Israel's History - a Picture a Day "WWI: The Soldiers of Australia Meet the Jews of Jerusalem, 1918"

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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WWI: The Soldiers of Australia Meet the Jews of Jerusalem, 1918 Posted: 07 Aug 2015 As the British-commanded ANZAC troops moved north after the battle of Be'er Sheva they were greeted as liberators by the Jews of Palestine. New Zealanders were hosted by the Jews of Rishon LeZion, and Australians entered Jerusalem with General Allenby at the end of December 1917. The picture to the left was taken by Bugler J. F. Smith of the 7th Light Horse. "Enlisted 11 October, 1914. Home on ANZAC Furlough in October, 1918." Australian soldiers at the Western Wall These pictures of Jews of Jaffa and holy sites were taken by "R. F. Ingham, 1st L." Jewish Children at Simon's Well in Jaffa  (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) Jewish School in Jaffa  (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) The Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. In the background is the Jewish Quarter with the prominent domes of the Tiferet Yisrael and the Hurva synagogues (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales) The Jaffa Gate of the Old City and the Turkish clock tower.  Who are the group of men in front?  (New South Wales Museum)

Celebrating Passover in Jerusalem 95 Years Ago with the Jewish Legion -- Part 1 - Picture A Day

Celebrating Passover in Jerusalem 95 Years Ago with the Jewish Legion -- Part 1 -- Updating a previous posting

Posted: 04 Apr 2014

Updating earlier postings which appeared here and here.

The British army captured Jerusalem from the Turks in December 1917 and continued their Palestine campaign for another year until the capture of Damascus. Meanwhile, the Jewish Legion, consisting of Jewish volunteers, sat in Cairo chafing at the bit to join the fight in Palestine.  They finally joined Allenby's forces in June 1918 and fought against the Turks in the Jordan River Valley.

Jewish soldiers of the British army celebrating Passover in Jerusalem in 1919. (Harvard  Library/Central Zionist Archives)   The photo is signed by Ya'akov Ben-Dov who moved to Palestine in 1907 from Kiev. He was drafted into the Ottoman army during World War I and served as a photographer in Jerusalem.  Ben-Dov filmed Allenby's entry into Jerusalem in 1917.

The Jewish battalions of the Jewish Legion were manned by volunteers from Palestine, Europe, the United States and Canada, soldiers stirred by the call to action by Zionist leaders Zev Jabotinsky and Yosef Trumpeldor.  Colonel John Henry Patterson, the unit's first commanding officer, described the Legion:

Recruiting poster for Jewish soldiers (Library of Congress)

"The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army's 38th through 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. The initial unit, known as the Zion Mule Corps, was formed in 1914-1915 during World War I, when Britain was at war against the Ottoman Turks, as Zionists around the world saw an opportunity to promote the idea of a Jewish National Homeland."

Enlargement from the picture above. Who is the rabbi?

Read more about Colonel Patterson and the Jewish Legion at The Seven Lives of Colonel Patterson: How an Irish Lion Hunter Led the Jewish Legion to Victory.

Jewish soldiers -- their headgear and uniforms suggests they are from from various units -- celebrating  Passover at the British Jewish Soldiers Home in Jerusalem, 1919 (Harvard Library/Central Zionist Archives)

Father and daughter?

Note the soldier in the front, possibly an officer, with a child on his lap and a young boy behind him. 

We invite readers to respond if they can identify any of the soldiers in the photos.  

The following picture is dated Passover 1918.  The uniforms and hats are even more varied and include Australian bush hats and Scottish tams.

Jewish soldiers from various British units celebrating Passover in Jerusalem, 1918.  (Harvard Library/Central Zionist Archives)

Jewish soldiers in the British army in Jerusalem for Passover, 1919 (Harvard Library/Central Zionist Archives)

Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Jewish men from Canada and the United States volunteered to fight in the British Army's Jewish Legion to liberate the Holy Land.

The caption on this Wikipedia photo reads "Jewish Legion soldiers at the Western Wall after British conquest, 1917."  Was the photo taken in 1917 after the British captured the city in December, in  which case this was a group of Jewish soldiers from various  units, or after June 1918 when the Jewish Legion was first dispatched to Palestine?

View American volunteers from the British army's Jewish Brigade here and here and here

"Austrian" or "Australian," What's the Difference? Plenty If You Were a Soldier Fighting in Palestine in WWI

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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"Austrian" or "Australian," What's the Difference? Plenty If You Were a Soldier Fighting in Palestine in WWI Posted: 27 Mar 2014  Jewish soldiers in the Australian (sic) Battalion standing next to the Western Wall, 1916. (Harvard  Library/Central Zionist Archives)  The soldiers were actually from Austria. The photographer, Ya'akov Ben-Dov, moved to Palestine  in 1907 from Kiev. He was drafted into the Ottoman army during World War I and served as a photographer in Jerusalem World War I was not only waged in Europe, but across the Middle East as well. The armies of Turkey, Germany and Austria fought the British Empire's armies from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and India.  The Austrian soldiers in the picture above marched into Jerusalem in 1916. [Another copy of this Kotel photo -- damaged -- appears elsewhere in the Harvard Library collection with the correct caption of "Austrian" soldiers.] The Australians arrived in Palestine with General Allenby's troops in 1917, and were famous for their daring cavalry charge that captured Be'er Sheva before German and Turkish troops could blow up the wells of the oasis. Austrians marching into Jerusalem, 1916 (Library of Congress, American Colony Collection) Australian Light Horsemen in Jerusalem (1918)  in a badly damaged Library of Congress photo