The last Union Jack flag to fly in the British Mandate of Palestine is returning to Israel.
The flag was hauled down at a Haifa dock on June 30, 1948, as the last remaining British troops left the country.
The flag was handed to the commander of British forces in Palestine, Gen. Gordon Macmillan, who gave it to the American consul for safekeeping.
A few days later, the flag was passed on to the British consul-general, Cyril Marriott, whose family had it in its possession in Leicester, England, until it was recently auctioned off.
Sefton Woolf, a resident of Manchester, England, bought the flag at auction and planned to make this moth and take the flag with him.
Woolf discovered the flag was up for sale when he saw it in an auction house catalog in Leicestershire.
An avid collector of autographs of famous people, he spent several sleepless nights trying to fix a ceiling on how much he was prepared to pay for the flag.
“I realized it was fantastic. If I could possibly afford it, I would like it.
“I knew there was going to be competition from America, and I was getting a bit worked up. It was nerve-wracking,” said Woolf.
After successfully bidding for the flag, Woolf obtained a letter from Marriott’s son, Patrick, confirming the flag’s authenticity.
“That letter is the final link between the flag and me.
“It’s very important,” he said. “I’m thrilled with the whole thing.”
Woolf, whose collection of autographs ranges from Tolstoy to the Beatles, is hoping to set up a small autograph business in the foyer of a major Israeli hotel.
He plans to display the flag as the centerpiece of his collection.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
