Ronald Storrs

[michaeldr]

The Land of Israel Museum (in Tel Aviv) is to feature an exhibition on the life and times of the first British governor of Jerusalem, Sir Ronald Storrs, and the Israeli newspaper HaAretz, has this preview

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/discerning-conqueror-1.324306

The museum's own preview can be seen here

http://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/main/site/index.php3?page=271&stId=457

[iain mchenry]

Nice one Michael, very interesting indeed. I hope the exhibition is on early next year when I hope to return to Israel.

I noticed this quote in the text, on the Arab riots of 1921/22 "He urged his Hebrew-language readers to sometimes remember "what Great Britain did, as it is represented by each and every high official in Palestine, instead of harping on what it did not do."

I'll bet characters like Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Lt Col JP Patterson, Royal Fusiliers, didnt quite agree with him!

Regards

Iain

[michaeldr]

Iain,

Thanks for your interest here. The exhibition goes on until 30th March 2011, so I hope that you can make it.

I agree your point about Jabotinsky and Patterson. The latter was particularly outspoken, and fearlessly so. His direct approaches to Allenby (whom I believe he knew from the Boer War) were particularly irksome to Bols. I often think that it must be very difficult to find another Lieutenant Colonel such as Patterson, who had commands in two such particular campaigns as Gallipoli and Palestine, and who was not rewarded at the end of the war. (I know of at least one Lt-Col who got the CMG, despite being described by his general as 'useless!')

Best regards

Michael

[Ithklur]

Hello

This might be of interest, too:

The Memoirs of Sir Ronald Storrs

http://ia331340.us.a...na001290mbp.pdf

regards

Olav

[iain mchenry]

Hi Michael,

I dont think I will get to Israel before May next year so it looks like I will probably miss it - shame.

I have not long finished Pattersons "With the Judeans in Palestine" and I must say I was disgusted with how they were treated by elements within GHQ EEF. I would be very interested in reading more on the Jewish Battalions if there are more books out there. I managed to stop by Mt Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem in October and visit Jabotinskys grave. I am in Los Angeles in December for a few days and I noticed on a wiki search that Patterson and his wife are commemorated there in Angelus Rosedale cemetery, both dying in California. I am going to see if there is a memorial plaque to him at the cemetery, although I have noticed that there were plans to takje their ashes to Israel as of September this year.

Regards

Iain

[Carmania]

I was under the impression that Storrs succeeded Neville Travers Borton as Military Governor of Jerusalem whereas the article in Haaretz refers to a General William Borton. The Times obituary of N T Borton refers to him as having been the Military Governer as do the contemporary editions in 1917 on his appointment. In his memoirs Storrs refers to Bill Borton, perhaps that's the name he was known as and where the confusion might be. I'd be interested to know if anybody can through any light on this.

Aled

[michaeldr]

Aled,

The British OH (Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from June 1917 to the End of the War – Part I) has the following on page 260, regarding the events of 11th December 1917 and General Allenby's entry into Jerusalem

"The Military Governor of Jerusalem, Br-General W. M. Borton, met the Commander-in-Chief at the gate and conducted him to the steps of the Citadel, where the notables of the City met him."

edit to add:

I have found this in the London Gazette of 1 Dec 1916, an "N. T. Borton Pasha, Postmaster General"

See http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29845/supplements/11809

and

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 4 JUNE, 1917.

To be Ordinary Members of the Third Class, or

Companions, of the said Most Distinguished

Order.-—

Neville Travers Borton Pasha, Postmaster-

General in Egypt.

See http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30111/supplements/5458

N T Borton also gets a mention here

in the SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 21 JUNE; 1916. Officials, Egyptian Government.

N. T. Borton Pasha.

See http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29632/supplements/6185

and finally

Whitehall, August 18, 1917.

The KING has been pleased to give and

grant unto the undermentioned gentlemen His

Majesty's Royal licence and authority to wear

Decorations (as stated against their respective

names) which have been conferred upon them

by His Highness the Sultan of Egypt in recognition

of valuable services rendered by them: —

Second Clas's of the Order of the Nile.

Neville Travers Borton, Esq., Postmaster-

General, Alexandria.

