Harry Lewiston - World War I

World War I

After World War I broke out, Lewiston left the circus to enlist. After briefly being attached for training with the Canadian Army (serial number S-4147), he proceeded to the United Kingdom and was posted to the 40th Battalion of Britain's Royal Fusiliers in the Jewish Legion in 1918, serving as a camp cook (regimental number J5873). In his autobiography, he mentions serving with David Ben-Gurion, who was in the 38th; those units were stationed together in Palestine and other sites. Throughout the war, he was stationed in Taranto, Italy; Port Said, Egypt; Kantara, Egypt; Lod, Palestine; and Damascus, Syria. He noted that while in Damascus he was promoted to lance corporal; his actual service records show him being discharged at the rank of private. After the war ended, he traveled to South Africa to see relatives, as well as Rhodesia, India, and Burma, and eventually shipped back to England. In December 1919, he was officially discharged from military service, sailed from Liverpool to New York City aboard the S.S. Cedric, and from there returned to Massachusetts.