By Barry Rosenfeld
Part 1
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”(Genesis 12:3)
On November 10th the remains of Lt.-Col. John Henry Patterson and those of his wife Frances (“Francie”) Helena were interred at Moshav Avihayil in central Israel, near Netanya, where many of the men he commanded are buried.
Although a true Zionist, Lt.-Col. Patterson’s fame goes back even farther than his exploits in the creation of a Jewish Legion to when as an engineer working in Kenya in 1898–99, on the railway bridge over the Tsavo River, he singlehandedly cleared the area of man eating lions. The details of this are recorded in his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (1907) and graphically presented in the 1996 Paramount film The Ghost and the Darkness, in which he is portrayed by actor Val Kilmer. (Wikipedia) The lions had been attacking and eating members of his workforce as well as local villagers and his expertise at taking out the wild beasts (often with a single shot) gained him great fame among the natives.
Dealing with lions proved to be good training for what lay ahead. With the advent of World War I, Patterson became involved in the formation of a Jewish Legion to fight the Ottomans in Turkey. At that time, pre-State Israel was under the authority of the Ottoman government in Turkey. Any hope at statehood lay in defeating that government which had already proved resistant to Zionist hopes for a Jewish homeland as proven by the Turkish Sultan’s rebuff of requests by the leading Zionist and head of the World Zionist Organization, Theodore Herzl. Herzl met with Sultan Abdulhamid II offering to pay off the Turkish national debt in exchange for a homeland in Palestine. The Sultan refused the offer.
In the face of such intransigence on the part of the Ottomans, with the advent of World War I the Zionists shifted their hopes to the British, which allied with France was fighting the Central Powers which included both Germany and Turkey. In this context those such as Trumpeldor and Jabotinsky who supported a military solution, wished to form a Jewish Legion and fight with the Allies.
Patterson was in favor of forming a Jewish Legion to fight with British forces but he met with a strong tradition of anti-Semitism within the British military. His experience in dealing with this is best described by a dedication found in a copy of Patterson’s book, With The Judeans In The Palestine Campaign by British Jewish author and Zionist, Israel Zangwell in which he says, “In making acquaintance with my friend, Colonel Patterson, Canada will become acquainted with one of the bravest of living soldiers and one of the boldest of living hunters. But the heroism he has displayed in the jungle or on the battlefield is eclipsed by the courage he has shown spiritually in championing and defending the Jews, to whom he is bound neither by race nor by religion. It was he who led and inspired the Jewish forces in Gallipoli and Palestine, it is to him—doughty with pen as with sword—that the world is indebted for the knowledge of their achievements, it is to his chivalry that we owe the assertion of their claims and the record of their grievances. A man of the simplest and most lovable character, imperturbable, breezy, hopeful and humorous, a crusader in a truly Christian spirit, whose aim is to restore Palestine not to Christendom, but to the only homeless people on earth. Colonel Patterson has written his name indelibly on the scroll of Jewish as well as British history.”
To be continued …
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Joetta Colquette says
Thank you for the wonderful articles, pictures, editorials and first-hand accounts of life in Israel, past and present. I always learn so much that I was never taught in my History classes in school. I pray for Israel daily, for the Peace of Jerusalem and Israel, and for the Precious Jewels of God, His People.
Tom Brennan says
Thank you very much. Israel stands on the shoulders of giants and these giants become the support for the giants of today . I saw the movie in the time before my involvement and mission in working with supporters of Israel. Now I can doubly appeciate the work, bravery and heroism of this great man and soldier. Looking forward to next chapter. Excellent research and writing ! Happy Hanukkah !