"During the First and Second World Wars, British and Allied nations' Jewish servicemen and women played a part in those struggles in excess of the proportion to their numbers in the general population. Many will know of the Zion Mule Corps (1915-16), the Jewish Legion (38th-42nd battalions, Royal Fusiliers – 1917-19) in the First War, and the Jewish Brigade (1944-46), the 51st (mainly Jewish Palestinians) Middle East Commando, the SIG Commando in North Africa, the Jewish members of SOE, and other Jewish groups of World War Two.
One of the best-kept secrets of World War II, however, has been the nature of the existence of No. 3 (Miscellaneous or "X" Troop) of the unique No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando/Special Services Brigade. The reason? They were virtually all German-speaking Jewish refugees, mainly from Germany and Austria (but also some from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and other European countries).
The excellent books by Ian Dear – a seminal work on No 10 Commando ("Ten Commando 1942-45", published by Leo Cooper Ltd 1987) – and Peter Masters (see below) are the only thorough, published studies of this amazing group of men of the famous "Jewish" No. 3 Troop. Before this, virtually nothing had been published about them. It is not my aim, therefore, to repeat what Ian Dear and Peter Masters have so wonderfully and ably already researched…"
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Armand
