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Page Two Prelude to a Jewish Army The Fascinating Story of the Jews in Training in Palestine By HARRY LEVIN Recent London dispatches indicate that the conversa tions between Zionist leaders and the Churchill cabinet re garding the formation of a Jewish Army have been resumed. If and when formed, the Jewish Army will find in the Pal estine military units, which have already won their laurels in the Libyan, Greek and Crete campaigns, a splendid nu cleus on which to build. The author, who visited Training Town “somewhere in Palestine,” vividly describes this Jew ish Voluntary Force. ... The Editor. JERUSALEM: One had known the place for years as part of a placid, undu lating stretch of Palestinian countryside; had seen the spread of new cultivation and applauded the enterprise that was turning this empty tract into homes of men. Then, in less time than it takes a sapling to strike firm root, the void beyond the edge of town blos somed into cantonments and tents. Like a flood the troops sub- merged the place. There was a mile of sergeants and instructors, varied by com pany officers, all at work on the material under their hands. They grunted, barked, and, in some rare cases, purred as the lines broke and formed and wheeled over the rolling plain. When companies numbered off, one could hear the tone and accent of half the coun tries of the Empire, among them, accents that were born in no known country of the Empire. It was their owners I had come to see, the Palestinian units of the British Army of the Middle East. The English military policeman I approached knew all about the Palestinians. “My experience is that you’ll find some of them almost every where in the camp,” he said. “There’s one company in the Buffs being instructed just over there.” Ride Safely With Safety Satctp Cabs, Inc. phone 1 Op *-7800 •• Authorized and Bonded BAGGAGE TRANSFER DUNLOP TIRES Best Terms or Cash Prices In Town ..Ernest 8. Hasekkm, Mgr— -908-910 Main St Ph. 5-7885 Abe Diamond life, Accident and Hospitalization INSURANCE 1216 Graham Bldg. Ph 5-7676 AMERICAN LAUNDRY & DRY CLEANERS M. J. Greenblatt, Mgr. Phone 5-4085 Forest St (Between Riverside Avenue and Park St) Greenbaum’s We Pay the Highest Prices for Used Clothing Shoes Suits Hats 752 W. ADAMS PHONE 5-2992 jp- VVCALI FOR BEER and ALE UNION BEER and WINE CO. ■- " . * J,. . IM Laundry and Dry Cleaning CASES & CARRY or PICKUP & DELIVERY WILLIAMS & SONiS 2061-2065 MARKET ST. PHONE 5-40 H \ “Let a IH% manrlye far yW As we strolled over a hillock, the voice of the sergeant in the torment reserved for sergeants training new recruits boomed across to meet us. “How many times have I told you that you don’t know anything about rifles? Before you came ’ere, you never saw a rifle. See? An’ if you did, forget it!” Teach er and taught glared at each other like theologians in full de bate. In the four years of Arab riots before the war, the recruit had held a rifle, and used it, dur ing many a long night of vigil. But he was beginning to learn the ways of the army. And his clouded look changed to one of earnest concentration as he re took instruction in the use of the weapon he knew all about. “Some of them are still inde pendent like,” said the military spokesman. “That’s a civilian weakness they’ll get over before their squad training is over.” “And otherwise?” I asked. “They’re good,” he said. “Very good,”—then half to himself: “Quite different, though. Some thing like the Czechs, only more cheerful.” I asked a leading question. “Crime?” said he. "Military crime? They don’t know what crime is—that lot don’t—none of ’em.” He mourned over them like a benevolent old Satan look ing into a busy Eden. But, “They’ll learn,” was his last word, “Like their first Pioneer Corps that went to France.” In the training town that has grown up, soldiers in the making are learning many things. And almost every branch has its Pal estinians. At the time of writing, aver 7,000 Jew’s and some 1,500 Business 5-7526 R. B. PACETTI | Residence 7-8082 $• PLYMOUTH | For Sales and Service G. M. C. Trucks Phone or Visit GENERAL TRUCK CO. 1836 W. Beaver Ph. 5-8908 At, m foyfyfl sy GOOD HOPE Fur* Miner*! W*tor You noror mi** tk* WATER until the BOTTLE «hh dry] Phone 5-7455 Rtverview JOE BUSSEY’S SERVICE STATION Parking Lot 24 Hour Service Battery Charged in 30 min. Washing and Lubrication Monroe & Jolla Sts. THE SOUTHERN JEWISH WEEKLY Anzacs Sample Grapes In Palestine Vineyard ■* Ylm PhEkSt Australian troops stationed in Palestine have been greatly im pressed with the progress of Jewish settlers and their achievements in industry and agriculture. Photo shows two “Anzacs” sampling grapes in the colony of Kiryath Anavim. Arabs have had or are receiving their training here. The infantry recruits, in squads of 42, the oth ers in larger or smaller units, live and work together for seven weeks. Well-grounded then in essentials, they are formed into companies for further training. Some units consist of Jews alone; others of Jews and Arabs. Most of their officers are