Ernest Benjamin

Who is Ernest Benjamin?

Brigadier Ernest Frank Benjamin was a British officer from Canada of Jewish birth who commanded the Jewish Infantry Brigade during the Second World War.

Benjamin was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and served with that service during 1941-42 before being transferred as a General Staff Officer 1 to the Middle East Command in 1943. He served as Assistant Quartermaster-General there until 1944 when he was appointed Deputy Director of Military Training Middle East Command and in the autumn of the same year as the Commanding Officer, Jewish Brigade Group. After commanding the Group in North Africa during its completion of formation and training, he served with the British Eighth Army in the Faenza Area, Italy from 7 March until the end of the war. His last post with the Brigade group was in north-west Europe as part of the VIII Corps of the British Army of the Rhine.