In order to weed out the weaker teams so that only the very best should appear at the finals in Cairo, the contest was subdivided into four great tournaments: one for all the troops in Egypt, another for all the troops in Palestine, the third for all the troops in Syria, and the fourth for the best team among the Australians and New Zealanders. At my inspection of the 38th team, just before the tournament, I was much impressed with our prospects of success, for the men boxed wonderfully well.
We were all agog with excitement, and I may say with hope, when the great day for the Palestine Championship arrived and our men stepped inside the ropes at Kantara, surrounded by thousands of onlookers.
There was some splendid fighting, but I cannot go into the details of it here. It is sufficient to say that we defeated all comers, won five gold medals, and emerged as the Champions of Palestine, with the right, therefore, of representing it in the great Cairo tournament for the Championship of the E.E.F. Could anything be more fitting? Jewish soldiers as champions of Palestine.
It can be imagined what jubilation there was in camp when our team returned to Rafa, and the ringing cheers which roared out when, at one of our concerts, I presented the gold medals to the victors, whose names are as follows:—
| Heavy-weight | Private Burack. |
| Welter-weight | Private Tankinoff. |
| Light-weight | Private Cohen. |
| Feather-weight | Private Franks. |
| Bantam-weight | Private Goldfarb. |
The first round of this essentially British form of sport had been fought and won by the despised Jewish Battalion!
There yet remained the great contest at Cairo, where we would have to meet the champions of Egypt, and of the Australian forces, and of Syria.
Real hard training was once more the order of the day at El Arish, and I can guarantee that no fitter men than ours stepped into the ring at Cairo on that glorious night of the 13th March, when the first rounds of the championship were fought in the presence of thousands of spectators from all parts.
Again the Jewish Battalion won practically every contest, defeating all its opponents among the British Regiments. Eventually, it was left in to fight out the final round of the Championship for the whole of the E.E.F. with the Australians, who on their side had defeated their opponents.
It was a memorable night (the Ides of March) when this final contest took place. Excitement and feeling ran very high round the ring, and there was some magnificent fighting on both sides. In the end it was found that the Jewish Battalion had tied for victory with the Australians.