Over 80 joined to mark a number of significant anniversaries of Jewish service to the Crown, ahead of Armed Forces Day on Saturday.
National Armed Forces Week has been supported by AJEX over many years with an annual commemoration service at the NMA in Staffordshire. For the first time in two years, this was held in person to enable people to come back and remember together, to celebrate the significant contribution to HM Armed Forces.
AJEX Standards were stood by the AJEX memorial in the beautiful sunshine of the Memorial Garden in a ceremony led by its National Chairman, S/Sgt Dan Fox and Rabbi Major Reuben Livingstone.
The event remembered all Jews who served and still continue to serve – in particular in the Falklands War. 40 years ago, men and women of the British armed forces, set out on a journey of some 8,000 miles to challenge a military dictatorship's violent takeover of the Falklands and South Georgia, and to restore sovereignty to those islands' citizens. The ceremony highlighted the courage of a young Jewish paratrooper, Pte Jason Burt who was killed, shot by an Argentine sniper, just short of his 18th birthday during the Battle of Mount Longdon - only two days before the end of the conflict on 12 June 1982.
AJEX Chairman S/Sgt Dan Fox said: “Pte Jason Burt showed great courage earlier in the battle by attending to an injured comrade hit by a landmine. Jason, at 17 years old, was Britain's second youngest fatality of the conflict. It was a great honour to be able to remember Jason, and the other 254 British personnel who did not come home from the South Atlantic, and whose commitment to our nation's security and freedom will never be forgotten”.
In addition, AJEX marked the 125th anniversary of the first officially sanctioned religious service for Jewish members of the armed forces. By 1892, the numbers of Jews serving in the British Army and Royal Navy had grown to the point where a Jewish military chaplaincy was needed. In 1897, Rev. Cohen obtained the sanction of the British Admiralty and the War Office for a special annual service for Jewish men in the Forces.
Wreaths were laid by National Chairman, S/Sgt Dan Fox, Major Danny Yank, Head of diversity and inclusion for the British Army, Brig. Christopher Coles CBE and Students of the JFS Combined Cadet Force laid a posey. Fox added: “By coming together as generations and having the cadets remembering with us, highlights the ongoing importance of ensuring the AJEX legacy continues and passing on the baton of Remembrance”.
After the ceremony took place, attendees joined in a l’chaim and to raise a glass for HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
