With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign Part 19

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE GREAT BOXING COMPEt.i.tION.

There was a great deal of unrest and unhealthy excitement during demobilization, so to keep the troops interested and amused, compet.i.tions were got up throughout the E.E.F. in Boxing, Football, Cricket, and sports of all kinds.

Soon after we reached Rafa a programme of coming sporting events was circulated from G.H.Q.

Naturally, in a fighting army like the British, the greatest interest of all was taken in the Boxing compet.i.tion, and the 38th Royal Fusiliers entered with keenness for all events.

By the terms of the contest teams could be chosen from Brigades, or even from Divisions, but, as we belonged to no Brigade or Division, we could only choose our men from our own battalion, which was of course a considerable handicap.

However, I considered that this was a grand opportunity of proving that men picked from this Jewish Battalion, if properly trained, would be able to hold their own against any team that might be brought against them from other units, or brigades, or even divisions, of the British Army.

I therefore formed a Sports Committee, collected my team of boxers, bought them boxing gloves, punch b.a.l.l.s, etc., and despatched them with a trainer to El Arish, some 30 miles away, on the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean. There they raced, chased, boxed, bathed, danced, and were generally licked into condition by Sergeant Goldberg, the boxing instructor to the battalion.

In order to weed out the weaker teams so that only the very best should appear at the finals in Cairo, the contest was subdivided into four great tournaments: one for all the troops in Egypt, another for all the troops in Palestine, the third for all the troops in Syria, and the fourth for the best team among the Australians and New Zealanders. At my inspection of the 38th team, just before the tournament, I was much impressed with our prospects of success, for the men boxed wonderfully well.

We were all agog with excitement, and I may say with hope, when the great day for the Palestine Champions.h.i.+p arrived and our men stepped inside the ropes at Kantara, surrounded by thousands of onlookers.

There was some splendid fighting, but I cannot go into the details of it here. It is sufficient to say that we defeated all comers, won five gold medals, and emerged as the Champions of Palestine, with the right, therefore, of representing it in the great Cairo tournament for the Champions.h.i.+p of the E.E.F. Could anything be more fitting? Jewish soldiers as champions of Palestine.

It can be imagined what jubilation there was in camp when our team returned to Rafa, and the ringing cheers which roared out when, at one of our concerts, I presented the gold medals to the victors, whose names are as follows:--

Heavy-weight Private Burack.

Welter-weight Private Tankinoff.

Light-weight Private Cohen.

Feather-weight Private Franks.

Bantam-weight Private Goldfarb.

The first round of this essentially British form of sport had been fought and won by the despised Jewish Battalion!

There yet remained the great contest at Cairo, where we would have to meet the champions of Egypt, and of the Australian forces, and of Syria.

Real hard training was once more the order of the day at El Arish, and I can guarantee that no fitter men than ours stepped into the ring at Cairo on that glorious night of the 13th March, when the first rounds of the champions.h.i.+p were fought in the presence of thousands of spectators from all parts.

Again the Jewish Battalion won practically every contest, defeating all its opponents among the British Regiments. Eventually, it was left in to fight out the final round of the Champions.h.i.+p for the whole of the E.E.F. with the Australians, who on their side had defeated their opponents.

It was a memorable night (the Ides of March) when this final contest took place. Excitement and feeling ran very high round the ring, and there was some magnificent fighting on both sides. In the end it was found that the Jewish Battalion had tied for victory with the Australians.

A decision, however, was given against us, on the grounds that we had not entered an officer of the battalion in the team. As a matter of fact, I _had_ entered an officer of the battalion with the teams, but the judge (who was a British General, not an Australian) said that my team officer was only "attached" to the 38th for duty, and therefore could not be claimed as belonging to the battalion. Of course practically every officer in the battalion was only "attached" for duty, but there--I suppose it really would not have been the "right thing" for one Jewish Battalion to have defeated the whole of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force!

In football the men were almost equally good, and we were good runners-up for the Champions.h.i.+p of Palestine.

In cricket also--that essentially English game--the battalion acquitted itself most creditably under Captain Pope's tuition, defeating all comers in the Bir Salem matches, with the exception of the Flying Corps; while our Americans were, of course, unrivalled at base ball, at which they were real experts. They often gave exhibitions of their skill, to the great delight of all those who had never before seen the game played.

Our Concert Party was also still well to the fore, and easily took first place in Palestine--its only possible rival being that of the 39th Battalion. I had only got to let it be known that Tchaikov--our first violinist--would give a performance to draw a crowd big enough to pack our concert tent four times over. In the end a covetous man succeeded in wheedling Tchaikov away from us. Colonel Storrs, the Governor of Jerusalem, begged him from me so persuasively that I could not refuse him, more especially as it was to Tchaikov's advantage to settle in the Holy City, where he took up the post of Director of the School of Music.

CHAPTER XXVII.

BIR SALEM--AN EXCITING RACE.

Early in May we were transferred from Rafa to Bir Salem. The advance party moved on the 6th, and on the 10th the Battalion Headquarters followed, and took over duties from the 7th Indian Infantry Brigade, which was then sent to Haifa.

We were replaced at Rafa by the 40th (Jewish) Battalion Royal Fusiliers, which was now composed mainly of the Palestinian youths recruited by Major James de Rothschild and Lieutenant Lipsey. For a time they were commanded by Lieut.-Colonel F. D. Samuel D.S.O., but he left for England while the battalion was doing garrison duty at Haifa.

