Frederick Hermann Kisch

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, CB, DSO (23 August 1888 – 7 April 1943) was a decorated British Army officer and Zionist leader. A Brigadier, he was the highest ranking Jew to serve in the British Army.Five new MKs must give up foreign citizenship
Haaretz, 26 March 2015

Early military service

Frederick Kisch was born to a British-Jewish family in the town of

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

British Empire in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, on 23 August 1888, where his father Michael was head of the

Indian Postal Service India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ...

. After some time, Kisch family moved back to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where Frederick attended

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

and subsequently the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He joined the Royal Engineers in 1909 and served with them in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in France and the Middle East theatres. During his war service, he was wounded three times, and decorated with

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

for gallantry in action. He was also decorated by the government of France with the Croix de guerre with Palm. Due to his wounds, he was declared temporarily unfit for frontline service and was subsequently transferred to the Military Intelligence Corps, where he served for the rest of the war. He also served as general staff officer to General Sir

George Macdonogh Lieutenant-General Sir George Mark Watson Macdonogh (4 March 1865 – 10 July 1942) was a British Army general officer. After early service in the Royal Engineers he became a staff officer prior to the outbreak of the First World War. His main r ...

. During the war, he reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was appointed a member of the British delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.

Interwar period

He joined the Zionist Organization in 1922, where he headed the political department until being succeeded by Chaim Arlosoroff. He also served as

Zionist Commission Zionist Commission for Palestine was a commission chaired by Chaim Weizmann, president of the British Zionist Federation following British promulgation of the pro-Zionist, Balfour Declaration. The Commission was formed in March 1918 and went to ...

head for the

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

region between 1923 and 1931. His British military background allowed him to cultivate excellent relations with the British administration of

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

as well as Arab leaders including Sharif Hussein of Mecca and his son King

Abdullah I of Jordan AbdullahI bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين, translit=Abd Allāh al-Awwal bin al-Husayn, 2 February 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the ruler of Jordan from 11 April 1921 until his assassination in 1951. He was the Emi ...

. Kisch was awarded the

Order of Wen-Hu The Order of Wen-Hu (English – The Order of the Striped Tiger) was an award for military or naval service awarded by the Republic of China. It was issued in five classes. The badge showed a striped tiger in natural colours on a central meda ...

(4th Class) by the Republic of China in 1921.

Second World War

Kisch was recalled to active service in 1939 at the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He was promoted to the rank of

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

and assigned to the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces ...

, where he became commanding officer of the Royal Engineers in the North African Campaign. Kisch was killed in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 7 April 1943 when he stepped on a landmine during the Battle of Wadi Akarit. He had been organising reconstruction of bridge, essential to the Allied advance. He is buried at in Tunisia.

Legacy

Ya’ar Kisch/Kisch Memorial Forest, moshav Kfar Kisch and various streets, including Sderot Kisch on the Carmel in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, are among places named after him. In 2015, his grandson Yoav was elected to the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

References

External links

British Army Officers 1939−1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kisch, Fred 1888 births 1943 deaths Jews in Mandatory Palestine People from Darjeeling Zionists British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Royal Engineers officers British Army brigadiers of World War II British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel killed in World War II British Jews Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Heads of the Jewish Agency for Israel Jewish Agency for Israel Landmine victims Military personnel of British India Intelligence Corps officers People educated at Clifton College