Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Doctrinal Background
- 2 Wingate before Palestine, 1923–36
- 3 Wingate and Counterterrorism in Palestine, 1937–9
- 4 Wingate in Ethiopia, 1940–1
- 5 Wingate in Burma (1) – the Origins of the Chindits, 1942–3
- 6 Wingate in Burma (2) – Operations Longcloth and Thursday, and the Subsequent Development of Long Range Penetration
- 7 The ‘Wingate Myth’ Reassessed
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
3 - Wingate and Counterterrorism in Palestine, 1937–9
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Doctrinal Background
- 2 Wingate before Palestine, 1923–36
- 3 Wingate and Counterterrorism in Palestine, 1937–9
- 4 Wingate in Ethiopia, 1940–1
- 5 Wingate in Burma (1) – the Origins of the Chindits, 1942–3
- 6 Wingate in Burma (2) – Operations Longcloth and Thursday, and the Subsequent Development of Long Range Penetration
- 7 The ‘Wingate Myth’ Reassessed
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
I cannot speak too highly…of the Special Night Squads … organized and trained by Captain OC WINGATE, Royal Artillery, from my Staff, who has shown great resource, enterprise and courage in leading and controlling their activities. These Squads have been supplemented by Jewish supernumeraries who have done excellent work in combination with the British personnel. The story of the inception and gradual development of this form of activity, and its successful results, provide a great tribute to the initiative and ingenuity of all concerned.
General Sir Robert Haining,[Captain Wingate's] tendency … to play for his own ends and likings instead of playing for the side … has become so marked … as to render his services in the Intelligence Branch nugatory and embarrassing. His removal to another sphere of action has been timely.
General Sir Robert Haining,Introduction
A theme running through almost every published account of Wingate's actions in Palestine is that they were rooted in a personal brand of Zionism going beyond that of almost any other in its vehemence and setting him apart from his fellows in the British Army. This passage comes from a work on Special Forces, by an American academic, from 2006:
Wingate was drawn to Zionism by his Christian fundamentalism and genuine admiration for the accomplishments of the persecuted Jews of Eastern and Central Europe … He offered his services to Chaim Weizmann, the great chemist turned prophet, to organize underground forces for the quietly forming framework of a Jewish state.
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- Orde Wingate and the British Army, 1922–1944 , pp. 57 - 100Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014