SAVIOURS IN THE SKY - AIRMEN VII

 

When sudden rains came to the Negev, the planned offensive had to be postponed. Meanwhile, the Egyptians had been reinforcing their garrisons in the Gaza Strip, predicting that the Israelis planned to attack around Gaza.

The predictions were correct. On December 22^nd a massive artillery  barrage on Egyptian positions in the Gaza Strip commenced. After two days of hard fighting and many casualties, little ground was gained on either side.

But the assault on Gaza was a deception.

Two armoured brigades of the Israeli Army were slipping into position  near Beersheba. From there, they would cut across the Sinai to the Mediterranean coast – behind the enemy stronghold at Gaza. The Egyptian Army would be encircled. Israeli archeologists had recently uncovered a Roman trade route from Beersheba to the Sinai. This way, the Israeli force intended to bypass the enemy fortifications, cutting off all Egyptian forces between El Arish and Gaza.

Yigal Allon, who was a former tough commander of the Palmach, was in charge of the surprise attack. In a classic flanking manoever, the two armoured brigades were pushing across the border into the Sinai Peninsular. Soon, his forces had captured the key Egyptian crossroads and headed for the real prize – the main Egyptian air  base at El Arish. El Arish was the base from which the Egyptians had been bombing Israel since the first day of the war.

With El Arish in their hands, the encirclement of the Egyptian Army would be complete. By seizing El Arish on the coast, his brigades would have the entire Egyptian Army trapped in the Gaza Strip.

When only 6 miles short of his goal, Allon received the order from the IDF headquarters to stop the advance, he was furious! Great Britain was threatening  to  enter the war to save Egypt. At the instigation of Ernest Bevin, President Truman pronounced himself as being deeply disturbed by the “invasion” of Egyptian territory. It was proof of Israel’s “aggressiveness” and “complete disregard” of the United Nations.

With no choice, Allon figured out an alternative strategy, He would  return to the El Arish air base from the Israeli border. From there, his forces would directly attack the Egyptians at Rafah, just inside Israeli territory. On January 4^th, three of Allon’s brigades struck at Rafah – while Israeli aircraft swept overhead.

Ben-Gurion was in his office on January 5^th, when he was informed by the USA Special Representative in Israel that Cairo had informed the UN,
Britain and the United States that Egypt was ready to begin armistice negotiations – if Israel ceased hostilities. After seven months of siege by the Egyptians!

By now, Israeli forces had their hands on the throat of the Egyptian Army at Rafah and Allon had captured a key crossroads, blocking all reinforcements to the trapped army. However, time was also running out for Israel. Not only was Britain threatening to intervene in the war, but the United States had also become increasingly pressuring.

Tthe Jewish people had been yearning for a homeland for more than two thousand years. Ben-Gurion decided it wasn’t worth the risk of throwing it all away. He  signalled his consent to negotiations with Egypt.

The cease-fire, which was set on January 7^th, was due to go into effect in less than two hours. What nobody anticipated was that the greatest, most controversial, air battle of the war was just beginning.