Strangely, I cannot find anything in the LG for the Br-Gen W. M. Borton mentioned in the OH and by Storrs

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Olav,

Many thanks for that useful link

regards

Michael

Edited 15 November , 2010 by michaeldr

[michaeldr]

Iain,

If the Storrs' exhibition has already closed before your next visit, then you may wish to substitute a brief call at the Jewish Legions Museum at Avihail, near Netanya: see http://www.isragen.org.il/siteFiles/1/211/4782.asp for address and contact details (regrettably the museum's own web-site is not in English)

The exhibition is not large, but it may well be of interest to you. Amongst other things you can see there are a couple of Patterson's uniforms and items of his, including his DSO.

regards

Michael

[michaeldr]

Aled,

This may be of help to you

There is a photograph in the Matson collection at the LoC(USA) which shows Allenby and Borton standing together in front of the Citadel gate before the reading of the proclamation on 11th Dec 1917

This should link you to the photograph.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/matpc/item/mpc2004004550/PP/

If you click to bring up the TIFF version, then you can enlarge it several times and get a really quite clear look at the pair

regards

Michael

[Carmania]

Michael

Thank you very much for the references. I have been unable to find anything which connects Brig-Gen W M Borton with being the Military Governor of Jerusalem, in fact I haven't been able to find anything at all about him.

N T Borton was commissioned in the Welsh Regiment after being at Sandhurst, he was transferred to The Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the 5th April 1899 and then the next day seconded to the Egyptian Army. In 1905 he was an Inspector of Prisons in the Sudan Administration and appointed Postmaster General of Egypt in 1907.

In addition to his obituary in The Times and the details of his will published in The Guardian, the papers of Sir Reginald Wingate here include a number of references to 'the failure of N T Borton as Governor of Jerusalem'.

Aled

[michaeldr]

Aled,

Many thanks for those details and for that link; the Wingate refs must be correct, surely

It must also be significant that the American photographer refers to Borton as 'Pasha,' rather than by any British military rank.

regards

Michael

[michaeldr]

Iain,

You've mentioned Jabotinsky, and having read Patterson's book, so you will be familiar with the former's role in setting up a self-defence organization and this getting him into trouble with the military authorities (Patterson's chapter XXXV).

It seems that Storrs was quite impressed with Jabotinsky and when T E Lawrence was staying with him in Jerusalem, Jabotinsky was one of those invited by Storrs to lunch and chat with TEL.

When Jabotinsky was in jail in Jerusalem, before being moved to Acre, the Governor visited him and others in their cramped cell. He addressed Jabotinsky as Sir. Took him out and gave him a cell of his own. Went and got furniture and clothing from Jabotinsky's home, then brought them back to the prison and Jabotinsky's cell, accompanied by the prisoner's wife!

"I am afraid this may not be right," the officer (Storrs) explained, "but one needs a woman's touch when arranging a room." The policeman entered the room carrying two suitcases and a mirror! I (Jabotinsky) do not remember what else. Two more men entered the room accompanied by officer P. (the commander of the Jerusalem police force) bringing in furniture; someone else came in, carrying a tray and on it plates heaped with food, and Rishon LeZion bottles (wine).

"Is everything all right? Storrs asked. "Fine, then I will leave the lady here. I have business in town. I will return in an hour and escort her home."

After Storrs had left, Jabotinsky's wife explained to him

"He received orders from London to treat you as political prisoners. However, he is a real darling: he packed one of the suitcases himself, and reminded me not to forget books and paper, and to fill a fountain pen with ink, and he himself suggested that I come with him."

Doar Hayom[/i], which in turn was quoted by the late Prof Yosef Nedava in his 'Jabotinsky in Generation's Foresight' and used as a chapter in the book 'The First Governor' produced by the museum in connection with the exhibition]

Storrs comes across as something of an enigma and is difficult to place. He had the ability to see both sides of any argument and could then please or satisfy neither one, since he represented Britain in a colonial situation and was ultimately answerable to a higher authority in London.

Nedava quotes Storrs on Jabotinsky "I deeply felt the absence of Jabotinsky in Jerusalem; despite the fact that in his absence…………..one could maintain peace in the land from time to time, however for me it was a loss of true constant personal friendship."

It would be interesting to read what Jabotinsky really thought of Storrs.

The exhibition though not large, took up an hour and a half today, and was most enjoyable. The museum's book is well produced in hardback, it is well illustarted and a very good read.

