The Legion’s occupation of and our attempts to capture Latrun
On 17 May 1948 the Jordanian Legion occupied the Latrun Position.
On 17 May 1948 the Jordanian Legion occupied the Latrun Position. On the following day a convoy of 18 lorries got through and afterwards the road was closed and the city of Jerusalem was completely cut off. During the coming days the Legion reinforced its forces with up to 2,300 soldiers equipped with artillery and machine guns and became firmly entrenched in the fortified area of Latrun.
On 25 May 1948 an attack on Latrun took place, Operation ‘Ben-Nun A’, which terminated in failure. In spite of the failure, the High Command decided to plan and carry out at the earliest opportunity another operation to capture Latrun.
In preparation for the operation units from the 7th Brigade, which was responsible for the sector opposite Latrun, captured the villages of Beit-Jiz and Beit-Susin. As a result a narrow strip was in the hands of the IDF, which provided an uninterrupted route to the area under the control of ‘Harel’ Brigade and to the road from Hartuv to Sha’ar HaGai, whence a dirt road branched out to Beit Mahsir. However, this strip was unsuitable for vehicles.
On the night of 31 May 1948 another operation was carried out, Operation ‘Ben-Nun B’, which also terminated in failure.
A few days before, a patrol, consisting of members of the 6th Battalion of ‘Harel’, Arieh Tepper, Yair Mondleck and Shlomo Ben-Shalom, left from Sha’ar-HaGai, crossed via the strip and Beit-Susin and from there got safely to Hulda. On the night of 29 May 1948 150 soldiers, recruits from the ‘Gahal’, used the same track (in the opposite direction) for a night march, under the command of Shlomo Shiloach-Shaluach, on their way to reinforce ‘Harel’ Brigade. Amos Horev and Gabriel (Gavrosh) Rapaport, Commander of Special Assignments in ‘Harel’ Brigade, accompanied them part of the way by jeep.
The 7th Brigade, which was responsible for the strip up to ‘Derech HaAyalot’, requested a bulldozer and heavy equipment to prepare the route for vehicles and, thus, to bypass the section of the road near Latrun which was blocked by the Legion.
On 29 May Colonel Stone-Marcus, Shlomo Shamir (C.O. 7th Brigade), Amos Horev (Company C.O. who was well acquainted with the terrain) and Gavrosh left with Operations and Engineering Officers from 7th Brigade to decide on the route to be improved as an alternative, which would be hidden from the soldiers of the Legion who were spread out on the Latrun ridge and the Dir-Ayub area. The problematic sections of the road started from Beit-Susin, where there was a steep ascent, 125 metres over one kilometre, and on the continuation, where the road goes down a steep slope to Wadi Abu-Abed, and there joins ‘Derech HaAyalot’ up to Hartuv road.
On 25 May 1948 an attack on Latrun took place, Operation ‘Ben-Nun A’, which terminated in failure. In spite of the failure, the High Command decided to plan and carry out at the earliest opportunity another operation to capture Latrun.
In preparation for the operation units from the 7th Brigade, which was responsible for the sector opposite Latrun, captured the villages of Beit-Jiz and Beit-Susin. As a result a narrow strip was in the hands of the IDF, which provided an uninterrupted route to the area under the control of ‘Harel’ Brigade and to the road from Hartuv to Sha’ar HaGai, whence a dirt road branched out to Beit Mahsir. However, this strip was unsuitable for vehicles.
On the night of 31 May 1948 another operation was carried out, Operation ‘Ben-Nun B’, which also terminated in failure.
A few days before, a patrol, consisting of members of the 6th Battalion of ‘Harel’, Arieh Tepper, Yair Mondleck and Shlomo Ben-Shalom, left from Sha’ar-HaGai, crossed via the strip and Beit-Susin and from there got safely to Hulda. On the night of 29 May 1948 150 soldiers, recruits from the ‘Gahal’, used the same track (in the opposite direction) for a night march, under the command of Shlomo Shiloach-Shaluach, on their way to reinforce ‘Harel’ Brigade. Amos Horev and Gabriel (Gavrosh) Rapaport, Commander of Special Assignments in ‘Harel’ Brigade, accompanied them part of the way by jeep.
The 7th Brigade, which was responsible for the strip up to ‘Derech HaAyalot’, requested a bulldozer and heavy equipment to prepare the route for vehicles and, thus, to bypass the section of the road near Latrun which was blocked by the Legion.
On 29 May Colonel Stone-Marcus, Shlomo Shamir (C.O. 7th Brigade), Amos Horev (Company C.O. who was well acquainted with the terrain) and Gavrosh left with Operations and Engineering Officers from 7th Brigade to decide on the route to be improved as an alternative, which would be hidden from the soldiers of the Legion who were spread out on the Latrun ridge and the Dir-Ayub area. The problematic sections of the road started from Beit-Susin, where there was a steep ascent, 125 metres over one kilometre, and on the continuation, where the road goes down a steep slope to Wadi Abu-Abed, and there joins ‘Derech HaAyalot’ up to Hartuv road.