THE FIRST VOLUNTEERS
Even before the War of Independence, the Haganah recognized the need for guidance from professionally trained soldiers with battlefield experience to help transform the defense force into a full-fledged military organization. The need became even more acute with the outbreak of hostilities in the first period of the war, towards the end of 1947.
The first volunteers, some 240 men, operated within the framework of the Mossad l’Aliyah Bet, the organization bringing “illegal immigrants” to Mandatory Palestine.
Most of these volunteers were Americans, 16 were
10 Machalniks who arrived on the Pan York in
August 1948. Most were posted to the
7th Brigade.
Jack Kesselman (U.S.), Dick Feurman (U.S.), Barry Ross (Canada), Sol Freeman (Canada),
Louis Lourie (Canada), Luke Elias Paschkoff (U.S.).
Center Row, Sheldon Schnite (U.S.), Harry Eisner (U.S.), Ivan Conn (England). Paul Katz (U.S.), Al Feinberg (U.S.), Ralph Lowenstein (U.S.), Neil Goodman (U.S.).
... Among them
were U.S. Navy veterans of World War II
who had just been discharged. Some had
served in the Merchant Marine, a few had
pre-war service, but a large number of them
had no professional maritime experience.
The search for volunteers and the recruitment
of crews was conducted mainly by word of
mouth and by checking the employment
bureaus where former naval and merchantmarine
officers sought work. This search
was carried out as covertly as possible, for
fear that Britain would intervene, as she
indeed did, and try to influence the U.S.
government to put a halt to the recruitment
and the sale of ships.
The volunteers, primarily the Americans
and Canadians, helped to prepare and outfit
the ships that became the “shadow navy” of the Mossad l’Aliyah Bet. Had
the Mandatory Government arrested them, they would have faced trial for violating the Emergency Regulations forbidding illegal immigration, regulations carrying sentences of up to eight years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of 10,000 Pounds Sterling.
http://www.mahal-idf-volunteers.org/about/Machal.pdf
American and Canadian and British lives from the Beginning.
W
“American and Canadian and British lives from the Beginning.”
From your own post, they were “volunteers”.
Individuals, not governments, that chose to stand with Israel. Does that invalidate my statement? I don’t think so. We’ll have to agree to disagree.