Jack Mann, a Cairo-born British World War II veteran who served in a unit formed to fight Nazis in Africa, died recently, aged 100.
Mann, who enlisted in the British military at age 17, served as a radio operator in the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), which was a reconnaissance and raiding unit formed to fight against the Nazis in North Africa, including countering Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps.
Mann was the last surviving veteran of the LDRG.
The LDRG played a key part in the success of the operations of the Special Air Service (SAS), then a nascent British special forces unit, including by maintaining control of the Suez Canal.
Mann later served in the SAS itself, as well as Britain's naval special forces, the Special Boat Service (SBS). While serving in the SBS, Mann was posted to several locations across the Middle East and North Africa, including a posting in British Mandatory Palestine, The Telegraph noted.
He also served in other roles within the British military's Special Operations Executive, the nascent special forces command during World War II.
Jewish special forces soldier joined British Army after hearing about Holocaust, Hitler killing Jews
Mann told The Jewish Chronicle, a London-based Jewish community newspaper, in 2014 that he decided to join the army in his late teens after learning about the Holocaust.
"One of my uncles was a big Zionist, and he heard about how [German Führer Adolf] Hitler was killing Jews, and I said I was going to help [fight him]," Mann said.
"I joined the army and British intelligence soon heard I had skills with languages and came to me," Mann added.
However, Mann did not appear to view himself as heroic.
"I can't say I'm a hero. My job was communications, and that's what I did," he said in 2024 at a Remembrance Day wreath-laying ceremony.
Mann: 'War is terrible, never forget'
"But I tell everyone, my children, my grandchildren, never forget, because war is terrible. I know, because I was in it," he added.
"Fighting was never my specialty, but I was in the middle of it. Each patrol would have a radio operator with them... how are you going to escape with no radio?" Mann told The Jewish Chronicle during his 2014 biographical interview.
Dan Fox, the president of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen (AJEX), eulogized Mann as "A hero, a gentleman, an inspiration."
The SAS Regimental Association also eulogized Mann earlier this week.
"Jack volunteered to join the [British] Army and thanks to his language skills and experience, he was selected for special operations, serving in the LRDG, SAS, SBS, and SOE, and went on to carry out daring missions behind enemy lines across North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe," the special forces unit's association said.