Patterson, J.H. With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign

Colonel John Henry Patterson (1867-1947), was an Anglo-Irish soldier, hunter, author and Zionist. Born in Forgney, Ireland, he joined the British Army at age seventeen, rose quickly through the ranks and attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Essex Yeomanry. In 1898, he was commissioned by the British East Africa Company to oversee the construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in present-day Kenya. He became an important figure in early Zionism as the commander in World War I of both the Zion Mule Corps and the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers (aka The Jewish Legion), which would serve as the foundation of the Israeli Defence Forces decades later. Following his military career, Patterson continued his support of Zionism as a strong advocate toward the establishment of an independent Jewish State in the Middle East. See P. Streeter, Mad for Zion: A Biography of Colonel J.H. Patterson (2004)