JEWISH REGIMENT

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 83, 5 October 1917, Page 7

JEWISH REGIMENT

A LEADER FROM GALLIPOLI '

AN -IMPORTANT-MOVE.

(PROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) .LONDON, 10th August, Records show that there are 40,000 Jews in the British Army at present, and of this number 32,000 are English Jews, the.remaining 8000 are from the Empire abroad.- There are 8000 Jews in the forces still in Britain, and; these men would be very useful in training and stiffening the newcomers —Russian Jews who have been living in London,, and who now have to decide whether they prefer to return to their own country, whether they will join the British ranks, or whether they prefer to enlist here in the new Jewish brigade being formed. At a rough estimate there are 20jOOO Jews of military age in London and another 20,000 scattered in the great provincial centres'. . v The organiser of the new regiment is Lieut.-Colonel Patterson —"keen as mustard"—who in Gallipoli ran the famed Zion mule corps, an extraordinary, unit of Russian Jews recruited in Alexandria after their escape from Palestine. They landed with the first troops who set foot on the peninsula and stayed there until the last, always doing, hard and gallant work under the most trying, conditions. Colonel Patterson and his corps earned the praise of every General under whom they served. The work now is much 'harcter, but there are signs that Colonel Patterson will be helped a' great deal by the men whom he in trying to enlist. He is living in an atmosphere of Yiddish,.-' Hebrew, and Russian, and helping him is a most able Russian author and journalist. This man has been working for many months at the scheme, and last week he showed' his enthusiasm and .genuineness by enlisting as a- private. He speaks eight languages, and has already risen to sergeant's rank. A STEADY FLOW. There has been a tig rush from White- < chapel of Jews anxious to get Back to Russia, and the offices for registration, have had. to be extended, and on one eveningl a crowd of Russians on the way to register -were- held up- by some patriots, who asked them: "What do_you want to go back to Russia- for? Why don't you stay in London like men and enlist to fight under Kung David's 'shield?"' It is recorded that one young ' dandy, wearing a brand-new suit of : metallic blue and a bright butterfly tow, ; flourished' his silveT-topped cane and ! cried, "All's well. Wo are going on the 'long journey, if they <an find the ships : to take-us. But- the war will not last for ever, and it will not be long before -we are back again!" "That is all very well," replied an older man,, a prosperous Pole who has "made his bit' r in hospit- ; able England, "but there will be no return tickets!" This somewhat quenched the migratory ardour of the young man with the butterfly bow. He hesitated at the doorstep of the registration office 1 and then turned away. "HOME FROM HOME." Lord Rothschild and a number of influential English Jews 'are assisting. Lieut.-Col. Patterson in every way possible to build his army on a sound and generous foundation. • The camp for the regiment will be splendidly equipped. It will be a "home from home" for the fighting Jew ; a series of interesting lectures will be given t6 the recruits, there will be a kinema hall where up-to-date films will be shown, a concert hall, a library and recreation room, possibly a theatre, and a Jewish band. And, of course, special attention will be de-voted to boxiiig. There- are no better, cleverer, or cleaner boxers in England to-day than the young Jews out of the East End. After serving for three months with the Colours the Jewish soldier, if he wishes it, will become automatically naturalised, without expense to himself. The formation of medical units enlisted from Jews, and of nursing units from the same source, is being, undertaken- 1 The men will be subject to the same discipline as, the British soldier,, will be given the same pay,- and will have all the privileges of pensions and allowances that are enjoyed by the rest of the Army. They will, moreover, have their own butchers for killing "kosher" meat, and all their food will be prepared by cooks of their own faith. Rabbis will be appointed as. chaplains, and at the camp, which is to be established? within thirty miles of London, 'there will be a .synagogue.. It is- intended that the field of operations for the Jewish . force will be in Palestine. BADGE AND HAT. The hat will be of the slouch pattern, banded with azure blue, having Si line, of white. The badge is to be the shield of David, two triangles of solid white metal with the Lion of Judah in the centre. RESPECT OF OLD TRADITIONS. "My boys in the Mule Corps," said Colonel Patterson, "walked straight into the firing line, raw soldiers though they were, and kept to it throughout. That is the spirit we expect to find in the new regiment I am organising. , The way will be made as smooth as possible for the men we want. Before the Jewish Regiment was mooted, Jews as a. body objected to enrolling, mainly on the grounds of racial and religious customs which enfolded them. ' They felt—and no doubt rightly—that they could not surrender their immemorial methods of worship and f oo d—their kosher meals, and so on. If they did that, by becoming part of British regiments they would lose caste, life would become a misery to them and death" a'problem unsolvable. Now, all these disabilities have been removed. Officers of their own- tribes have been selected to lead them. They will be trained by specially chosen instructors who can speak Yiddish, Hebrew, and Russian. Their doctors and their nurses will be drawn from the same class. Kosher meat will be supplied to them by kosher butchers and cooked in kosher fashion. They will get their bread just as they have it now. None of their religious observances will be checked or hindered,- and even their intellectual re* creation will be carefully considered. The camp In which they find themselves will be supplied with a library well stocked with Jewish publications and served daily with Jewish newspapers—in a word, their mental and moral and religious eqniprrient ■rtfll see no change from their ordinary life. A 6 a race they will still be together"':, the bond, strong as death, wili not be severed. The authorities have gone to endless trouble to see that all their old traditions and ceremonials shall be respected ; and it is now up to them—the Jews—to come forward and show the stuff they are made of."