[michaeldr]

In their Preface to the above mentioned book, the Curators of the exhibition say

"Sir Ronald Storrs' influence over the society, culture, and politics of Palestine was vast, and its signs are still visible today in the appearance of Jerusalem…

…The vestiges of the projects and endeavours of Ronald Storrs, the first governor, remain engraved on Jerusalem's visual reality…"

The principle vehicle for Storrs' "projects and endeavours" was the Pro-Jerusalem Society (and the Society's Council) which he set up in 1918. My thanks to Mike (skipman) who has drawn my attention to 'Jerusalem 1918-1920; Being the Records of the Pro-Jerusalem Council during the period of the British Military Administration' edited by C R Ashbee, which may be downloaded here

http://www.archive.org/details/jerusalem191819200ashbuoft

[bob lembke]

I read Ha'aretz daily, and have for many years, so I read the original lengthy presentation about Storrs in the paper when it was published, it was very interesting.

Jabotinsky still casts a shadow, as I believe that the PM of Israel's (Bibi dearest) closest advisor is his father, who must be 100 or older, and who was Jabotinsky's secretary and one of his pall-bearers. The father recently came out in the press with an astonishing outburst. The involvement of this crew with the Fascists in WW II is interesting but rarely mentioned.

Bob Lembke

[wroclaw]

I read Ha'aretz daily, and have for many years, so I read the original lengthy presentation about Storrs in the paper when it was published, it was very interesting.

Jabotinsky still casts a shadow, as I believe that the PM of Israel's (Bibi dearest) closest advisor is his father, who must be 100 or older, and who was Jabotinsky's secretary and one of his pall-bearers. The father recently came out in the press with an astonishing outburst. The involvement of this crew with the Fascists in WW II is interesting but rarely mentioned.

Bob Lembke

The involvement of various groups/people from the more right wing parts of the 1930s Zionist movement, with Fascist Italians/Germans, is a bogus story that somehow outlived well into our time,when timelines, original sources dating back to the 30s and other testimonies are well under reach. Easily accesible even for the most common people who never had the chance, until recently, to personally look into first hand material. This sort of cliché (made up, and kept alive, for political reasons by opposing ideological groups) has some vague relation to the radical ideological group led by Yair Stern an ultra anti imperialist (Thus anti British in the political aspect) activist - some of his followers in the 30s amused themselves with the ideas of using the rising powers of the 2 fascist European countries for the purpose of weakening the British rule here. This idea came from the real politique world of ideas, as they regarded the British to be the real enemy: periphery of ideas common within Marxist and other left wing movements in the 1930s (considering the moderate nationalists to be the real enemy). This group, at that stage (when led by Stern) resembled the Anarchist movements more then a fascist/national one. One of its surviving leaders (N. Y. Mor) was one of the founding fathers of the Israeli extreme left wing ideological movement. Zeev Zabotinski was never a fascist (though if you take Haaretz as your source, I guess you might think so). As a person who was talented, high rated, public speaker, one may easily trace his line of ideology. Actually his followers were that much of Fascist sympathizers that they condemned vulgarly any contact with the Nazi (young) regime by the left wings Jewish politicians, hence allegedly creating the atmosphere for the assassination of Chaim Arlozoroff (a left wing leader that stood in contact with elements of the Nazi regime in 1933). ZJ actually died when in NY, promoting an establishment of an anti Fascist, Jewish military legion of a similar type of the GW one. It was at this time when the prime ministers father served as his secretary. I hope the moderators would not find my clarification as crossing the lines of the forum rules. But again… Haaretz is quite well known for its unique approach to facts…

Edited 17 January , 2011 by wroclaw

[michaeldr]

Jabotinsky is not my favourite character. Not only a professional writer and journalist, he was also an expert self-publicist. His claim to be the 'initiator' of the Zion Mule Corps has a very weak and slender foundation. He left in the middle of the pre-formation negotiations, as he felt insulted when the British asked him to work with mules in a transport corps. The one-armed veteran of Port Arthur, Joseph Trumpeldor is a much more sympathetic character, and I believe that he deserves the credit for ZMC.

Be that as it may, Ronald Storrs obviously found the intellectual Jabotinsky good company, referring in his writing to Jabotinsky's translations of the poet Bialik and of the Divine Comedy by Dante. However, as the Governor of Jerusalem and the representative there of British colonial rule, Storrs was troubled by Jabotinsky's political activism.

