At the beginning of December 1860 The Times reported:

"A numerous meeting of gentlemen of the Jewish persuasion was held at Zetland-hall, Mansell-street, Goodman's Fields, last night, when resolutions favourable to the formation of a corps of Jewish Rifle Volunteers were carried unanimously. The members present went through their drill, under an able sergeant, and evinced great zeal to qualify themselves for their new duties."^[2]

This was some eight months after the first corps of the Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteers had come into existence. The Army List of April 1860 reported the establishment of 1st (Dalston) and 2nd (Hackney). In fact the 1st did not become operative and disappeared before the end of that year. One of the officers of the 2nd, all gazetted on 6th April 1860, was Capt Joseph D'Aguilar Samuda, the Jewish Thames shipbuilder, who continued his association with the local Volunteers for a number of years.

Almost as soon as the Volunteer Force came into existence in 1859 the Jewish press published news about Jewish participation and continued to do so for the next half-century.^[3] As often as not it was to record names, promotions, and activities but there was a great deal, mainly in the form of exchanges in the correspondence columns, about the very response of Jews to Volunteer recruitment. On one side there were complaints that not enough were joining. But counter views came from correspondents who argued that such statements were untrue and certainly did not apply to their particular town. Occasionally there were statistics to support their arguments - how many Jews were serving in their units or how many had attended camps. It was said at one time that out of 200,000 Volunteers as many as 2,000 were Jews, which was higher than the proportion of Jews in the total population. How accurate that figure was is unknown.^[4] In 1897 Joel Zacharias, the president of the Oxford synagogue, signing his letter as late Colour-Sergeant of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, took part in a flurry of correspondence in the Jewish Chronicle about the Volunteers, and stated that when he attested in 1870 (he was then aged 18) there were very few Jews in the Volunteers. This does not square with a statement in the Volunteer Service Gazette of 1875, "We all know how vigorously and well, both in purse and person, the Jews in England have supported the Volunteer movement in the present day."^[5]

There were, certainly, very few reports of opposition within the Jewish community to participation in the armed forces, whether in the Volunteers or in the regular army or navy. One opponent was Rev A. L. Green who said in 1870 that "the spirit of military ambition was condemned by the creed of the Jew as well as alien to his character." Many years later, after the boys, at a prize-giving at Stepney Jewish School, were urged to join the army and navy, the Jewish Chronicle published a letter arguing against it, saying that "Peace is essentially a Jewish ideal."^[6] But most published opinion in the newspaper was in favour of Jewish military participation, regularly publishing items of news about the small but growing recruitment in the regular army and navy as well as full accounts of the annual military service at Chanukah which began in the 1890s. This encouragement was despite the obvious difficulty of maintaining Jewish religious practices in the armed forces. That problem was the main theme of a discussion that went on for many years. Some ministers confidentially averred that it was legitimate to give them up if events proved it necessary, notably in time of war.^[7] But that opinion referred especially to regular service; for the Volunteers there was the immediate question of attendance on parades which were often held on Saturdays. This difficulty - the necessity to breach the Sabbath - was often put forward as a reason why not enough Jews became Volunteers.

Among the various suggestions put forward to deal with the problem of maintaining religious practices was the idea of forming a specifically Jewish unit. It is of passing interest that it was reported in 1846, when war between the USA and Mexico was expected and recruitment in the former was in hand, that a New York corps had been formed composed entirely of Jews. A decade later, during the Crimean War, a proposal came from the Polish (non-Jewish) poet, Adam Mickiewicz, for a Jewish unit. But this was primarily in order to capitalise on Jewish discontent with Russian persecution of the Jews rather than to meet religious needs.^[8]

In London the proposal for a Jewish unit of the Volunteers came at least as early as November 1859^[9] and was avidly discussed in the Jewish Chronicle from the latter part of 1859, arguments in favour and against being vehemently put forward. A year later, while the controversy continued, the proposed unit went ahead, to be based on the East End of London where there was the largest concentration of Jews. The initiative came from middle-class Jews living outside the East End. The leading light was Barnett Lazarus ("late Devonshire Artillery") with an address in the West End. He advertised late in November 1860 for "Gentlemen wishing to assist in the formation of Jewish volunteer companies" to get in touch with him. In the same week the Illustrated London News noted that "one or two more companies, composed entirely of Jews, are to be attached to a Brigade, in the course of formation in the city of London. It will not be necessary for members of the Jewish companies to attend drill on Sabbaths."^[10]

