This is a U.S. Army Signal Corps' photo I found and scanned at the NARA II, College Park, last Friday. The caption reads: "Infantrymen of the new Jewish Brigade pay homage to their first dead. "Fifth Army, Italy." Date: 24 March 1945. Photographer: Levine, 196th Signal Photo Company III-SC 203126, Credit NARA. Jewish Brigade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A few minutes ago, I discovered that Ron Goldstein's brother had belonged to the Brigade. If anyone would like a high-res version of this photo, just let me know. Dave
Dave I think that you will find that the photo depicts two members of a British Army unit - and while many British units made up the US 5th army from the landings at Salerno with Xth corps involved -with Xth and XIIIth corps from Rome until the finish after Bologna - you might find that the Jewish bde fought with the British 8th Army in the latter stages of the Italian campaign..... Cheers
My brother Mick was simply a lovely man and I was very happy to write about him here: BBC - WW2 People's War - Sgt.Major Mick Goldstein, Royal Fusiliers and Jewish Brigade In the closing stages of the fighting in Italy his unit could not have been more than a half a mile away from mine and I pleaded with Busty Thomas (my SSM) to let me just "nip down the road to see him" but reality prevailed and as we were both on the move 'twas not to be. Mick was my major source of info about the Brigade and is sorely missed today Ron
I often get my knuckles rapped for not using the correct phraseology when describing military units. For example, many moons ago, one of the mods complained that I was saying that my then unit was "part of 56 Div" when I should have rightly said that it was "attached" to 56 Div. In my defence I can only say that the events of which we both spoke happened more than 60 years ago and I was speaking off the cuff, as it were. Just in case a similar mistake should be made here I quote Wikipedia (sorry !) on how the 8th Army was seemingly "attached" to the American 5th for it's push on Rome: Following three unsuccessful attempts in early 1944 by US Fifth Army to break through the German Winter Line, the Eighth Army was covertly switched from the Adriatic coast in April 1944 to concentrate all forces, except the V Corps, on the western side of the Apennine Mountains alongside US Fifth Army in order to mount a major offensive with them and punch through to Rome. This fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was successful with Eighth Army breaking into central Italy and Fifth Army entering Rome in early June. Ron
Bernhart Well spotted ! I too would like a comment, perhaps from Dave, who I would like to thank for letting us see this pic. Ron
Hello, Ron. It was not uncommon for the U.S. Army censors to pencil over ID markings or division patches. But it is certainly odd that the censors sought to obscure the names on the grave markers by defacing the print. I do not have an explanation for this. By the way, Mick's account of his war service was fascinating. Dave
Taking Ron's quote from Wikipedia on how the 8th Army were "Attached" to the US 5th army for the push to Rome- the distinction should be further noted - for the historical objective truth - we all know about Wiki and truth .... that the first three battles were not made by the US 5th Army as they were only involved in the FIRST battle employing the 34th US and three French Divisions at that time. the second battle was with the "loaned" New Zealand and 4th Indian Divisions from 8th army as was the third battle with the addition of 78th British Division. The fourth Battle was with most of the 8th Army brought over to assault the highly defended Gustav and Hitler lines in the Liri Valley wheras the French four Divisions started from the British Xth Corps held bridgehead over the Garigliano river then over the virtually undefended Arunci Mountains with US second corps on their left flank and the two British divisions on the coast. But as I have said before- the main reason that Gen Juin and Mark Clark complained of the 'slowness' of the British divisions is the fact that to run through an open door takes less energy that to try to open a strongly locked heavy door- double bolted and barred as that was the difference in the Liri valley to the Arunci Mountains.. Then to cap it all Mark Clark turned left to take Rome - so we had to do it again at the Gothic Line ....heigh ho ! Cheers
Thanks Alan ! Knowing that my brother Mick served in the Jewish Brigade in Italy, Forum member alan8376 has kindly sent me this link to an archive film taken at the time. http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/fv0378 The film entitled "Jewish Infantry Brigade of the British 8th Army.Italy" shows gun crews in action and I have watched it through a few times hoping to spot Mick who was at the time a Sergeant in command of a 25 pounder. Ron
Hi Dave, My regiment supported the Brigade twice in action, first in March 1945 when the photograph was taken, (and later in May 1945.) Travelling a lot must have missed your posting - will add it to my article in which other photos taken presumably by the same photographer are included. See: http://northirishhorse.net/articles/23-1.html Cheers, Gerry
Being such a neophyte on the subject of the Jewish Brigade, can any of you lads tell me what happened to this unit after the war? Then, next step after getting to know this, would be to find out if it served - even if previously disbanded - as a basis for a substantial batch of reinforcements for the Haganah or the Palmach. War of Independence was just a couple of years away, just the other side of the Med...
My brother Mick had this to say about ending his service with the Jewish Brigade and reverting to his original army role: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/49/a7114349.shtml It should also come as no surprise to anybody that military lessons acquired with the Jewish Brigade were subsequently employed by those who in later years joined other Israeli forces, including the IDF. Ron
My immediate family is fortunate enough to have two archivists. The first is my eldest daughter who unselfishly and endlessly ploughs through ancient archives to discover family roots that have recently become available on the internet. The second, I have to admit, is myself, but I strictly restrict myself to covering the period relating to ww2 The other day, one of Mick's daughters sent me a batch of photocopies of files I had not previously seen, relating to Mick's wartime service and I was touched to see this excerpt from a letter that he had written to his fiancee on the eve of joining the Jewish Brigade in Italy in early 1945. No surprises there for me, I had always understood & appreciated Mick's feelings, but I thought it worth showing here. The reunion press cutting shows Mick second from left. Ron View attachment 118747 View attachment 118747
For Dave (and other folks following this thread) it was not uncommon for censors to obscure names of the fallen from photos to minimise (no matter how unlikely) the chance of nok or relative or friend discovering via a photo released to the press that their loved one had been killed prior to nok being notified through official channels. A worthy sentiment and procedure. Even wounded who were photographed oft had their faces obscured by the official censor. Hope this helps, kind regards, Jim.
Jim, if you own the photo - could you possibly send me a high-res copy I would like to include the photo in my book.
Hello Sandra, not my photo, sorry! If member "dave500" can be contacted he may be able to help as regards the original source (please refer to his post at the start of this thread). Good luck with your endeavours.
Hello Dave, I haven't been on this site for quite a while so will have missed your post. But if you are still researching the Jewish Brigade, please send me a private reply. Many thanks Ann
