Danes in the ranks of the British Army in the Palestine Mandate 1946–1948

Abstract

At the end of the WW2 the Danish Government offered UK volunteer soldiers to relieve the units who had been fighting for years and wanted to return home. About 25,000 Danish volunteered, of which 3,000 were recruited, signing on for 3 years. It was the first time a Danish Government had permitted its citizens to serve a foreign government and tends to be forgotten now in Denmark. They went first to Canterbury for six weeks basic training and were then sent to their units all over the Empire and about 30 went to Man-date Palestine with the East Surreys. As the violence escalated, 6th Airborne Division, under the command of Major General Eric Bols, arrived to assist the 1st Infantry Division troops already there. In late 1946 in response to full-scale riots in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and bomb attacks on the railway system, British troops from the 1st Infantry and 6th Airborne Divisions (with Danish volunteers) had to be deployed in support of the civil police. A large number of Jews suspected of terrorism were arrested. Anti-terrorist operations were primarily the responsibility of the Palestine Police. The army's job was to support them, cordoning off villages or sectors of towns and helping the police search them.