Major General Orde Wingate DSO
In September 1936, Orde Wingate, a committed Christian from the UK was assigned to a position of Intelligence Officer in the British Mandate of Palestine. From the start he saw this as an opportunity to fulfil the Zionist aspirations he held so deeply. He immediately put himself into absolute alliance with Jewish political leaders. He arrived at a tumultuous time with Palestinian Arab guerrillas mounting a campaign of attacks against both British Mandate officials and Jewish communities. He used his military skills to teach Jewish fighters how to defend themselves against Arab rebels who were attacking Jews and Jewish villagers. He used tactics of ambush and surprise attacks often at night, that kept the enemy on the backfoot. His leadership was modelled on the Old Testament warriors like Gideon who always led their men into battle. He was great friends with Chaim Weizmann who became the first president of Israel. His support of the Jewish people was profoundly significant as it must be remembered that the majority of his British officers were pro-Arab and did not support his views, which makes his amazing contribution to the Jewish people even more remarkable.
World War 2 and the creation of Gideon Force
When WW2 began, he repeatedly made proposals to the army and government for the creation of a Jewish army in Palestine to support the Allied effort in the Middle East. His friend General Wavell, who was commander-in-chief of Middle East Command based in Cairo, invited him to Sudan to begin operations against Italian occupation forces in Ethiopia and restore the ousted Emperor Haile Selassie. Ord had a particular affinity for the biblical hero of Gideon who with a small band of men won a decisive victory over the Midianite army despite a vast numerical disadvantage. He created “Gideon Force” and using the element of surprise and daring overthrew the vastly superior Italian army. Wingate was a leader of integrity and practised leadership by example, a stickler for the truth, abhorring distortions and rumours which was far easier said than done.
Orde Wingate, a brilliant military mind, earned the title ‘Father of the Israel Defense Forces’ with enduring, innovative tactics.
Tragically Ord Wingate was killed when flying in a USA Mitchell bomber, that crashed not long after take-off. Many books have been written about this enigmatic and controversial military commander. There is no doubt his passionate Zionism, and his dislike of strict military protocols made him unpopular with much of the British military elite, not to mention his often eccentric behaviour, like eating nine raw onions a day to discourage malarial carrying mosquitos. Whether it worked for mosquitos is debatable, however there is little doubt it would have kept his comrades at a distance.
Perhaps a man of similar characteristics namely the great British wartime leader Winston Churchill should have the final say. In a tribute to Wingate, Churchill called him “one of the most brilliant and courageous figures of the Second World War … a man of genius who might well have become also a man of destiny”.
Orde Wingate “Father of the Israel Defence Force”
The article below is an extract from an article in the ‘Times of Israel’, published only recently in 2020 and highlights the significance of this remarkable man.
Bible-toting, raw-onion-eating British officer killed in a plane crash in Burma on March 24, 1944, has been called the father of the Israel Defence Forces.
The article below is an extract from an article in the ‘Times of Israel’ 23/03
“The IDF today remains Wingatean in terms of its tactics,” said Knesset member Michael Oren, and historian. Legendary Israeli military commander Moshe Dayan, one of the men Wingate trained, called him a “military genius and a wonderful man”. “Wingate drilled his men in an ethos of utilizing offense over defence”.
David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime minster said of Wingate that he might have become the Israel Defence Forces’ first chief of staff, had he survived, such was the standing of this Christian man. Today members of the American Jewish Veteran Association still hold an annual memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery where Orde Wingate is buried.
75 years after his death, Orde Wingate remains a hero in Israel
His legacy lives on in the many streets and squares named after him, the Academic College at Wingate is a centre of tertiary learning and the Orde Wingate Institute is a renowned facility for sport and physical education.
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