With Remembrance Sunday fast approaching, synagogue members welcomed distinguished war historian Paula Kitching as part of the Pinner Education Programme (PEP).
Author of “Britain’s Jews in the First World War”, and well-known to several members of the audience from her courses at JW3 and elsewhere, Paula’s expertise includes 20th-century conflicts, the social and cultural history of warfare, and in particular the Jewish contribution to Britain’s War effort in 1914-18.
Focusing on five Jewish servicemen and women, including one nurse, who were awarded the Victoria Cross in that conflict, Paula told their stories, how they came to enter either the Army, Royal Navy or Royal Flying Corps, from a variety of different backgrounds and via three mainly class-based routes. Jewish soldiers from all parts of the British Empire rose through the ranks, one of the most senior of which being General Sir John Monash from Australia.
All these servicemen and women survived the Great War, continued Paula, apart from one, who was awarded the VC posthumously. The vital contribution of Jews to the British war effort was such that it not only increased their status, but crucially facilitated their further integration into British society.
Paula concluded the talk with a poem by the War Poet Isaac Rosenberg, the only Jew to be commemorated in the celebrated Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Participants really enjoyed the evening. “I learned a lot,” commented one member, adding, “It was a real revelation that there were so many Jewish VCs.”
Event co-organiser Stephen Collins said, “The feedback from this evening has been excellent. It was a privilege to hear from Paula, who is such an acknowledged and enthusiastic expert on the First World War.”