Corbis

Charles Orde Wingate (1903–1944), a British Army officer, served in Palestine during the 1936–1939 riots. Wingate’s passionate support for the movement for a Jewish state in Palestine earned him the nickname ha-Yedid (the Friend) from Zionist leaders. In 1936 he played a formidable role in fighting Arab attacks on the Iraq-Haifa pipeline. Working with the Haganah, the Jewish military force, Wingate established the Special Night Squads, whose aim was to prevent and counter Arab attacks. Wingate’s military genius later influenced the Israeli army. Institutions and public areas throughout Israel bear his name—in particular, Jerusalem’s Wingate Square. He died in a plane crash in Burma in 1944.