After the outbreak of the Second World War, there was strong pressure within British controlled Palestine for an all-Jewish fighting force.  For various political reasons, this did not come about until late in 1944, when Prime Minister Winston Churchill personally overrode the objections of the War Office and the Colonial Office, and allowed the formation of His Majesty's Jewish Brigade.

The Headquarters of the Brigade was formed in September 1944.  After a brief training period in Egypt, the Brigade moved to Italy in October for more intensive preparations, after which the 5500 man formation moved north by road, and into the front lines as part of the British Eighth Army.   After VE Day, the Brigade remained near the Austrian-Italian border. 

The Jewish Brigade wore standard British uniform, with the addition of the Jewish Brigade patch on the sleeve.

Israel Tal, a veteran of the Jewish Brigade photographed in Belgium in 1946, wearing the distinctive Brigade patch.

Ancillary Units of the Brigade (* indicates British unit):

* 200th Field Regiment (one battery Jewish), Royal Artillery

643rd (Palestine) Field Company, Royal Engineers

* Brigade and Field Regiment Signals

178th (Palestine) Company, Royal Army Service Corps

* 140th Field Ambulance

Jewish Brigade Group Ordnance Field Park and Workshop Sections, Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Salvation and Vengeance!

Brigade Headquarters in Florence

Image courtesy Moshe Malyevshevsk