It’s fitting that the poem treats of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Senate headed by Pompey the Great, because it was found among the rubble of Arras, blitzed by the Germans in 1916, by a soldier, Major Daniel Hopkin, MC, who on returning home to England presented it to Salaman’s son Raphael (then aged about 10 ), who just happened to be one of his private pupils. On further investigation, the friendship between Salaman senior (b 1874) and Hopkin, his junior by 12 years, becomes even more intriguing.
As far as we know, the two men were not comrades in arms in 1916, though they were both soldiers in the Great War. Salaman saw action in Palestine, while, as we already know, Hopkin was at the Western Front. We do know, however, that in February 28th 1918 both officers took part in the march through Whitechapel of the Jewish Legion, which was composed of Jewish soldiers who were fighting in the War. Quite what Hopkin, of staunch Welsh stock, was doing in this march to celebrate Jewish courage and commitment to the Empire, is not quite clear, but the parade turned out to be a great public relations success. One working class East Ender, who witnessed the event, was overheard to remark that he was pleasantly surprised to see such evidence of Jewish bravery. ‘I was taught that all Jews were shirkers ‘ he said.
Salaman (incidentally, the only man ever to be named after a residential square in London) was interested in the relationship between Christians and Jews, a debate to which Hopkin may also have contributed , which may explain his presence in the Jewish Legion parade. After the end of hostilities Salaman returned to his home in Barley, Hertfordshire