Soon afterwards, on 4th December, the meeting reported in The Times, which Lazarus chaired, took place in the Goodman's Fields district, a major area of Jewish residence. Zetland Hall, the venue, was a familiar and well-used East End meeting place. Three resolutions were carried unanimously: that Jews should join the Volunteers, that they should enrol in Jewish companies to be attached to existing corps, and a committee should be formed. Eight men comprised the committee, all of them already in various units - two of them described as Captains, one in the Jamaica Militia and the other in the 40th Middlesex. (However, most of them dropped out quickly and only two of the eight became officers in the eventual unit.) The Honorary Secretary was Samuel M. Lazarus who was later unit clerk and its Quartermaster.^[11]

The Jewish Chronicle was in favour of the scheme and the paper reprinted favourable comments from elsewhere. The Volunteer Service Gazette- the main periodical of the Volunteer movement - was in favour of the "Proposed London Hebrew Corps" adding, somewhat surprisingly, a very early pro-Zionist message, "especially when taking into consideration this seeming step towards the to-be-accomplished prophecy of Holy Writ as to the ingathering of Jews to their native land." The Jewish Chronicle quoted too the Evening Standard which referred to the valiant deeds of the ancient Israelites.^[12] The news item in the Illustrated London News was quoted by the New York Jewish Messenger which commended the idea to "our militia" of having Jewish units which could be attached to companies not required to drill so as to avoid desecrating the Sabbath.^[13] But there were also many in Britain who opposed the separate unit as the correspondence columns of the JC testified.^[14]

While the controversy about its very desirability continued, recruitment went ahead and in early February the JC reported on a sight never before seen in Britain "and very rarely if ever since the rising of Bar Cocba" (sic) of 165 Jewish Volunteers (of the "East Metropolitan Rifle Volunteer Corps") drilling along with a drum and fife band. Most of those on parade, except the officers, were members of the working class. The unit intended on the eve of the festival of Purim to march in uniform to the New Synagogue.^[15]

At the beginning of March, The Times was among the papers which reported the unit's formal authorisation. "Her Majesty", it said, "has been graciously pleased to accept the services of the East Metropolitan Rifle Volunteers (11th Tower Hamlets), lately established." Although only four weeks old it had nearly 200 enrolled members. The establishment was to consist of a Captain (in command), another Captain, two Lieutenants, two Ensigns, an Assistant Surgeon and a complement of 200 in total.^[16] This development was well received by the JC, at least by its gossip columnist. Physical education was much needed, he wrote, especially among "our humbler classes"; and as, through emancipation, Jews did not associate much with other Jews this was a way of remedying that situation.^[17] These officers who, as was customary at that period, were elected by the men, were gazetted on 21st March 1861. The Commander was Capt Barnett Lazarus and the other Capt was David Barnett^[18]; Lt Barnett Rubinstein, and two Ensigns, Montague Jacobs and Simon David Marks were the remaining officers. They were sworn in by the Lord Mayor early in March. The ceremony was reported in various papers all making the point that while it was formed "by some gentlemen of the Jewish persuasion" it was open to members of all religious opinions.^[19] The complement of officers was completed by 2Lt Louis Nathan, who was gazetted on 9th March.

In April 1861 it must have seemed that the future for the corps (named "Goodman's Fields" in the Army List) was bright. A "grand ball" under its auspices was advertised for 6th May 1861 - to be held in the fashionable Willis's Rooms, King's Street, St James's - under the patronage of five Lieutenant-Colonels, two Majors and three Captains of various units.^[20] Moreover, on 6th June it provided a guard of honour at the foundation-stone-laying ceremony at Norwood of the new building of the Jews' Hospital (soon to be amalgamated with the Jews' Orphan Asylum).^[21] Yet a meeting at Zetland Hall just before the end of April was a dismal affair. Admittedly, said Capt Lazarus in the chair, in the three months since it started 180 had been recruited but they had been able to raise only £8 from the Jewish community and few of the upper classes had joined. (At first the government did not provide any funds for the Volunteers.)^[22]

