Ernest Benjamin

Brigadier Ernest Frank Benjamin (Hebrew: לוי בנימין, Levi Binyamin) CBE (5 February 1900 – 14 March 1969) was a Canadian-born British Jewish officer who commanded the British Army's Jewish Brigade during the Second World War.[1]

Ernest Frank Benjamin
Benjamin inspects the 2nd Battalion, Jewish Brigade, Palestine, October 1944.
Benjamin inspects the 2nd Battalion, Jewish Brigade, Palestine, October 1944.
Born(1900-02-05)5 February 1900
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died14 March 1969(1969-03-14) (aged 69)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1919–1950
RankBrigadier
Service number18035
UnitRoyal Engineers
Commands heldJewish Brigade
Battles/warsWorld War II
 • Battle of Madagascar
 • Italian campaign
AwardsCommander of the Order of the British Empire

Biography

Benjamin was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Frank David Benjamin. In 1908 the family moved to England.[2]

Benjamin was a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 17 July 1919.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 17 July 1921,[4] and served as an adjutant from 3 October 1922[5] until 23 September 1923.[6] On 24 May 1927 he was appointed adjutant to the Divisional Engineers of the 49th (West Riding) Division, Territorial Army, with the temporary rank of captain (with pay and allowances of a lieutenant).[7] He was promoted to captain on 17 July 1930,[8] and left 49th Division on 23 November 1931.[9]

On 10 January 1936 Benjamin was appointed a General staff Officer, 3rd Grade in Malaya[10] serving until 11 January 1939, by which time he has been promoted to major.[11] On 8 July 1943 he received a mention in despatches in recognition of his "gallant and distinguished services" in the Madagascar campaign of 1942.[12]

By then he was serving on the staff at Middle East Command, first as Assistant Quartermaster-General, then as Deputy Director of Military Training.[13] In September 1944 Benjamin was appointed commanding officer of the Jewish Brigade, a 5,000-man volunteer brigade group, overseeing its training in Egypt, and eventual deployment to the Eighth Army in Italy, seeing action in the crossing of the Senio river in north-east Italy in March and April 1945. Following V-E Day, 8 May 1945, the Jewish Brigade was sent to Tarvisio on the Italian-Austrian-Yugoslav border,[14] where Benjamin was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 June 1945,[15] backdated to 13 May.[16] In July 1945 the brigade was sent to the Netherlands, and then to Belgium,[14] as part of VIII Corps. On 13 December 1945 Benjamin was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[17] The Jewish Brigade was eventually disbanded in June 1946.[14]

On 13 May 1948, he completed his tenure as a regimental lieutenant colonel, but remained on full pay as a supernumery officer.[18] He retired from the Army on 4 September 1950, having exceeded the age limit, and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier.[19]

References
  1. "Brigadier Benjamin, Commander of Jewish Brigade, Comes from Family Active in Jewish Life". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 October 1944. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. Gladstone, Bill (16 February 2012). "Obits: Alfred D. Benjamin (1848–1900); Frank Benjamin (1866–1937)". Jews of Toronto. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. "No. 31460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 July 1919. p. 9103.
  4. "No. 32393". The London Gazette. 15 July 1921. p. 5708.
  5. "No. 32798". The London Gazette. 23 February 1923. p. 1302.
  6. "No. 33038". The London Gazette. 14 April 1925. p. 2567.
  7. "No. 33285". The London Gazette. 17 June 1927. p. 3906.
  8. "No. 33626". The London Gazette. 18 July 1930. p. 4499.
  9. "No. 33781". The London Gazette. 18 December 1931. p. 8164.
  10. "No. 34243". The London Gazette. 17 January 1936. p. 378.
  11. "No. 34594". The London Gazette. 31 January 1939. p. 678.
  12. "No. 36083". The London Gazette. 6 July 1943. p. 3090.
  13. "Benjamin, Ernest Frank". Haapalah / Aliyah Bet. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  14. Frank, Benis M. (1992). "The Jewish Company of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps Compared With Other Jewish Diaspora Fighting Units". Brigham Young University. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  15. "No. 37236". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 August 1945. p. 4274.
  16. "No. 37245". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1945. p. 4378.
  17. "No. 37386". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 December 1945. p. 6055.
  18. "No. 38288". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 May 1948. p. 2926.
  19. "No. 39009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 September 1950. p. 4473.
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