Page Two
First Steps
The new Prime Minister wasted no time:
"Winston Churchill to the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
Lord Lloyd. 28.VI.60.
The failure of the policy which you favour is proved by the verv
large numbers of sorely needed troops you [we] have to keep
Palestine:
6 battalions of infantry
9 regiments of yeomanry
8 battalions of Australian infantry
- the whole probably more than twenty thousand men. This is
price we have to pay for the anti-Jewish policy which has been
resisted in for some years. Should the war go heavily into
Egypt, these troops will have to be withdrawn, and the position
of the Jevish colonists will be one of the greatest danger.
Indeed I am sure that we shall be told we cannot withdraw these
troops, though they include some of our best, and are vitally
needed elsewhere. If the Jews were properly armed, our forces
would become available. and there would be no danger of the Jews
attacking the Arabs, because they are entirely dependent upon us
and upon our command of the seas. I think it is little less than
a scandal that at a time when we are fighting for our lives
these very large forces should be immobilised in support of a
policy which commends itself only to a section of the
Conservative Party.
I had hoped you would take a broad view of the Palestine
situation, and would make it an earnest objective to set the
British garrison free. I could certainly not associate myself
with such answer as you have drawn up for me. I do not at all
admit that Arab feeling in the Near East and India would be
prejudiced in the manner you suggest. Now that we have the Turks
in such a friendly relationship, the position is much more
secure."
Prime Minister to GeneraL Ismay, for General Wavell.
12.VIII.40.
I do not consider that proper use is being made of the large
forces in Palestine. The essence of the situation depends on
arming the Jewish colonists sufficiently to enable them to
undertake their own defence, so that if necessary for a short
time the whole of Palestine can be left to very small British
forces. A proposal should be made to liberate immediately a
large portion of the garrison, including the Yeomanry Cavalry
Division."
Notwithstanding the refusal to allow Palestinian Jewish battalions
to become part of a separate unit in His Majesty's army, recruiting
went rapidly ahead. As each battalion was formed it became part of a
British regiment , however, for the purposes of this article we will
only follow the fortunes of the battalions which later became the
nucleus around which the Jewish Brigade was formed.
The Long Wait
First one, then two and finally three battalions were merged into
the Royal East Kent Regiment, the Buffs. This situation lasted until
August 1942 at which time the Buffs and the Jewish battalions parted
company. The former to take part in the upcoming Battle of El
Alamein, the latter, given a somewhat grandiose title of the British
Palestine Infantry Regiment, destined to spend the next three years,
while the war raged on "doing monotonous guard duty in North Africa,
chasing after goats stolen by mischievous Arab youths, and training
in the hills north of Tel Aviv with outdated weapons."
Since the beginning of the war the Jewish Agency had been
lobbying for the creation of of a separate unit in His Majesty's
forces in which the Palestine Jews would serve. However, for five
years, the British found excuses—shortages of equipment, training
problems, recruitment difficulties—to justify their long reviews and
ultimate refusals. The truth, however, was bluntly expressed by the
British Secretary of State for War. "We have not asked the Jews for
these units," he wrote to the Colonial Secretary, "and we do not
want them for our war purposes. On the contrary, the War Office have
always made it quite clear that they would regard them as an
embarrassment rather than a help."
There was reason for this animosity: the British government knew
they were dealing with men who had fought against them in the past,
and possibly would be their enemies in the future.
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Page Three