All,
AKA, the first fight in Operation Nachshon
It is 0630 on 6 April 1948, and the company is going into action as part of Operation Nachshon, the Jewish operation to open the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Road in order to bring relief to the Jewish community in Jerusalem. While the men of the company were fighting to defend their homes in the village of Mar Gush, west of Jerusalem, Arab Liberation Army forces under Abd Al-Qadr Al-Husayni completed their encirclement of Jerusalem. A convoy bound for the Jewish Quarter (in Jerusalem) was ambushed on 31 March 1948, forced back with the loss of five vehicles and seventeen dead. Plans were made to mount as much offensive power as possible in order to re-open the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Road; the company, now more or less formally recognized as part of the Haganah (Jewish military), was included in those plans.
It is now 6 April 1948; on 3 April Jewish forces attacked the Palestinian village of Al-Qastal. Fighting has raged there for several days. The company is now being thrown into the fight, and Captain Avi Peled, the company commander, is personally leading the first action. He has maneuvered the company southeast of Al-Qastal, sneaking up behind an enemy machine gun position that has pinned down members of the Jewish Etzioni Brigade, which is trying to reinforce members of its unit cut off in Al-Qastal. Avi has Lt Baruch Eitan and his 1st Platoon with him, and they're plan is not only to eliminate the pesky Palestinian machine gun position, but then to attack into Al-Qastal itself. Following the battle of Mar Gush, Avi reorganized the company (which is actually platoon-strength), so that now each platoon (squad) has eight men (if you're not aware, casualties were pretty heavy).
Overview, north is up. At top left is Raftan Hill, where the Palestinians have a machine gun that is holding up the Etzioni Brigade from making contact with troops they have cut off in the village of Al-Qastal (off camera to top), while at bottom right is Balagan Hill. A dirt track runs between the two, and at bottom left you can see an Arab farmer's humble abode.
At top left you can see a number of Palestinians on Raftan Hill, which is the position that needs knocking out so the Etzioni Brigade can get moving. Down at bottom center you can see the Jewish 1st Platoon. But at bottom right you can see something the Jews are unaware of: the Palestinians have another, supporting position up on Balagan Hill!
"Quiet boys, and follow me." Avi and Baruch lead the men across the dirt track (right), closing in on the enemy position (top left), as the former Jewish Brigade Sergeant, Eli Rabat, and the old WWI veteran of the German Army, Abel Landau, set up the machine gun (center right bottom). They are quite unaware of the enemy machine gun position behind them… To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
link
In any case, the world keeps turning. Freed up by 1st Platoon knocking out the machine gun position, the Etzioni Brigade pushes into the village of Al-Qastal, taking it, but then being pushed back out. The next morning the company was holding security to the south of Al-Qastal when orders came down: Etzioni Brigde was again making a push from the east, but the Arab Liberation Army had strongpointed an old Roman fort on the outskirts of the town. High Command wanted the company to make a nighttime assault to eliminate the enemy position.
Avi turned to Danny Tzur, the leader of the 2nd Platoon: "my friend, prepare your men."
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locates some hard-to-find military toys at the dollar store.
