After early reports of the atrocities against Jews were made public by the Allied powers, the British Prime Minister sent a personal telegram to the F.D.R. suggesting that Jewish men of all races have the right to strike at the Germans.

On July 3, 1944, the establishment of a Jewish Brigade with hand-picked Jewish and also non-Jewish senior officers was consented too by the British government. The Jewish Brigade Group of the British Army headquarters was established in Egypt in September of 1944. The Zionist flag was officially approved as the brigade standard. The brigade consisted of more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from the Mandated Palestine region.. The units were as follows

• 1st Battalion, Palestine Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, Palestine Regiment
• 3rd Battalion, Palestine Regiment
• 200th Field Regiment R.A.

 

The Jewish Brigade fought in Italy. Following the war, some of them would assist Holocaust survivors to emigrate into the Mandated Palestine region. Below are 2 examples of their insignia. The scroll being the typical embroidered example with a bullion and embroidered version of the patch.

 

Really super! I embroidered the JBG tab and the matching Palestine tab. First time I heard about the JBG, and really cool to learn about! I posted my patches in the Repro board. I think it would be cool to try making the Star of David patch, too!

This is awesome. I've never heard of these brave men before. Thank you so much for presenting your collection.

There is also another badge associated with the brigade and it is the JB Search Bureau patch worn in 1945 above the formation sign. It depicts an otter in black on a tan/brown background. Purpose was to track down and eliminate Nazi's in hiding.

There is also another badge associated with the brigade and it is the JB Search Bureau patch worn in 1945 above the formation sign. It depicts an otter in black on a tan/brown background. Purpose was to track down and eliminate Nazi's in hiding.

 

Eliminate as in capture or kill them all?

Besides finding and killing Nazi's they also helped to find and relocate displaced holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe to Palestine. Another function was to "relocate" weapons and equipment to Palestine to help the fledgling IDF/Haganah with these supplies.

These are awesome, thanks! I watched a documentary once on these guys, pretty good stuff.

Nice collection as I've been trying to obtain one for myself for quite sometime however the asking prices just for the tab have been more than I was willing to pay. So because they are so rare and pricey a bunch of fakes have been surfacing particularly on eBay.

For many reasons always fascinated with this unit and those that followed in development of IDF (Israeli Defense Force). Here are my contributions. The first is two distinct variations on the JBG tab. Next are two of the metal badges. Next is the formation sign and showing some variations not previously depicted;especially note the printed and the silk versions. Please note two need to be rotated so that the white middle section should be vertical.

https://he.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A5:Israel_Lerman_in_the_Jewish_Brigade_Group.jpg

 

For further reading:

 

 

 

Very interesting variations Mort, thanks for posting

Hi, Came in late to this topic but as a dealer I have recently procured a Jewish Brigade formation sign. It is very similar to a pair of badges posted on their side by Mortday60 on the 24th December 2018. I recently sent this badge to a collector who sent it back as the central bar 'wasn't white'. I've noticed that central bars tend to be white unless grubby and thought at first mine was one of the 'grubby' ones, however seeing these I am of the opinion that this is genuine. I have included pics and would appreciate any comments. Best regards, Paul

Some additional information to share with members about the Brigade Group: 

 

First and foremost, the Jewish Brigade Group was not a exclusive Jewish unit. The Brigade Group included 140th Field Ambulance that was 90% non-Jewish, Signal Section was 80% non-Jewish and Workshops were 70% non-Jewish. 

 

There was somewhat unusual attitude to wearing the formation sign by non-Jewish personnel. Brigade HQ received similar signals from both CofE chaplain & CO 140 F.A. stating "Whilst there is no objection to serving with the... Group as an attachment, there is some resentment at an 'inclusion', which requires the adoption by the unit of a purely Jewish religious emblem to which they have neither racial nor religious attachment".

 

More information about can be found in The Formation Sign, issue 261.

 

CDub  

Great thread, some rare and interesting cloth pieces with great history attached.

On 5/28/2020 at 5:15 PM, tiny275 said:

Hi, Came in late to this topic but as a dealer I have recently procured a Jewish Brigade formation sign. It is very similar to a pair of badges posted on their side by Mortday60 on the 24th December 2018. I recently sent this badge to a collector who sent it back as the central bar 'wasn't white'. I've noticed that central bars tend to be white unless grubby and thought at first mine was one of the 'grubby' ones, however seeing these I am of the opinion that this is genuine. I have included pics and would appreciate any comments. Best regards, Paul

This IMO is a fake. With the spaghetti style rest found on a lot of “rare” British SF patches.