More important was talk of lax discipline. This was in fact a common complaint about the Volunteers. In this case, it was said, "Some dissatisfaction had lately arisen among officers and men." Two officers had resigned and had tried to take their men to other units. However, the Lt-Col of the 6th Tower Hamlets would not accept them without production of their discharge. The meeting nevertheless decided to amalgamate with the 6th Tower Hamlets for a "more healthy state of affairs."^[23]

The Army List shows that by June 1861 the junior officers had gone, a new Captain was George A. Moss, possibly a non-Jew, and another - Butler A. Sickelmore- became an Ensign in the autumn, in the same month that the 11th Tower Hamlets were attached to the 6th for drill and administrative purposes - a not uncommon structure within the Volunteers. One further change was the creation by June 1861 of 1st Tower Hamlets as an administrative battalion, comprising, 3rd, 7th and 10th. Two months later the 11th joined them although, like the other corps, it retained its separate identity. Barnett Lazarus left by November 1861 and only Barnett Rubinstein of the originals remained.

In the summer of 1864 the 11th Tower Hamlets vanished from the pages of the Army List; in the previous three years very little was published about it. Yet talk of a separate Jewish unit, for and against, surfaced from time to time. In 1872 the question of breaking the Sabbath was again raised; a correspondent wondered what happened to the "Jewish Volunteer Corps" and argued that if started now it would attract many recruits.^[24] But in 1898, in the course of encouraging Volunteer recruitment, the Jewish Chronicle went on to oppose any idea of a "distinctively Jewish corps", recalling the Tower Hamlets unit. "Separation of this kind can only retard the work of assimilation so much desired, and which we have always advocated."^[25]

Then, at the start of the Great War, in a great flurry of patriotism, there was once again talk in Britain of forming a Jewish army. A letter in the Jewish Chronicle opposing the idea came from "An Old Volunteer Officer", who had been an officer of the 11th Tower Hamlets.^[26] He wrote of the 11th Tower Hamlets that 60 had joined (different reports gave various figures from as low as that to 200); for a few months all had gone well but "Soon the men began to disobey lawful commands, and in the end the regiment had to be disbanded, and the rest merged into the 6th Tower Hamlets Rifle Corps. Only ten men transferred, and as the others had been always quarrelling for commissions, we could not manage them at all." The unit did not disappear immediately after the April 1861 meeting, for it took part in the stone-laying ceremony at Norwood in June (the band expenses being financed by £10 from Messrs Rothschild). And another event attended by some 30-40 members of the unit, even though it was a Saturday, the Sabbath day, was the funeral of Mr Broadwood, Chief of the Fire Brigade, who had lost his life in a major fire.^[27]

Later in the century one finds references to Jews serving in other East End Volunteer units - in the Tower Hamlets Engineers and in the 2nd Tower Hamlets Rifles.^[28] The appropriate East End Territorial units, after 1908, were part of the London Regiment: the 17th (County of London) Battalion (Poplar & Stepney Rifles) and the 4th (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers).^[29] As a Territorial unit the 4th Battalion was sent out at the start of the Great War to Malta to enable regular Army troops to be returned to France. The JC, reporting this^[30], noted that there were 32 Jews in the unit. Later it served in France.^[31] The first reported death was that of Pte William Alfred Andrade on 15th March 1915. [ibid., Vol 48. No. 192, May 1998, p.169, footnote.] The 17th Battalion was also in action. In October 1915 the Jewish Chronicle, reporting that five Jews had been killed so far in that Battalion, noted that it was from East London and included "a large body of Jewish soldiers."^[32] The Nominal Roll of the London Regiment in the British Jewry Book of Honour lists the names of about 200 Jews who served in the 17th Bn and 180 in the 4th Bn in the course of the war.^[33]

During 1915 there was in fact a Jewish unit of the British Army, the Zion Mule Corps, composed of Palestinian Jews ejected by the Turks from Palestine. It was serving in Gallipoli.^[34] Two years later the Judeans were formed, the 38th-40th battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, with a Jewish rank and file but with some non-Jewish officers and at first some non-Jewish NCOs.^[35]

The idea of a separate Jewish unit returned in World War II and after much pressure the Jewish Brigade was formed in 1944, mainly of Palestinian Jews, and fought in Italy.^[36] A minor curiosity is that in 1939 David Shane of South Wales "attempted [unsuccessfully] to form a Jewish Territorial Army Unit in Cardiff."^[37]