The Battle for Gezer
In the run up to the first cease-fire the HQ of the Arab Legion decided to carry out a number of aggressive operations in the region between El-Kubab and Hulda. On the morning of 10.6.48 seven armoured cars and two irregular companies set out under the command of the British officer Brommidge from Ramleh and, in the afternoon, they attacked Gezer.
Kibbutz Gezer was established in 1945 near the Latrun-Ramleh road, close by the ancient Tel Gezer. The settlement, which was surrounded by Arab villages, was occupied for a number of hours during the War of Independence, a situation that threatened Hulda which was employed as the central base for all the IDF operations in the area.
In the run up to the first cease-fire the HQ of the Arab Legion decided to carry out a number of aggressive operations in the region between El-Kubab and Hulda. On the morning of 10.6.48 seven armoured cars and two irregular companies set out under the command of the British officer Brommidge from Ramleh and, in the afternoon, they attacked Gezer. The kibbutz was defended by 68 people (among them ten soldiers from the service unit of the ‘Yiftach’ Brigade and thirteen girls) and equipped only with light arms and two machine guns. Two fences surrounded the kibbutz; one of them was double-slanted with eleven positions of which only one was concrete built.
Gezer was in the ‘Givati’ Brigade region whose forces, on that day, were restricted to the Egyptian front and were unable to take concrete responsibility for the defence of the settlement. However, the General Staff did not appoint any other brigade to be responsible for the region. At 13:30 hours six armoured cars from the 7th Brigade set out from Givat-Hasid, approached the kibbutz, fired at the Legion’s armoured cars and left the area after one of their armoured cars was hit.
After two hours of heavy fire the Legion’s armoured cars and infantry succeeded in breaking through the fence in many places and started to occupy position after position. At 16:30 hours they were in control of the whole kibbutz.
In the battle, during which Gezer fell into the hands of the Legion, 29 defenders were killed and thirty were taken prisoner, some of them wounded. The rest, farmers who were working in the fields and could not return to Gezer because of the heavy shelling and a few defenders of the southern position – managed to get away and break into Na’an and Hulda.
The Legion forces departed from Gezer leaving it in the hands of local volunteers who mainly engaged in looting.
The C.O. of the 1st Battalion, Dan Lanner, ordered the company C.O., Yitzhak Hofi (‘Haka’) to re-occupy Gezer. As evening fell the unit, made up of two platoons from the 1st Battalion of ‘Yiftach’ Brigade, carried out a counter attack, with the help of 65mm cannons, which were deployed at El-Kubab and liberated Gezer. The force taking part in the attack included the company that held Hill 166.3 and the platoon’s reserve company. Artillery assistance was provided by 65mm cannons positioned at El-Kubab. In the first phase the company positioned on Hill 166.3 was utilized as fire base, and the reserve company advanced stealthily parallel to the Latrun-Ramleh road. In the second stage both companies attacked from different directions and the Arab occupiers began to escape from Gezer to El-Baria. At 19:00 hours the kibbutz was re-occupied. The ‘Yiftach’ units continued their attack on the retreating enemy and occupied the village of El-Baria.
‘Haka’ testifies that when, with his forces, he entered via the eastern fence of the Kibbutz and took control of Gezer a brutal picture met them: the settlement had been looted and its defenders were left dead with their weapons where they had fallen.
As they retreated the Legion took with it prisoners from Gezer, among them twelve girls.
In light of the report of the district commander of the kibbutz, the Chief of Staff Dori set up a commission of enquiry to look into the circumstances of the defective operation of the units stationed in the nearby regions who did not feel obliged to assist during the time of the attack, in spite of the fact that they were in possession of weapons which, if utilized, could have changed the course of the battle.
It was concluded that the Operations Section of the General Staff was to blame because it had not clearly established which of the Brigade H.Q.’s was directly responsible for setting in motion forces to support Gezer.
In the run up to the first cease-fire the HQ of the Arab Legion decided to carry out a number of aggressive operations in the region between El-Kubab and Hulda. On the morning of 10.6.48 seven armoured cars and two irregular companies set out under the command of the British officer Brommidge from Ramleh and, in the afternoon, they attacked Gezer. The kibbutz was defended by 68 people (among them ten soldiers from the service unit of the ‘Yiftach’ Brigade and thirteen girls) and equipped only with light arms and two machine guns. Two fences surrounded the kibbutz; one of them was double-slanted with eleven positions of which only one was concrete built.
Gezer was in the ‘Givati’ Brigade region whose forces, on that day, were restricted to the Egyptian front and were unable to take concrete responsibility for the defence of the settlement. However, the General Staff did not appoint any other brigade to be responsible for the region. At 13:30 hours six armoured cars from the 7th Brigade set out from Givat-Hasid, approached the kibbutz, fired at the Legion’s armoured cars and left the area after one of their armoured cars was hit.
After two hours of heavy fire the Legion’s armoured cars and infantry succeeded in breaking through the fence in many places and started to occupy position after position. At 16:30 hours they were in control of the whole kibbutz.
In the battle, during which Gezer fell into the hands of the Legion, 29 defenders were killed and thirty were taken prisoner, some of them wounded. The rest, farmers who were working in the fields and could not return to Gezer because of the heavy shelling and a few defenders of the southern position – managed to get away and break into Na’an and Hulda.
The Legion forces departed from Gezer leaving it in the hands of local volunteers who mainly engaged in looting.
The C.O. of the 1st Battalion, Dan Lanner, ordered the company C.O., Yitzhak Hofi (‘Haka’) to re-occupy Gezer. As evening fell the unit, made up of two platoons from the 1st Battalion of ‘Yiftach’ Brigade, carried out a counter attack, with the help of 65mm cannons, which were deployed at El-Kubab and liberated Gezer. The force taking part in the attack included the company that held Hill 166.3 and the platoon’s reserve company. Artillery assistance was provided by 65mm cannons positioned at El-Kubab. In the first phase the company positioned on Hill 166.3 was utilized as fire base, and the reserve company advanced stealthily parallel to the Latrun-Ramleh road. In the second stage both companies attacked from different directions and the Arab occupiers began to escape from Gezer to El-Baria. At 19:00 hours the kibbutz was re-occupied. The ‘Yiftach’ units continued their attack on the retreating enemy and occupied the village of El-Baria.
‘Haka’ testifies that when, with his forces, he entered via the eastern fence of the Kibbutz and took control of Gezer a brutal picture met them: the settlement had been looted and its defenders were left dead with their weapons where they had fallen.
As they retreated the Legion took with it prisoners from Gezer, among them twelve girls.
In light of the report of the district commander of the kibbutz, the Chief of Staff Dori set up a commission of enquiry to look into the circumstances of the defective operation of the units stationed in the nearby regions who did not feel obliged to assist during the time of the attack, in spite of the fact that they were in possession of weapons which, if utilized, could have changed the course of the battle.
It was concluded that the Operations Section of the General Staff was to blame because it had not clearly established which of the Brigade H.Q.’s was directly responsible for setting in motion forces to support Gezer.