A British soldier who fought in Israel's War of Independence before embarking on a ground-breaking advocacy trip around America owned the first Israeli passport, it can be revealed.

Leonard Gance was a member of Hampstead Synagogue who left his parents and two sisters in Stepney Green, east London, to make aliyah alone in 1947 at the age of 23.

A machine gunner known to his comrades by his Hebrew name of Aryeh, he took part in the battles of Lydda and Jerusalem during the 1948 war that led to the establishment of the Jewish state.

After victory had been achieved, Mr Gance was one of 10 soldiers who were chosen to tour the United States as part of a youth mission to encourage Americans to get behind the country the young troops had fought to create.

It was for this trip that he was given the first ever Israeli passport - number 00001.

On the five-month tour, Mr Gance met luminaries from inside and outside the Jewish community, including former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who interviewed him on NBC radio.

He returned to London in 1951, but only following a period in India, where he worked as a shaliach and encouraged a number of Jews in the southern city of Kochi to move to the Holy Land.

The passport is now in the safekeeping of Mr Gance's daughter, Anne, who lives in Israel

His son, Daniel Gance, who lives in north London, said his father had remained humble about his military and diplomatic endeavours, rarely discussing them with his family.

"He never made a big deal about it, and he never spoke about the passport. There are things I would have liked to know I never asked," he said.

"I'm very proud, but he was very humble, so I didn't know half the things he was involved in - that's just how he was. He did what needed to be done but made no song and dance about it."

However, the 62-year-old accountant said his father "was very proud that he was there at the beginning of the state, proud that he had a direct involvement in its beginning. Israel was close to his heart. He was a strong believer in the Jewish state."

It was in Israel that the soldier met his wife, and he always intended to return to the state he had helped bring into existence.

In 2005, Mr Gance made aliyah again, living in Israel until his death in 2012.