Brigadier Frederick Kisch; Soldier and Zionist
London: Vallentine, Mitchell & Co. Ltd., 1966. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 200 pages. DJ has some wear, tears and soiling. Includes Preface, Part One--Sapper and Staff Officer 1886--1922; Part Two--Engineer of the Jewish National Home--1922-1939; Part Three--Chief Engineer, 1939--1943. Also includes Epilogue, Index, and 11 black and white illustrations. Typographical error on List of Illustrations: "Much of the supply transport was primitive" is facing page 31 and not 33. Norman de Mattos Bentwich OBE MC (28 February 1883 – 8 April 1971) was a British barrister and legal academic. He was the British-appointed attorney-general of Mandatory Palestine and a lifelong Zionist. Bentwich was a delegate at the annual Zionist Congresses from 1907 to 1912. He paid his first visit to Palestine in 1908. He was commissioned in the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps on 1 January 1916. He was awarded the Military Cross and, in 1919, received the OBE. In November 1929, Bentwich was shot by a 17-year-old Arab employee of the Palestine Police. His assailant was sentenced to 15 years, despite Bentwich personally advocating for him. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Brigadier Frederick Kisch, C.B. C.B.E. D.S.O. rejoined the forces in Egypt, later becoming Chief Engineer of the Eighth Army, a position he occupied when he was killed in action in Tunisia in 1943. The account of these two highly contrasting careers is of great interest, especially in terms of the Middle East. This book gives valuable insights into the establishment of the State of Israel, as well as describing little-known aspects of the First World War and of the North African campaign in the Second. More