Brigadier Ernest Frank Benjamin (, ''Levi Binyamin'') (5 February 1900 – 14 March 1969) was a Canadian-born British Jewish officer who commanded the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Benjamin was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada, the son of Frank David Benjamin. In 1908 the family moved to England. Benjamin was a cadet at the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

on 17 July 1919. He was promoted to lieutenant on 17 July 1921, and served as an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

from 3 October 1922 until 23 September 1923. On 24 May 1927 he was appointed adjutant to the Divisional Engineers of the 49th (West Riding) Division, Territorial Army, with the temporary rank of captain (with pay and allowances of a lieutenant). He was promoted to captain on 17 July 1930, and left 49th Division on 23 November 1931. On 10 January 1936 Benjamin was appointed a General staff Officer, 3rd Grade in Malaya serving until 11 January 1939, by which time he has been promoted to major. On 8 July 1943 he received a

mention in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in recognition of his "gallant and distinguished services" in the Madagascar campaign of 1942. By then he was serving on the staff at

Middle East Command Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

, first as Assistant Quartermaster-General, then as Deputy Director of Military Training. In September 1944 Benjamin was appointed

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the

, a 5,000-man volunteer brigade group, overseeing its training in Egypt, and eventual deployment to the Eighth Army in Italy, seeing action in the crossing of the Senio river in north-east Italy in March and April 1945. Following

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

, 8 May 1945, the Jewish Brigade was sent to Tarvisio on the Italian-Austrian-Yugoslav border, where Benjamin was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 June 1945, backdated to 13 May. In July 1945 the brigade was sent to the Netherlands, and then to Belgium, as part of VIII Corps. On 13 December 1945 Benjamin was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. The Jewish Brigade was eventually disbanded in June 1946. On 13 May 1948, he completed his tenure as a regimental lieutenant colonel, but remained on full pay as a supernumery officer. He retired from the Army on 4 September 1950, having exceeded the age limit, and was granted the honorary 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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

References

External links

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Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Ernest 1900 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Toronto Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers Canadian Jews Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Jewish Brigade personnel British Army brigadiers of World War II