Salient points of the operation
This operation marked a turning point in the war, with regard to the relative forces involved, and the methods of warfare employed --- and this was is most successful aspect. It was the biggest and most complex offensive to be mounted so far in the War of Independence.
The operation began on the night of 6.4.48. Roads leading onto the Hulda-Latrun route used by the convoys were blocked. Outposts overlooking the Sha’ar Hagai – Jerusalem road were occupied. This made it possible to send through a convoy of 60 vehicles. Among other things, this convoy carried no. 4 regiment (“Nachshon 2”) of the Palmach to its base at Kiryat Anavim.
The battalion “Nachshon 1” took several Arab villages in the western sector (Arab Huldah, Dir Muhsein) and the camp at Wadi Srar.
Most of the fighting was around the Qastel. Several of the outposts were taken, retaken by the enemy, and taken yet again. The most furious attack by the Arabs was on 8.4, after their commander Abdel Qader el-Husseini was killed the previous night. On that day, our defenders were forced to evacuate the Qastel after heavy losses. The road to Jerusalem was blocked once again. “Nachshon” headquarters ordered the commander of “Nachshon 2” battalion to retake the Qastel; it was retaken on the night of 9.4, with help from Jerusalem Field Combat forces.
The road was thus reopened. A convoy of 20 vehicles got through from Jerusalem to Kiryat Anavim. All enemy positions along the western sector were silenced, and temporary outposts were established at various points in the eastern sector. On the night of 11.4.48, the village of Qoloniya was captured and destroyed.
On the night of 13.4 a convoy of 200 vehicles reached Jerusalem, unloaded and returned to Hulda. Overall, 900 tons of supplies reached the city during the operation. Problems of organization in the plain prevented the sending of more convoys while the road was open.
After the operation, the units which had taken part returned to their respective
brigades. Overall losses were 57 killed, 72 wounded.
This operation marked a turning point in the war, with regard to the relative forces involved, and the methods of warfare employed --- and this was its most successful aspect. It was the biggest and most complex offensive to be mounted so far in the War of Independence.
What had previously been “hit-and-run” operations on the scale of a platoon or a company, were at one stroke raised to the level of brigade operations of conquest and occupation; and a number of convoys went through unopposed, to reinforce Jerusalem’s reserve of supplies.
Names of Palmach fighters killed: Avraham Almozalino; Shimon Alfassi; Nahum Arieli; Yosef Adler; Moshe Admoni; Avraham Sitt; David Aboudi; Shlomo Schechter; Eliyahu Ben-Gyat; Haim Gardin; Shmuel Cohen; Natan Mazor; Rafael Melnick; Moshe Parpar; Meir Rosenblatt; Sa’adya Shar’abi; Aryeh Mendel Ben-Hillel; and Mordecai Dagi.
The battalion “Nachshon 1” took several Arab villages in the western sector (Arab Huldah, Dir Muhsein) and the camp at Wadi Srar.
Most of the fighting was around the Qastel. Several of the outposts were taken, retaken by the enemy, and taken yet again. The most furious attack by the Arabs was on 8.4, after their commander Abdel Qader el-Husseini was killed the previous night. On that day, our defenders were forced to evacuate the Qastel after heavy losses. The road to Jerusalem was blocked once again. “Nachshon” headquarters ordered the commander of “Nachshon 2” battalion to retake the Qastel; it was retaken on the night of 9.4, with help from Jerusalem Field Combat forces.
The road was thus reopened. A convoy of 20 vehicles got through from Jerusalem to Kiryat Anavim. All enemy positions along the western sector were silenced, and temporary outposts were established at various points in the eastern sector. On the night of 11.4.48, the village of Qoloniya was captured and destroyed.
On the night of 13.4 a convoy of 200 vehicles reached Jerusalem, unloaded and returned to Hulda. Overall, 900 tons of supplies reached the city during the operation. Problems of organization in the plain prevented the sending of more convoys while the road was open.
After the operation, the units which had taken part returned to their respective
brigades. Overall losses were 57 killed, 72 wounded.
This operation marked a turning point in the war, with regard to the relative forces involved, and the methods of warfare employed --- and this was its most successful aspect. It was the biggest and most complex offensive to be mounted so far in the War of Independence.
What had previously been “hit-and-run” operations on the scale of a platoon or a company, were at one stroke raised to the level of brigade operations of conquest and occupation; and a number of convoys went through unopposed, to reinforce Jerusalem’s reserve of supplies.
Names of Palmach fighters killed: Avraham Almozalino; Shimon Alfassi; Nahum Arieli; Yosef Adler; Moshe Admoni; Avraham Sitt; David Aboudi; Shlomo Schechter; Eliyahu Ben-Gyat; Haim Gardin; Shmuel Cohen; Natan Mazor; Rafael Melnick; Moshe Parpar; Meir Rosenblatt; Sa’adya Shar’abi; Aryeh Mendel Ben-Hillel; and Mordecai Dagi.