The Jewish Battalions By William Sariego On the eve of the Second World War the government of Neville Chamberlain issued the infamous “White Paper”, which abandoned the idea of partitioning Britain’s Palestinian Mandate for a Jewish homeland and severely limited Jewish immigration to Palestine.  Even after war was declared and the Empire mobilized, Britain was slow to realize this manpower resource against the Axis Powers, and did not recruit Jewish soldiers. Despite this, David Ben-Gurion, a leading Zionist and future Prime Minister of Israel would eloquently sum up the position of many Palestinian Jews when he said, "We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper."

After the fall of France, Winston Churchill was far more pragmatic.  In her darkest hour, he would rally all of England’s sons to the Union Jack. By September of 1940, some 15 Jewish Battalions had been incorporated into the British army. Some were used for garrison duty, freeing up British troops for use elsewhere and many were in the thick of combat in the Middle East and Africa, from Syria to Tunisia. Several battalions were committed to Greece and suffered heavy casualties in the Allied fiasco there.

Italy would be their next theatre of operations, with an actual Brigade being formed in September of 1944. Dismissed at first as a token unit by some critics, the Jewish Brigade Group, consisting of the 1st through 3rd Palestinian Regiments and supported by the 200th Royal Field Artillery Regiment, would render great service to the Allied cause in the final offensives of 1945. When the curtain closed on this most tragic period of the Jewish people‘s long history, some 30,000 had taken up arms against Nazi tyranny. In Flames Of War You may field a Jewish Rifle Company using the British Rifle Company Briefing from pages 74-84 of Fortress Europe. If you do, your Company HQ, and all your Combat and Weapons platoons are Jewish Platoons. A Jewish Rifle Company may be fielded as Italian Veterans.

Jewish Platoons use all British special rules except Carry On, Sergeant or British Bulldog. Instead they use the following: Warriors of Gideon Living in the harsh conditions of the Middle East breeds men who are quite hardy and hale. They have the Truscott Trot special rule from the US special rules, enabling Infantry teams to Move At the Double 16”/40cm. Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one The 2iC in a Jewish HQ includes the Company Rabbi.  This inspirational figure helps motivate the troops.

Any Jewish Platoon to which the 2iC Command team is attached becomes Fearless for all Motivation tests. If the 2iC Command team leaves the platoon it immediately reverts back to it original Motivation rating.