A survey of the Beit Lid army camp by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel has led to an unexpected discovery: a Mandate-era water tower with carvings in Greek on its base, and a date – Dec. 30, 1942.
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The Greeks fought with the Allies in World War II. One of the carvings shows a Greek flag and the word "Hellas" (Greece), while the other bears the Greek name K. Feredinos and the date.
Assaf Peretz, who researches later-era inscriptions at the Israel Antiquities Authority, "British soldiers and civilians left inscriptions in various places around the country, but I don't know of any historical documentation that deals with the presence of Greek soldiers in [pre-state] Israel during World War II."
In 1941, Germany invaded Greece. Some Greek soldiers fled the occupation and fought alongside the British forces. The newly-discovered inscriptions, the first Greek-language ones from this period, were carved by some of these soldiers.
"It's more exciting than finding a rare plant, because these inscriptions stand for decades and wait for the first person to notice them and recognize their importance, and that privilege fell to me," said Amit Mendelson, who found the tower.
"This is a closed military zone, surrounded by wild growth. Only a few soldiers reach the tower, and it's likely they aren't aware of the site's historical importance," Mendelson said.
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