Reuben Israel was born in East Melbourne in 1894 to Rachel (née Marks) and Abraham (Alfred) Israel, the youngest son of seven children. The family moved between Melbourne and Sydney, where Rachel died in 1899. Reuben attended Burwood Public school and then worked as an insurance clerk.

Apparently in 1913 aged 19, Reuben went to South Africa and enlisted in the SA Union Defence Forces, fighting the Germans in South-West Africa after war was declared in August 1914. A year later, he re-enlisted in the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the South African Expeditionary Force as No. 4999 Lance-Corporal Gerald Raymond Israel. As part of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade, in March 1916 they were sent to Egypt where they engaged the Senussi Arabs, who were supported by the Ottoman Turks. The next month the brigade arrived at Marseilles, France (see picture), to fight on the Western Front, just a few miles south-east of Pozières and the Australians.

After a week's bombardment, the Battle of the Somme began on 1 July. By 4 July, the brigade was embroiled in a relief operation at Glatz Redoubt as part of the 9th (Scottish) Division, supporting the British attacks on Trône Wood. That first week cost the brigade 537 casualties. Between 15 and 20 July, having entered Delville Wood - a tactically important salient protruding into the German second line - the brigade was subjected to an onslaught of such unrelenting and unmitigated violence that the wood itself disappeared, shattered and sundered by the ferocity and intensity of the artillery bombardments of friend and foe alike. With all their ammunition expended, the men fought hand to hand. When the brigade was relieved on 20 July, a mere 142 souls emerged from the shambles. Of the 121 officers and 3,032 other ranks, eventually 29 officers and 751 other ranks assembled: a total of 763 had been killed and 1709 wounded.

The casualties included every officer of the 2nd and 3rd Regiments - and Reuben Israel, who was mortally wounded on 16 July 1916, aged 22. Two years later the Australasian Jewish Herald reported: “Although a careful search has been made for his grave by the Jewish chaplain, up to the present no record of it or his burial has been established. Lance-Corporal Israel was a crack shot and was the winner of several medals for shooting.”

In fact, he was buried somewhere in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, France. He has – as do several other men – a special headstone inscribed:

KNOWN TO BE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY
LANCE CPL G. R. ISRAEL
THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT

In 1926, Delville Wood became the site of the South African National Memorial, dedicated to all of their fallen of the Great War.

Reuben Israel was born in East Melbourne in 1894, the youngest son of seven children to Rachel (née Marks) and Abraham (Alfred) Israel. The family moved between Melbourne and Sydney, where Rachel died in 1899 and Reuben attended Burwood Public school then worked as an Insurance Clerk. Two of his brothers, ‘Bert’ and Samuel, worked in the Fijian businesses of their uncles’, Major (later Sir) Henry Marks and Gabriel Marks, who was the first Mayor of Suva.

Apparently, in 1913 and aged 19, Reuben went to Johannesburg and then enlisted in the South African Union Defence Forces, fighting the Germans in South-West Africa after war was declared in August 1914. By August 1915, he had re-enlisted in Durban in the 3rd South African Infantry Regiment of the South African Expeditionary Force as No. 4999 Lance-Corporal Gerald Raymond Israel. Part of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade, they trained for service on the Western Front, but in March 1916 were sent per HMT Transylvania to Egypt where, together with other Imperial forces, they engaged the Senussi Arabs, who were supported by the Ottoman Turks. The campaign was successfully concluded and the next month the brigade arrived at Marseilles, France (picture attached) to enter the European theatre of the war – just a few miles south-east of Pozieres, where the Australian 1st Division was also preparing with other British troops.

After a week's bombardment, the Battle of the Somme was launched on 1 July (not ending until November). By 4 July the brigade was embroiled in a relief operation at Glatz Redoubt, near Montauban-en-Picardie, as part of the 9th (Scottish) Division and supported the British attacks on Trône Wood. That first week cost the brigade 537 casualties.

Between 15 and 20 July, (as described in the SAI Brigade website) “having entered Delville Wood - a tactically important salient protruding into the German second line - the brigade was subjected to an onslaught of such unrelenting and unmitigated violence that the wood itself disappeared, shattered and sundered by the ferocity and intensity of the artillery bombardments of friend and foe alike. With all their ammunition expended, the men resorted to hand to hand combat. When the brigade was relieved on 20 July, a mere 142 souls emerged from the shambles. Of the 121 officers and 3,032 other ranks, eventually 29 and 751 assembled: a total of 763 had been killed and 1709 wounded, (457 killed in action, 120 died of wounds and 186 missing in action, their deaths assumed).”

The casualties included every officer of the 2nd and 3rd Regiments - and Reuben Israel, who was mortally wounded on 16 July 1916, age 22.

The Australasian Jewish Herald of 12 July 1918 reported: “Although a careful search has been made for his grave by the Jewish chaplain, up to the present no record of it or his burial has been established. Lance-Corporal Israel was a crack shot and was the winner of several medals for shooting.”

In fact, he was buried somewhere in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France, and – like many other men - has a special memorial headstone that includes the inscription:

KNOWN TO BE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY
LANCE CPL G. R. ISRAEL
THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT

On 16 July 1919, the following notice appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, likely inserted by his sister, Mrs Mirie Schlam of Bondi:

In loving memory of our beloved son and brother,
Cpl. Reuben Israel, killed in action in France, July 16, 1916.
Our glorious dead have paid the price
Our freedom to retain:
God grant their noble Sacrifice
Will not have been in vain.
Inserted by his loving father, brothers, and sisters.

In 1926 Delville Wood became the site of the South African National Memorial, dedicated to all those who fell during the Great War.