Large Collection of Photographs – The Jewish Legion – 1917-1920 – Photographs by Avraham Soskin, Zadok Bassan ...

Large Collection of Photographs – The Jewish Legion – 1917-1920 – Photographs by Avraham Soskin, Zadok Bassan, Khalil Raad and others
About 70 photographs of Jewish Legion soldiers. Jerusalem, Jaffa, Ramla, Sarafand, Rafiah, Giza, Winchester, and other places, ca. 1917-1920.
The collection contains, among other things: photograph of Ze'ev Jabotinsky with officers of the 38th (Judeans) Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers in Plymouth (England). In the foreground – a flag with two Stars of David and the Union Jack; portrait photograph of Eliezer Margolin, commander of the 39th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers Regiment (American Regiment), in the battalion uniform; Two of the legion's soldiers standing in front of the Sphinx and the Pyramid in Giza; A prayer formation in the legion's camp in Rafiah (ca. 1919); portrait photograph of a female soldier in the legion's uniform (only a few women were enlisted to the Jewish Legion, and photographs of them are rare); photographs of the legion's football team, the orchestra, soldiers cleaning their weapons, many portrait photographs, and more.
On the back of many of the photographs are notes, dates and dedications handwritten by the photographed (in Hebrew, Yiddish and English), and some are divided on the back to be used as a postcard. On some of the photographs appear ink-stamps of well-known photographers in Palestine in those days: "Photographer Avraham Soskin, Tel-Aviv, Jaffa"; "Photographer H. Aroshkes, Tel-Aviv Palestine"; "Zadok Bassan Photograph Jerusalem"; "C. Raad" [Khalil Raad]; " Photo G. Krikorian" [Garabed Krikorian]; and other stamps.
Enclosed: Two postcards sent by soldiers of the Jewish Legion in 1919.
Size and condition vary. Average size: approx. 13.5X9 cm. Good-fair overall condition. Postage stamps and ink stamps appear on the backs of some of the photographs.
Provenance: Rimon Family Collection.