Planning of Damiya Bridge (Adam) Bombing
The sabotage mission at Damiya Bridge was assigned to a force from the 4th Battalion, which consisted of 13 warriors, among them two 'Mista'arvim,' an intelligence person as well as two women and four men from the Palmach unit of kibbutz Sarid.
The sabotage mission at Damiya Bridge was assigned to a force from the 4th Battalion, which consisted of 13 warriors, among them two 'Mista'arvim,' an intelligence person as well as two women and four men from the Palmach unit of kibbutz Sarid. The operation commander was Yochanan Zariz, the deputy second in command of the 7th Company. A preparation tour aimed at gathering information about the bridge left on April 30th, pretending to be an innocent trip in a cab from Beisan to Beit-Ha'arava.
The force began its preparation for going on the mission at kibbutz Sarid and completed it at kibbutz Tirat-Zvi, which was the nearest Jewish settlement to Damiya Bridge. According to plan, a large washing machine resembling a boiler was loaded onto a truck, in which weapons and explosives were hidden, for use by the warriors. In case a British patrol stopped the truck on its way, its passengers planned to disguise as a group of mechanics going from Afula to install the boiler in the laundry room of kibbutz Beit-Ha'arava, located a few tens of kilometers south of Damiya Bridge. The rest of the warriors went by cab.
The force began its preparation for going on the mission at kibbutz Sarid and completed it at kibbutz Tirat-Zvi, which was the nearest Jewish settlement to Damiya Bridge. According to plan, a large washing machine resembling a boiler was loaded onto a truck, in which weapons and explosives were hidden, for use by the warriors. In case a British patrol stopped the truck on its way, its passengers planned to disguise as a group of mechanics going from Afula to install the boiler in the laundry room of kibbutz Beit-Ha'arava, located a few tens of kilometers south of Damiya Bridge. The rest of the warriors went by cab.