taken their share and have carried out what was required of them.

I will bring to notice the good fighting qualities shown by the newer units. These include ... the 38th and 39th (Jewish) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers.

(Signed) E. H. H. ALLENBY, General, Commander-in-Chief, E.E.F.

The Commander-in-Chief also wrote in reply to a letter of congratulation which he received from the Secretary of the Zionist Organization of America:

22D NOVEMBER, 1918.

DEAR SIR,

I have the honour to acknowledge your letter....

You will be glad to hear that the Jewish Regiment did consistently good work....

I received letters of congratulations from many prominent people, but the most valued of all was from that wonderful and truly great man, Theodore Roosevelt. I only received this letter, written three weeks before his lamented death, towards the end of March--over two months after he had pa.s.sed away. It had been sent to France in error, and wandered in and out amongst the different armies there until somebody noticed that it had ”E.E.F.” on the address, and sent it on to Palestine:

11TH DECEMBER, 1918.

MY DEAR COLONEL PATTERSON,

I most heartily congratulate you on leading in what was not only one of the most important, but one of the most dramatic incidents in the whole War. To have the sons of Israel smite Ammon ”hip and thigh” under your leaders.h.i.+p is something worth while.

<script>