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Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson

The Christian godfather of the Israeli Army

The godfather of Yonni Netanyahu

By Jerry Klinger

Badge of the Royal Fusiliers

Throughout the army, the 38^th Royal Fusiliers were known as the Jewsiliers.

Col. Patterson and the 38^th Royal Fusiliers

Nearly 1,000 men of the 38^th departed for Egypt and destiny, February 1918. The precedent of 38th formation set the stage for the creation of the Jewish Brigade in World War II. From the Jewish Brigade of World War II came the officers and trained leadership that became the core of the Israel Defense Forces of modern Israel.

Patterson astutely knew who to go to for help to make the Jewish Legion a reality. Jabotinsky, despite all his might and energy, could not and did not get it done. Patterson was the key, the catalyst, the man who knew how to do and was willing to do what needed to be done.

Patterson did what no Jew could do.

Leo Amery

Leo Amery was the influential voice behind the throne fighting British establishment Jewry when they almost quashed the birth of the Legion.

Later, Amery became assistant secretary to the Balfour government. Amery most likely wrote, or had a significant role and influence in the writing and passage of, the Balfour Declaration.

Amery was raised as a Christian. His mother was Jewish. His Jewish parentage, and by definition of matrilineal descent Jewish identity, was a fact kept hidden until very late in his life. Amerys supposed Jewish identity had little to do with his actions for Britain. What was good for Britain was his concern, not what was good for the Jews. Patterson was different. He too loved Britain. Patterson did what he did for his men and for the Jews because he felt it was the right thing to do.

Amery went on to serve many years as an MP. He would become first Lord of the Admiralty and Colonial Secretary under Baldwin with an oversight over Palestine during the 1920s. Amery was a deep admirer of Neville Chamberlain. His son, John Amery, became an open supporter of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He broadcast Nazi propaganda from Germany to Britain. John served in the Nazi Wehrmacht British Free Corps. He was executed for treason after the war.

Patterson led the 38^th Royal Fusiliers across the Sinai Desert towards Gaza. They saw their first action June 15, 1918. Over and over, the Jews fought well, with courage, honor and dignity. Soon they were virtually fighting outside the walls of Jerusalem. In the fall of 1918, the 38^th attacked the Umm-es Shert ford. They routed the Turkish defenders who were multiple times their size. The 38^ths action, upon whom much of Allenbys right wing movement depended, permitted the First Australian Light Horse Brigade to cross safely. The combined movements were the key. October 31, 1918, the Turks surrendered. Palestine, all of Palestine, from Gaza to and including modern Jordan had been liberated.

Theodore Roosevelt knew Patterson from his days as an East Africa game hunter. He wrote to him.

To have the sons of Israel smite Ammon on the hip and thigh under your leadership is something worthwhile.

General Chaytor, commander of the First Australian Light Horse also wrote to Patterson about the bravery of the Jews.

So few have heard of the Battalions good work or of the very remarkable fact that in the operations that we have finally opened Palestine to the Jews, a Jewish force was fighting on the Jordan within a short distance of where their forefathers under Joshua first crossed into Palestine, and all who hear about it are anxious to hear more. I shall always be grateful to you and your Battalion for your good work while with me in the Jordan valley. The way you smashed up the Turkish rearguard when it tried to counterattack across the Jordan made our subsequent advance up the hills of Moab an easy matter.

If there was a dirty job, the 38^th was posted to it. No matter how bad the situation, the men did their duty. Patterson was proud of them. He was proud of the unit and did not tolerate disrespect to the 38^th from anybody whom he felt was motivated by anti-Semitism.

Patterson defended his men. He fought for them. Simple things such as supplies, proper medical care, and even kosher food required Patterson to fight on behalf of his Jews. Fight he did.

When an anti-Semitic Brigadier, Brigadier General Edwards, suddenly showed up for a review of the men, it did not develop well. The Brigadier called a young soldier a dirty Jew because he felt a button on his tunic was not properly shined to his liking.

Patterson ordered his men to fix bayonets and surround the Brigadier until he apologized. The Brigadier complained to higher ups. He was quickly transferred to India. Patterson was reprimanded.

After the 38^th had been deliberately stationed in a malaria infested area of the Jordan valley, the battalion was reduced to 150 men who could still fight. Again, they were refused proper medical attention. Patterson tendered his resignation. HQ would not accept. Patterson, his reputation and the press were a dangerous combination for the military command.

Certain individuals at GHQ had no desire to see me land un-muzzled in England. I would at once let the authorities there know that their representatives in Palestine were not carrying out the declared policy of the Imperial Government, but, on the contrary, were doing their best to make of the Balfour Declaration a mere scrap of paper.

Patterson sent in five recommendations to improve conditions. None were implemented.

After the British victory, without regard to the Balfour Declaration, the situation for Jews in Palestine did not significantly improve.

March 1919, Arabs attacked Jewish settlements. The British did nothing. Soldiers of the Legion deserted their camps, requisitioned on their own weapons from British stockpiles and drove off the Arabs. Massacres were prevented. The British military responded to the Jewish action. They accelerated the demobilization of the Jewish Legion. As many as possible, as quickly as possible, were sent away from Palestine.

Anti-Semitic assaults on his men were felt personally by Patterson. During Passover 1919, General Bols, a rabid anti-Semitic officer whom Patterson clashed with repeatedly, acted with pure vindictiveness. Bols would become the first military governor of Palestine under the British. Bols prevailed upon General Allenby to keep the Jewish soldiers of the 38^th and the later newer Jews units of the 39^th and 40^th Royal Fusiliers, away from Jerusalem.

Patterson wrote:

Jewish soldiers for the first time in their lives in Palestine and barred from the Temple Wall of Jerusalem during Passover! Only a Jew can really understand what it meant to these men, and the strain it put on their discipline and loyalty. How provocative and insulting this order was will be better understood when it is realized that the majority of the population of Jerusalem is Jewish, and therefore there could have been no possible reason for excluding Jewish troops belonging to a British unit, while other British troops were freely admitted, more especially as the conduct of the Jewish soldiers was at all times exemplary. Not since the days of Emperor Hadrian had such a humiliating decree been issued.

Lt. Colonel Patterson was not endeared to the British high command in Palestine. He was too close to his men for their taste. The 38^th was demobilized and Patterson retired from the military in 1920. He was the only front line officer in the British army during World War I who was never promoted.

Patterson returned to England, to his wife and son. Through his association with the Jews of the Legion, Patterson had become an ardent Zionist. He continued writing and speaking out on behalf of Zionism.

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