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How Wikipedia rewrote the Jewish Legion article

Q: How has Wikipedia's Jewish Legion article changed?

Wikipedia's first sentence called it "established for the british army". Today it says "series of battalions of jewish soldiers who served in the british army during the first world war". We saved the article's opening at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and every claim links the exact revision.

The opening as it read in 2005

When Britain waged war against the Ottoman Turks , during World War I , Zionists around the world saw it as an opportunity to promote the idea of a Jewish National Homeland .¹ Before the war ended, five battalions of Jewish volunteers were established for the British Army , the 38th through 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers . Together they were known as the Jewish Legion . The British opposed the participation of Jewish volunteers on the Palestinian front and they were put to serve as a detachment for mule transport on another sector of the Turkish front. Trumpeldor formed the 650-strong Zion Mule Corps , of whom 562 were sent to the Gallipoli front where Trumpeldor led his troops with great distinction. Jabotinsky served as an officer, and advocated the idea of a Jewish Legion for the Palestinian front.² Finally, in August 1917 , the formation of a Jewish regiment was officially announced.³ The unit was designated as the 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and included British volunteers, as well as members of the former Zion Mule Corps and a large number of Russian Jews. On April 1918 , it was joined by the 39th Battalion, made up almost entirely of Jews who were resident in the United States and Canada . In June 1918 , the volunteers of the 38th Battalion fought for the liberation of Eretz Israel (Palestine) from Turkish rule some 20 miles north of Jerusalem. 1917. Jewish Legion soldiers at the Western Wall after taking part in British conquest of Jerusalem In the fighting in the Jordan Valley , more than 20 Legionnaires were killed, wounded, or captured, the rest came down with malaria, and 30 of this group later died. The Legion then came under the command of Major General E.W.C. Private David Ben-Gurion , a volunteer in the Jewish Legion . The Legion's mission was to cross the Jordan River . Jabotinsky led the effort. Later, he was decorated and General Chaytor told the Jewish troops: "By forcing the Jordan fords, you helped in no small measure to win the great victory gained at Damascus." The First Judeans commemorative medal, the cap badge is inscribed in the middle Thousands of Palestinian Jews applied to join the Legion and in 1918, more than 1,000 were enlisted. 92 Turkish Jews who had been captured in the fighting earlier were also permitted to enlist. This group was organized as the 40th Battalion. Almost all the members of the Jewish regiments were discharged immediately after the end of World War I in November 1918. Some of them returned to their respective countries, others settled in Palestine to realize their Zionist aspirations. In late 1919 , the Jewish Legion was reduced to one battalion titled First Judeans , and awarded a distinctive cap badge, a menorah with the Hebrew word Kadima ("forward").⁴

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16364661.

The opening as it stood in 2010 17 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Jewish Legion was the name for five battalions of Jewish volunteers established as the British Army 's 38th through 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers . The initial unit, known as the Zion Mule Corps , was formed in 1914-1915 during World War I , when Britain was at war against the Ottoman Turks , as Zionists around the world saw an opportunity to promote the idea of a Jewish National Homeland . In December 1914, Zeev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor raised the idea of the formation of a Jewish unit that would participate in the British military effort to conquer Palestine from the Ottoman Empire , and by the end of March 1915, 500 Jewish volunteers from the Jews in Egypt who had been deported there by the Turks had started training. The Zion Mule Corps served on the Gallipoli front, as for political reasons the British opposed the participation of Jewish volunteers on the Palestinian front, but ultimately, in August 1917, the formation of a Jewish regiment was officially announced. The soldiers of the 38th and 39th Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, made up almost entirely of Jews from Britain, Russia , the United States and Canada and later, the 40th Battalion, composed of Jews from the Ottoman provinces of Palestine and other areas, served in the Jordan Valley and fought the Turks some 20 miles north of Jerusalem .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371134525.

The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The cap badge of the First Judaeans 1919-1921: menorah and word קדימה Kadima The Jewish Legion Veteran ribbon. The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers , the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers , raised in the British Army to fight against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 661267101.

The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Jewish volunteer force in World War I For other uses, see Jewish Legion (disambiguation) . The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers , the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers , raised in the British Army to fight against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 954772700.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Jewish volunteer force in World War I For other uses, see Jewish Legion (disambiguation) . Military unit The Jewish Legion was an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of the British Army 's Royal Fusiliers regiment, which consisted of Jewish volunteers recruited during World War I . In 1915, the British Army raised the Zion Mule Corps, a transportation unit of Jewish volunteers, for service in the Gallipoli campaign . Two years later in August 1917, the decision was made to raise an infantry battalion of Jewish soldiers which would be integrated into an existing British Army regiment. Eventually, due to large recruitment numbers, including Jews from Russia and the United States , five battalions were raised and integrated into the Royal Fusiliers; collectively, they were referred to as the "Jewish Legion". The new units raised were designated as the 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st and 42nd battalions of the regiment. The Jewish Legion saw action during the Sinai and Palestine campaign , where they fought at the Battle of Megiddo before being reduced to one battalion, nicknamed the "First Judaeans".

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The opening as it stood in 2025 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Jewish volunteer force during the First World War For other uses, see Jewish Legion (disambiguation) . Military unit The Jewish Legion was a series of battalions of Jewish soldiers who served in the British Army during the First World War . Some participated in the British conquest of Palestine from the Ottomans . The formation of the battalions had several motives: the expulsion of the Ottomans, the gaining of military experience, and the hope that their contribution would favorably influence the support for a Jewish national home in the land when a new world order was established after the war. The idea for the battalions was proposed by Pinhas Rutenberg , Dov Ber Borochov and Ze'ev Jabotinsky and carried out by Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor , who aspired for the battalions to become the independent military force of the Yishuv in Palestine. Their vision did not fully materialize, as the battalions were disbanded shortly after the war. However, their activities significantly contributed to the establishment of paramilitaries such as the Haganah and the Irgun (which later became the foundation for the Israel Defense Forces ).

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