UK Amb. honors British officer who saved 100 Jews 100 years ago in Jaffa
Major Lionel Mansell Jeune saved the lives of at least a hundred Jews and an unknown number of Arabs during the 1921 riots in Jaffa, as commander of the port.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUK Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan on Sunday evening posthumously honoured a British officer at the Jaffa port where he saved many Jewish lives during the May 1st riots 100 years ago.(photo credit: NOA GUTMAN)
UK Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan honored posthumously on Sunday evening a British officer who saved many Jewish lives during the May 1 riots 100 years ago at Jaffa port. A plaque was unveiled to honor his heroic actions on the occasion.
Major Lionel Mansell Jeune, whose heroic actions have largely remained unknown until now, saved the lives of at least one hundred Jews and an unknown number of Arabs during the riots in Jaffa in 1921, as commander of the port.
Israeli historian Samuel Giler, who researched his life and work as a British soldier, has recently drawn attention to Jeune's story.
Ambassador Wigan and Defense Attaché Colonel Jim Priest participated in a ceremony organized by the Tel Aviv municipality. They were joined by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog and former commander of the Israeli Air Force Dan Tolkowsky, who as a child knew Jeune.Historian Shmuel Giler, former IAF Commander Dan Tolkowsky, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, UK Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog and UK Defence Attaché Colonel Jim Priest stand by the plaque honouring Major Lionel Mansell Jeune. (Credit: Noa Guttmann)
"Today we're meeting on Israel's national day of mourning just after the terrible tragedy at Har Meron," Wigan told an audience that included families of both victims and survivors of the riots, as well as survivors themselves."And so I thought it's appropriate that today we are meeting 100 years after the tragedy of the riots in Jaffa," he said. "But we're meeting not just to remember the tragedy but also to remember something good that happened on that day, something that saved many lives, and how the actions of one man in the middle of a catastrophe, in the middle of a tragedy, can save the lives of many."And that's a happy message to have on a very sad day, which I know this is for all the people of Israel," the ambassador said.
Wigan, who lived in Jaffa for three years, was familiar with the story of the Jaffa riots but had never heard about the actions of Major Jeune.
The ambassador said he was delighted to have now found "that piece of positivity... that on that day, one British officer behaved with so much honor; with so much credit to his uniform."