British; a few, by chance or design, British Jews. But, in service or train ing, there are also nearly 40 Pal estinian Jewish officers. The bulk of the Palestinian units have been on active service for many months. Some were in France, and lived through—or died—at Dunkirk. There were Palestinians in the forces that swept irresist ibly through Libya. Others were a thousand miles to the north with the British continentals in Greece; and still others a thousand miles to the south, among the swamps and gorges of Abyssinia. Those now in training will follow, where ever else the battle of the Middle East unfolds. Down a road of Training Town came a line of big guns, with that long-nosed air of detatchment peculiar to the breed. Some months before the army had ask ed the Jewish Agency for eighty men for immediate artillery train ing and had got this unit, all from Emek, in two days. Away on a hilltop, a caravan of camels stood petrified, like silhou ettes in stone, at the sight of a line of tanks. Joining the watch ing camels, I found another party of Palestinians among the men of the tanks. Gut of sight, if not out of hearing, where something bellowed through the clear air and something else barked quick spasms of wrath, were more Pal estinians training in the use of other formidable weapons. Digging, mending equipment, wrestling with stores and trans port, doctoring, tapping out wire less messages and cooking, Pales tinian volunteers are being fitted for all the services. Elsewhere in the Middle East other units, again all Jews, are being trained as ground forces in the R. A. F.; some, unofficially as yet, are learning the craft of flying. Most of the Jews at least would serve, if they could, in the fighting forces. But if narrow limits have been set to the general number of Palestinian volunteers accepted, those set for the combatant units are smallest of all. The largest units are in the Pioneer Corps. Next largest are the artisan, me chanical and transport units. Jews and Arabs, some of the latter strongly suspected of pre war terrorist activities, have sunk their differences. There were some minor incidents at first, and scowls and whispered oaths. But now they are a thing of the past. One of the Arabs' heroes today is a Jewish sergeant, fluent in written as well as spoken Arabic, who writes their love letters and keeps the accounts of the loans they give each other at outrageous rates of interest. With their British comrades the Palestinians get on splendidly, but with none better than the Aus tralians. And if all the Jews are intently learning or perfecting their knowledge of English, one Australian at least is learning Hebrew. The pay of the Palestinians is at the lower Maltese rates instead of British. Otherwise, they are for all purposes soldiers of the regular British Army, wearing the identical uniforms, trained and ranked in the same way as Brit ish soldiers, sharing the common duties and relaxations. But there is a deep, underlying difference. The Jews among them remain vi tally nationalist Jews, serving al so the Jewish people and the Homeland in the cause which is common to Britain and the Jews. Among themselves their speech and culture are Hebrew. They read Hebrew books and papers, sing Hebrew songs, attend Hebrew play’s performed for their benefit. They feel that they are the vanguard of the Jewish people in its armed fight against Hitlerism, that it is theirs to set the stand ards for a Jewish Army. And al ready they are sowing little sprouts of tradition that they Ijope will mature into full-grown trees. I ART - KRANTZ i ELECTRIC CO. - >r FIXTURES LAMPS “ " APPLIANCES 24,West Duval Street Phone 3-0888 $ SAo€ Ouyfi repairs'^) Phone 9-4720 1983 San Marco Blvd. :: LOCKWOOD’S f ' r Prescription Druggists | > r t 1500 Miami Rd. t y r Phone 9-4419 J > r College & King Ph. 7-8648-49 1 »»■>>>>■»>>>>»>>>>>»» PHILCO “A New Kind of Refrigerator” See It Todey. MAYTAG MODERN APPLIANCE CO. 414 Main St Ph. 8-2160 WE FOLLOW THE STORE Mil E. BTH ST. FH. Friday, September 12, 19 41 C. S. DUBS i Watchmaker and Jeweler I WE REPAIR JEWELRY Osf 1 ANY KIND 784 W. Adams Si. Ph. For Good Things To Eat— San Marco Bakery and Delicatessen 1980 San Marco Blvd. Phone 9-4477 Patronize Jack Tillotson’s Standard Service Station 8101 Main Ph. 5-9781 Sixth & Pearl Phone 5-9356 HENDERSONS BAKERS CATERERS Complete Party Service Delicious Hot and Cold Menus 2011 Pearl St. Phone 5-6881 ■ N & L AUTO SUPPLY CO. JOE BARTLEY, Mgr. 1302 West Adams Street PHONE 5-0725 WANTED TO BUY Furniture Tools Dishes Office Furniture Model T Store 615 W. Bay Ph. 3-9384 ECONOMY Dry Cleaners and Shoe Repairers LAUNDRY Ph. 9-4112 1962 San Marco “Quality that equals the best, Prices that compete with the rest,” For Grade A Raw or Pasteurized MILK Call County 0432 PERRETS DAIRY “Home of Better Milk” DINSMOItE, FLA PATRONIZE Sandy’s Service Station 1602 Pearl St 3-9188 C. H. Meredith Plumbing Heating Repairs 622 Main St Ph. 5-6876 Herman Jackson DRY CLEANERS 1891 San Marco Bfrd. Preach Cleaners F® l *® 1 Cold Storage Phone 9-1653 TOR DELIVERY SERVICE