Photo of Claude Diamond

Claude Diamond was born in Dalston where his family [father a timber merchant] had moved from BethnalGreen in 1894-5.After deferment to take a London Univ. degree, in June 1918 he joined the 40th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers. [It became the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) in 1751 and in 1881 under the Cradwell Reforms when numbers were abolished it became The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), one of the three Jewish battalions known as The Judeans which had been formed from 1917; after training at Plymouth he sailed for Egypt (see p 33). He became a lance-corporal and machine gun instructor., seeing the sights of Cairo on leave, rejoicing at Armistice night in November, and eventually going by train to Palestine after the British conquest.