The command then fell to Colonel Scott, a most conscientious officer, and a man in full sympathy with Zionist aspirations. While at Rafa he had a most anxious time owing to the unwise action of the military authorities. The men of the 40th Battalion had enlisted for service in Palestine only, but the local Staff ignored this definite contract and ordered part of the battalion to Cyprus. As this was a breach of their terms of enlistment, the men refused to go, and in the end the officials had to climb down and cancel all their unjust orders. Why did the Staff, when they knew all about this special contract for service in Palestine only, drive this excellent battalion almost to the verge of mutiny? There were many other battalions available for Cyprus.

Happily, Colonel Scott brought his men safely through the rough time at Rafa, and he served on with them until December, 1919, when the 40th was merged in the 38th Battalion.

All through the early days of May I saw chalked up everywhere--on the Railway Station, signal boxes, workshops, on the engines, trucks, and carriages--the mystic words, "Remember the 11th May."

This was, of course, the date on which all soldiers, rightly or wrongly, believed themselves ent.i.tled to their release, because it was six months after the Armistice granted to the Germans on November 11th, 1918.

I heard it rumoured that there was a conspiracy on foot in the E.E.F.

for a general mutiny on that day, and found that men from other units had endeavoured to seduce my battalion from its duty.

On learning this, I at once determined to nip the attempt in the bud, and so made it my business to speak to every man in the battalion, and on every isolated post, impressing upon them the responsibility which rested on their shoulders as Jews, and urging them on no account to be led away by the hot-heads in other units.

I told them that British troops could perhaps afford to mutiny, but Jewish troops, while serving England, never.

I am proud to be able to state that not a man of my battalion failed on the 11th May, but just "carried on" as usual. Mutinies took place elsewhere, and thousands of British soldiers at Kantara ran riot and had the place in a blaze. However, the matter was hushed up, concessions were made, the mutineers were not punished, so far as I know, and things gradually became normal again.

Our effective strength when we left Rafa was 15 officers and 1,300 other ranks. Our duties at Bir Salem, Ludd, and Ramleh were exceptionally heavy, the men being very often on duty three nights in a week, and when they were off guard duties they were immediately put on to prisoner of war escorts, etc., as there was a very large Turkish and German Prisoners of War Camp at Ludd.

At Bir Salem we were attached to the 3rd (Lah.o.r.e) Division, under the command of General Hoskin. It is a great pleasure to me to be able to state here that this officer and his Staff gave us a very hearty and cordial welcome to Bir Salem, and did everything possible for our comfort and welfare.

I look upon General Hoskin with his Staff as the one bright luminary amidst the gloomy British constellations among whom we were continually revolving! What an immense difference it makes to the feelings of a regiment or a battalion when it is known that the Staff are out to help and a.s.sist (as is their proper function), instead of to crab and block everything; in the former case one is ready to work the skin off one's bones, while in the latter everybody's back is up, with the result that co-ordination and happy working is impossible.

This was a happy time for the young lions of Judah, for the G.O.C. and his staff were out to help and a.s.sist in every possible way. We were not then aware of all the trials and tribulations that awaited us on the departure of General Hoskins and his excellent staff--sahibs to a man.

The battalion owes a deep debt of grat.i.tude to Mr. Jessop, the capable secretary of the Y.M.C.A. in Egypt, who supplied us with a magnificent marquee, completely furnished with tables, chairs, forms, lamps, etc., etc. Only for this gift from the Y.M.C.A. we should have been very badly off indeed, for we were camped on a sandy waste without huts or any conveniences which other troops in our neighbourhood fortunately possessed.

It is a fact worthy of note that, although the wealthy Jews of Cairo and Alexandria contributed generously to the E. E. F. Comforts Fund, not a single article of any kind was ever sent to the Jewish Battalion to cheer them in their desolate surroundings. We asked for gramophones, etc., but got nothing--not even a reply!

There were compensations, however, at Bir Salem. We had many interesting visitors who came to cheer us in our camp in the sands, among others the Haham Bas.h.i.+ (Grand Rabbi of Jaffa) and the famous Dutch poet Dr. de Haan. I remember that the latter took great interest in a pet monkey which belonged to one of the men of the battalion, but the quaint-looking little animal showed little respect for the poet, for she evinced a decided desire to leave the print of her teeth in his finger as a souvenir of his visit.

We were always kindly and hospitably received by the citizens of Jaffa, headed by Mr. Bezalel Jaffe, and by those of Richon-le-Zion, headed by Mr. Gluskin, when we visited those colonies.

While stationed here I spent many a pleasant evening chatting with Mr.

Aharoni, a well-known naturalist, who lives at Rechoboth. There is perhaps no man in all Syria and Palestine with such a wide knowledge of the flora and fauna of those countries, and he gave me many interesting accounts of his adventures among the Bedouins while in quest of specimens for various European museums.

When the Great War broke out he had secured two live ostrich chicks, new to science, and these he had hoped to send alive to England. However, when the pinch for food came there was none for the ostriches, so they had to be killed; they were stuffed, and may now be seen at Lord Rothschild's famous museum at Tring Park, Hertfords.h.i.+re. This story of the ostrich chicks was related to me by Mr. Aharoni while I was celebrating with him the "Feast of Tabernacles," under the shade of "boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook," and we did greatly rejoice, for the Feast was a goodly one, and the pottage of Gevereth Aharoni was such as my soul loved.