Orde Charles Wingate, often known as The Friend or Hayedid, to the tiny country of Israel, was born in British India. Raised the son of a Scottish officer and a mother who told him “Lawrence of Arabia” stories, discilpine was tight. As a boy he was expected to memorize scripture. His favorite Bible Story was that of Gideon, who with a tiny army of 300, overthrew the Midianites.
His Childhood
His childhood was spent on long exhausting walks that later prepared him physically and mentally for his military role in life. He was to become a mighty man as a British Officer.
In Palestine
What he found as he arrived in Palestine was different than he had imagined. Within a relatively short time he saw the disparity between what Britain was saying concerning their support for a Jewish State and what they were enforcing. Even worse was what he saw of the Jewish people. Tactically the Jews were waiting for the Arabs to come to them. There was no offense. Nor were they particularly sucessfully at their defense. Nor was the Jewish population allowed to have weapons; just building ammunition carried the death penalty. Meanwhile the Arabs were being armed with no restrictions.
He became angry on behalf of his new Jewish friends because of an innate love for the underdog and decided it was time for them to learn to defend themselves. He believed that no one could prosper as long as they followed the beaten path. If Israel wanted to exist, she had to carve her own road without assistance. He was their natural leader.
Night Raids
Among those in his night sqauds learning guerilla warfare were many of the future leaders of Israel, such as Moshe Dyan, and Emmanuel Wilenski. What Captain Wingate taught them in those night raids would be the beginning of the Israeli Army, and his tactics, those of the freedom fighters in Israel.
Inspite of his desire to lead this people, he was not a man filled with hatred. He once said, “I do not believe in carrying on war with hatred for one's enemy.” He taught those men the basics of warfare, but he reminded them that they were not warring with Arab Nations, but on their gangs that were fighting inside Israel and, “towards the ordinary Arabs we will abstain from cruelty... A course and savage man makes a bad soldier, and you will behave with respect towards the bodies of the wives, children and innocent individuals. But you will not let a single culprit escape.”
He never let the odds discourage him, in fact he seemed to relish them. Moshe Dayan once said of him, “If we were twenty, and the Arabs were two hundred...he would say: `All right, there is a way to beat them.' and we would.” He never lost a battle.
Leaving Palestine
He was so successful that the Arabs offrered a reward for his life, and finally through diplomatic pressure they had him sent home and banned him from the country. It didn't matter the damage was done. A small army was in place, and it was ready to train a bigger one, and like a rolling stone it gathered speed and force as it moved. He was a brilliant military leader that died a tragic death in a plane crash over Burhma, but he left a legacy of freedom behind him.
 |
