The Hulda Convoy
Although after the aforementioned past failures, another provision convoy was sent to the besieged city. The convoy included 26 trucks, half of which were to provide provisions to Jerusalem and the other half to Gush-Ezion. The convoy that gotbogged in the mud was attacked and suffered heavy losses, never reached Jerusalem.
In spit of past failures further provisions were sent to Jerusalem due to critical circumstances. On the morning of 31.3.48, a convoy including 26 trucks, 4 buses and 7 armored vehicles left Hulda on its way to Jerusalem, accompanied by Palmach members from the 4th Battalion. Several armored vehicles and the Stuzky platoon joined the convoy in order to secure the section between Hulda and Wadi Srar. Convoy commander, Amos horev was joined by both the new 5th Battalion commander, Shaul Yafe and the commander of the 4th Battalion.
The convoy bogged down in the mud near the Arab village of Hulda as a result of the rain and it was exposed and attacked by hundreds of members of "Arab salvation army" and the Arab legion that arrived from Ramle in armored vehicles. The attackers also included Hasan Salame men camping in the Arab village of Hulda and Iraqi volunteers from the Wadi Srar camp. The convoy was ordered to return to Hulda after 6 hours of fighting, during which several unsuccessful attempts were made to rescue the sunken vehicles under heavy fire, including by Shaul Yafe who was injured during the operation.
The soldiers were struggling to rescue the sunken vehicles and infantrymen while retaliating at the same time. Two of the rescue armored vehicles were hit, bogged down and surrounded by Arab forces. Haim Goldis, one of the armored vehicles commanders ordered to blow up the vehicle along with its inhabitants once the number of the wounded grew and there was no sign of reinforcement arriving. Witnesses testified that one of the wounded men was herd saying on the wireless:" so long my friends, we are surrounded by Arabs, I am wounded and am about to blow up myself along with the vehicle. We will not be taken prisoners, we rather commit suicide!" The "Hulda convoy" suffered a great number of casualties and was the first convoy that failed to reach Jerusalem.
A number of factors contributed to this failure: hitting the road during day time, faulty preparations, patchy and inexperienced command, muddy roads, and an exaggerated effort to rescue the vehicles resulting in heavy losses.
Despite the fact that the road leading to Jerusalem remained blocked, high command reached a decision that it would be more effective to capture and occupy command posts along the roads, reopen the road in addition to securing convoys.
The convoy bogged down in the mud near the Arab village of Hulda as a result of the rain and it was exposed and attacked by hundreds of members of "Arab salvation army" and the Arab legion that arrived from Ramle in armored vehicles. The attackers also included Hasan Salame men camping in the Arab village of Hulda and Iraqi volunteers from the Wadi Srar camp. The convoy was ordered to return to Hulda after 6 hours of fighting, during which several unsuccessful attempts were made to rescue the sunken vehicles under heavy fire, including by Shaul Yafe who was injured during the operation.
The soldiers were struggling to rescue the sunken vehicles and infantrymen while retaliating at the same time. Two of the rescue armored vehicles were hit, bogged down and surrounded by Arab forces. Haim Goldis, one of the armored vehicles commanders ordered to blow up the vehicle along with its inhabitants once the number of the wounded grew and there was no sign of reinforcement arriving. Witnesses testified that one of the wounded men was herd saying on the wireless:" so long my friends, we are surrounded by Arabs, I am wounded and am about to blow up myself along with the vehicle. We will not be taken prisoners, we rather commit suicide!" The "Hulda convoy" suffered a great number of casualties and was the first convoy that failed to reach Jerusalem.
A number of factors contributed to this failure: hitting the road during day time, faulty preparations, patchy and inexperienced command, muddy roads, and an exaggerated effort to rescue the vehicles resulting in heavy losses.
Despite the fact that the road leading to Jerusalem remained blocked, high command reached a decision that it would be more effective to capture and occupy command posts along the roads, reopen the road in addition to securing convoys.