20-b.Nuqeib - Part 2

NUQEIB (continued)

Some months later I was demobilized. I moved to London for postgraduate medical training. The specialty of rheumatology was not well developed in Israel at that time. Ten years later the Israel embassy unexpectedly phoned us one day. We were told that according to an Act passed in the Knesset in 1973, I was entitled to receive the Israel Medal of Courage. My wife Judith and I were invited to the embassy. An official made a speech, and handed me a certificate and the medal in its olive wood case - see photo.

This medal is awarded 'for an act of gallantry, at the risk of life, during fulfillment of combat duty'. So far, during the sixty years of Israel's existence, it has been received by only 220 soldiers. In my case, I had not experienced any fear during that night's shelling and I did not regard myself as being particularly brave. Had I taken part in this action as a combat officer, instead of as a doctor, my conduct might not have been regarded as all that outstanding. I have never worn the medal, nor have I told any of our friends about it.

To my knowledge, I only derived benefit from this honour on one occasion, when I applied for a medical post at Bethnal Green hospital. During the interview one of the consultants seemed particularly interested in my award. I was appointed to that post, and later I discovered that Dr Ian Gilliland was a staunch supporter of Israel. He had previously been a volunteer on Yigael Yadin's excavations at Masada.

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Post Script

Since the ceremonial award of the medal all these years ago, I have not been contacted again by the Israel Embassy. They were obviously aware of my whereabouts; but I was never invited to the Independence Day celebrations, or notified of any other events there. I suspect that in their chauvinistic arrogance they regarded me as a 'Yored', an emigrant from Israel and therefore a renegade - practically a traitor.

Recently, when I decided to write my memoir for the synagogue magazine, I could not remember the number of casualties that had passed through our tent. I thought that perhaps Dr Eliyahu Gillon, who had been at the time the Commander of the Army Medical Corps and my professional superior, might be able to obtain access to the relevant archive. I managed to ascertain his address from a mutual acquaintance: he was retired but still doing research at Tel Hashomer hospital. I wrote him a friendly letter asking for his help. I never received a reply. Many Israelis are well known for their reluctance to write letters.

So I was prepared to skip the casualty figure, but I contacted the Public Relations Section of the Israel Embassy in London. I wished to ensure that my description was no longer classified; and incidentally, could they possibly obtain the casualty data that I was seeking. They replied promptly and assured me, that they did not 'censor' such texts as my memoir. As to the number of casualties - that would be very difficult or impossible to ascertain at this time.

Like Baldrick (of television notoriety), this gave me the idea for a cunning plan:
One of my relatives in Ein Gev is a qualified midwife, who had worked for many years at Poriya Hospital. Perhaps she would be able to obtain the information from the records of her hospital's casualty department? I knew that all the injured had been evacuated to Poriya during that one night, of 16 - 17 March 1962. Within a fortnight she e-mailed me the answer that she had received from the archive: there had been thirty casualties, including two shell-shocked. So now I could write my paper. And Frank Godson, the editor of the synagogue magazine, agreed to publish it.