MY GRANDFATHER WOOLF EPHRAIM LEVY 1894 TO 1968

My grandfather Woolf Ephraim Levy (WEL) was born in London on 27 February 1894, 21st Adar I 5654 (according to his birth certificate), and was brought up by his father and his stepmother, his mother having died in childbirth. I don't know anything about his childhood but there is a picture of him and his brother Louis taken when he was probably about seven or eight. He grew up in the East End of London and would have had a very good Jewish education because he was quite a learned man. He did seem on occasion to be a little gruff but I got on very well with him. He had a lovely smile.

His Barmitzvah would have taken place on 9th March 1907. The Sedrot were Vayakhel-Pekudei, and it was Parshat Parah. My Hebrew birthday is 22nd Adar and I was also Barmitzvah on the Sedrot Vayakhel-Pekudei, although it was Parshat Hachodesh.

There is a slight mystery about my grandfather’s names. His Hebrew name was always Ephraim Ze’ev, and his English names were always Woolf Ephraim. In his father's naturalisation papers of 1912 he was described as Ephraim Woolf Levy, but as I have said above I think this was a mistake. I don’t know why his father Moshe Aaron Levy (MAL) reversed the two English names of his son, and none of us ever thought to ask WEL. It was only after he had died that it occurred to my Uncle Abs and myself that there was this strange inconsistency. It is I suppose possible that MAL got it wrong in the 1912 declaration because his son was in Kentucky at the time and he didn’t pay attention.

My grandfather had an uncle in Louisville Kentucky who I have always assumed was MAL's brother. In about 1910 my grandfather went there but things didn't work out and after eighteen months he came back to England in 1912. The ship that he travelled on to go outn was the Lusitania, which was ultimately sunk in 1915 by a German submarine. I can remember when I was young if he was in company he would sometimes let drop casually that he had travelled on the Lusitania, and people would look at him with enormous awe and respect! I think he rather enjoyed that!

At some stage, either before or after he went to America, he trained as a tailor.
On Sunday, 25 July 1915 (14th Av 5675) he married Sarah (Saidke) Fisher (Noserovitch) in the Great Garden Street Synagogue in the East End. Soon after they were married she became pregnant with their oldest son, my father Raphael Henry who was born in London on 30 August 1916 which was Rosh Chodesh Ellul.
In 1916 because of the need for manpower in the army and the great losses they had suffered, the British government brought in conscription for all those born in England. Since my grandfather had been born in London and was a British subject he was conscripted and one of the earliest pictures of my father with his parents shows my grandfather in uniform. I have seen his military records which are online and need to peruse them again.
Jane Levy’s father Yosef Wolfson was still alive in 1916 because my grandfather W E Levy told me that his grandfather had taken him to see the famous Rav Kook (who was the Rav of Machzike Hadath Shul – The Spitalfields Great Synagogue in Brick Lane) for a Berachah. Rav Kook became the Rav in 1916 which was when WEL was conscripted into the British Army and went to France on active service. The Berachah was presumably for his safe return, and it worked!
One of the stories that I remember being told was that soon after he was inducted into the army he was standing somewhere and an officer or a sergeant told him to go over and hold some horses. My grandfather had never been that close to a horse and certainly had no idea what to do if the horse didn't like being held by him! Happily he and the horse ignored each other and all was well.
After training and a spell in the Devon Cycling Corps Private W E Levy number 150557 was attached to 772 Divisional Employment Company (formed 16 September 1917) which was attached to the Divisional HQ of the Second Cavalry Division.
This was part of the British Fifth Army commanded by -General Sir Hubert Gough, and I think my grandfather was attached to a rather posh cavalry Regiment in order to look after the uniforms of the officers!
In the spring of 1918 the Germans, having made peace with the Russians, moved half a million experienced troops from the Russian front to the Western front and on 21 March 1918 attacked in what was called Operation Michael, but is also known as the Kaiserschlacht.
My grandfather told me that on 20 March he had gone to Albert, the town behind the lines, because he needed some needles and thread et cetera. It had been agreed that he would stay in Albert overnight.
When he started to go back to his base the next morning he met thousands of British troops streaming towards him. When he told them where he was going they replied "don't bother, it's already been overrun". His evening therefore in Albert probably stopped him from being taken prisoner or even being killed.
He also told me that at one stage he contracted pneumonia and was hospitalised in Plymouth.
I don't know whether it was something that he picked up in the army, but I do remember that my grandfather never wore shoes but always wore boots.
After the First World War the usual lies about the Jews not joining up to fight started to be spoken again, so the community produced a large volume called "The British Jewry Book of Honour" of which my grandfather had a copy, and I now have a copy although not his. It is also available online. The book is very substantial with some very interesting essays at the front and then hundreds of pages listing Jews who served. My grandfather appears on page 441, in the list of those who served in the Labour Corps. At the back there are 364 pages of photographs. On page 283 there is a group of four soldiers of the Labour Companies in France and one of them is a Private Levy. I have always thought this was my grandfather although Abs was not sure.