The 1930s flirtations with European fascism by right-wing politicians in Palestine (both Jewish and Arab [e.g. the Mufti of Jerusalem]) can be seen to have been prefaced in the Great War, and for similar philosophical reasons. Many Jews living in Palestine in 1914 had Russian citizenship, having escaped that country at the time of the various pogroms there. When the Ottoman Empire entered the fray on the side of the Central Powers, they offered the local Jewish population in Palestine the choice of renouncing their new status as enemy aliens (Russian) and becoming citizens of the Turkish Empire, or to be expelled. Trumpeldor and many like him were forced to leave, but many more stayed behind. They had seen how the Russians had treated them and wanted nothing more to do with that country (or with their allies, the British and the French). The Nili spy ring was by no means universally supported by the Jews of Palestine for the same reason: a friend of my enemy must be my enemy too. If the British were allied together with the Russians, then very probably they must think and act the same way too, so why support the enemy of the Turk who has done us no harm? This line of thinking was brought up short when the Turks eventually expelled the Jewish citizens of Jaffa to the north, fearing that they were a fifth column for the British.

In the 1930s Britain, despite the Balfour Declaration, was seen then as the colonial power who was restricting immigration, and in a similar situation to 1914-17 many thought that my enemy's enemy might prove to be my friend. However, as Gal has pointed out above, by 1940 this line of thought had already been proved totally incorrect.

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Sorry Gal, but I must put in a good word here for Haaretz: the other newspapers which cross my threshold are only useful for their Sudoku.

regards

Michael

[michaeldr]

To continue the brief diversion on Jabotinsky, I have found the following on-line at the NA

From CAB/23/21

"Final conclusions of a meeting of the Cabinet held at 10 Downing Street, SW1, on Monday April 26th, 1920, at 12 noon'

Item 3 - Disturbances in Jerusalem

The attention of the Cabinet was called to questions which were being put in Parliament in reference to the decision to punish M. Jabotinsky and others for their share in the recent riots in Jerusalem. M. Jabotinsky had been sentenced to 15 years penal servitude and others to 3 years imprisonment for being in possession of firearms and for taking measures to stir up the Jewish Defence Organisation and thus disturbing the city. Lord Allenby had upheld and confirmed the verdict. The Cabinet were reminded that M. Jabotinsky had been a zealous supporter of this country throughout the war and was held in high esteem at the War Office and at the Colonial Office.

The Cabinet decided:

To request the Secretary of State for War

[a] to represent to Lord Allenby that the sentence on M. Jabotinsky seemed to be unreasonable and to ask Lord Allenby personally to review the whole circumstances of the case.

To reply to questions in the House of Commons that H.M. Government was in communication with Lord Allenby on the matter and would inform the House of the result at the earliest opportunity."

(I presume that in the above, M is short for Monsieur: Jabotinsky's initial was V)

This is interesting in so far as it illustrates the differences of opinion between London and Cairo on the administration of the occupied Ottoman territory of Palestine.

Quote: "M. Jabotinsky had been a zealous supporter of this country throughout the war and was held in high esteem at the War Office and at the Colonial Office."

While only a week before this Cabinet meeting, Allenby had written to Lloyd George to emphasise his difference of opinion with Dr Weizmann "in not sharing his views that that our Military Administration has been unsympathetic with and – perhaps subconsciously – opposed to Zionism."

This conflict of views between the imperial capital and the local colonial/military administration was alluded to by Ian in his post number 2. It is also referred to in the Storrs exhibition book when they use the 1950 article by Nedava on 'Jabotinsky and Storrs'.

Nedava refers to Josiah Clement Wedgwood's book 'The Seventh Dominion' and says that Wedgwood "claimed repeatedly ... that British officialdom should have received special training after the Balfour Declaration. Egyptian officialdom should not have between employed for this purpose...The ideal British official must be a man of the Western World, imbued with its culture, while the British officialdom that was transferred from Egypt was totally Eastern in mentality. It sought to maintain the status quo, which was a sleepy and lethargic East."

Nedava continued with the following example; "In his autobiography, Storrs writes that he found it particularly pleasurable to refuse permission to install trams ... and that if such tracks were installed, 'the first rail would be laid over the dead body of the Military Governor'"

This latter point is topical today as a new metropolitan railed transport system is about to be inaugurated in Storrs' beloved city.