It's only a court martial....not man-eating lions.

"This Englishman, Patterson, is most brave, 

and is indeed the very essence of valor;

Lions do not fear lions, yet one glance from

 Patterosn Sahib cowed the bravest of them" 

~Roshan mistari, son of Kadur mistari Bakhsh, native of the village of Chanjalat *

  I have been watching The Story of the Jews with Simon Schama, a five part documentary series on the history of, well, Jews, from creation to the modern day. I am enjoying it immensely. If you have not seen this series, find a way to do so. Simon Schama is a wonderful historian, I have all three of his History of Britain books, (well thumbed) and have seen the television series based on those books about 10 times. The Story of the Jews equals if not surpasses the History of Britain.

  In the final episode, Schama is discussing Zionism and the founding of Israel as a state after the Second World War and the Holocaust.  That brought to my mind a man that I much admire who was a staunch Zionist even though he was not Jewish, he was Irish. He was Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, D.S.O.

   Patterson is probably best well known for his involvement with two man-eating lions in 1898 while trying to build a railroad bridge across the Tsavo river in what is now Kenya (back then it was the British East Africa Protectorate). Because the lions were eating the workforce, it was up to Col. Patterson to eliminate the problem.  After much travail and more success than failure, the lions were finally shot and made into rugs. Yes, Patterson actually made lion rugs out of them and used them as such before donating them to the Field Museum in Chicago.

   That is only part of this man's story, however. After the bridge was finished, Patterson got involved in the Boer War where he served with the 20th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. His Boer War service earned the Distinguished Service Order. In the First World War, Patterson was commander of the Zion Mule Corps and the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, also known as the Jewish Legion of the British Army. Though he was a Protestant, Patterson became heavily involved in Zionism at this time. He and his Jewish Legion served with distinction in the Gallipoli and Palestine campaigns.

He constantly dealt with antisemitism from his superiors and subordinates, and threatened several times to resign his commission to bring attention to the mistreatment of his men. One story in particular is of note. After a battle at Meggido (yes, that Meggido, better known as Armageddon) Patterson's brigade was being inspected by a brigadier who was famous for his hatred of Jews. Finally finding what he was looking for, a small infraction such as an unpolished button or an untied shoelace, the brigadier picked up the private by his lapels and screamed "You dirty little Jew!" in his face.   Patterson instantly gave the order to fix bayonets, and an about face. The offensive officer found himself in the midst of a hollow square formation, facing a wall of steel. Patterson then demanded an apology from the brigadier, who quickly apologized and then left.

   The man certainly had nerve. Patterson Sahib is most brave indeed.  Although somehow a court-martial doesn't seem that intimidating once you have faced man-eating lions. This story may be apocryphal, I have not been able to validate it yet. But I hope to find it in one of the two books Patterson wrote about these campaigns.  He retired from the army in 1920 after 35 years of service, still with the rank Lieutenant-Colonel. Certainly it is true that Patterson sacrificed any chances of promotion because of his insistence that his men be treated fairly.  

  After retirement, Patterson continued to support Zionism. He was a promoter of a Jewish army to fight the Nazis and stop the Holocaust as well as a member of The Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe. He was close friends with Benzion Netanyahu (father of the current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and godfather and namesake of Benzion's son Yonatan (i.e. "John") Netanyahu.

  John Henry Patterson went the way of all flesh on June 18, 1947, in Bel Air, California, less than a year before Israel became a state. It was his wish that he and his wife, who were cremated, be buried in Israel. As of this writing, this has not yet happened, but Patterson's grandson Alan Patterson, the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, and several other organizations are working to honor his request.

  Lt.Col. Patterson was certainly not one to let personal ambition get in the way of doing what was right. And we may liken him to Tennyson's Sir Galahad "My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure."


*This is part of a Hindustani poem, really more of a psalm that was written by Roshan, a railroad worker in East Africa praising Col. Patterson for killing the lions.