It was too late. The jets moved fast and lined up in a single-file attack formation. “Oh, shit. Sound general quarters,” said Hodges to his executive officer. “And get us underway. Head out to sea. Evasive maneuvers.”
The Crane started to zig-zag but there wasn’t much room to maneuver while it was still in the gulf. As the first jet started its dive, the ship’s anti-aircraft batteries opened fire. The Israelis were attacking from the west so the setting sun was in the eyes of the ship’s gunners, making it difficult to spot their target. The first jet dropped two five-hundred pound bombs. Both missed, exploding in the water next to the ship. The pilot finished his dive with a fusillade of machinegun fire that ripped into the deck.
“Why in the hell haven’t they responded to our radio calls?” said Hodges.
“I don’t think they understand us. They seem to be speaking in Hebrew,” said the communications officer.
“Christ all mighty,” said Hodges.
The next jet started its dive toward the zig-zagging ship. The ship’s anti-aircraft were well-trained and knew how much lead to give a jet versus a propeller-driven plane. The jet screamed toward the ship and fired its rockets. One of the rockets slammed into the forward deck, exploding and creating a six-foot hole in the thick steel plating. As the jet pulled out of its dive, the anti-aircraft gunner on the port side lined up his stream of 20-mm projectiles so the jet flew right into them. The jet exploded killing the pilot before he could eject. The crew cheered.
Black smoke poured out of the hole created by the Israeli rocket. Something was burning below deck. The crew of a warship didn’t fear the sea. They feared fire. The Crane’s fire brigades ran towards the fire with their hoses and poured on the water. The ship was made of steel and seemed invincible but there were still plenty of things to burn below decks. Fuel and ammunition were the biggest concern. Fire in the wrong compartment could mean a deadly explosion. It was a race to keep the fire from spreading.
The third Israeli jet started its dive toward the ship. The pilot had seen the explosion of his friend’s aircraft. He knew there was no survivor. He could only offer his dead friend revenge. His jet dove into the streams of anti-aircraft fire. He fired his rockets. One punched through the top deck and out the side of the hull.
Inside the ship an engineering compartment flooded. The men inside all got out except for one. He was too far back in the compartment to reach the door before a warrant officer commanding a fire team ordered the water-tight door shut to prevent further flooding. The compartment filled with water. The engineer searched for pockets of air to breath. The bow of the ship rolled up the front of a wave and popped up when it reached the top sending the stern of the ship deeper in the water.
The flooded compartment finished filling with water pushing out the air from most of the pockets. The engineer took a deep breath as the last pocket filled up with water. The ship’s bow slammed back down and the stern of the ship rose.
As the stern of the ship rose up, the water in the flooded compartment emptied pouring out the hole in the hull and carrying the engineer with it. He was severely cut by the jagged edges of torn steel as he tumbled out of the hole and into the sea. He was bleeding badly from multiple wounds.
One of the crew members on deck spotted him. There was little he could do beyond tossing him a floating ring. The ship’s captain was fighting for the life of his crew and ship. There would be no stopping to retrieve any sailor washed overboard until the battle was over. The engineer swam toward the floating ring but lost consciousness from loss of blood and slipped under the water. He was gone.
The Israeli jets continued their attack until their munitions were expended. One more jet was hit with anti-aircraft fire but only suffered damage to one of its tail stabilizers. The jet would limp back to base guarded by the other three remaining aircraft.
The Crane had received several more rocket hits and one bomb exploded on her aft deck but caused surprisingly little damage and no casualties. The strafing fire from the jets took the biggest toll and chewed up the steel plating on most of the top deck and bridge.
In the following weeks and months both the Israelis and the British would make no mention of the incident. Friendly fire was never looked upon fondly by either side.
FOURTEEN
November 4, 1956 - Ras Nasrani, Egypt
It was approaching sundown when the men of the 9th came to the outskirts of Ras Nasrani in the southern Sinai. The artillery pieces that they had lugged with them down the coastline were moved into positions overlooking the city. Black smoke rose from burning buildings and houses. The Israeli Air Force had bombed the city relentlessly for the last three days hoping to reduce resistance when the Israeli ground forces arrived.
Israeli reconnaissance patrols moved toward the city and found it abandoned by the Egyptians. The civilians were hiding in their homes and businesses and watched the Israelis through the cracks in their shutters. It was eerie that the Egyptians had left an entire coastal city unguarded. Even the 6-inch naval guns that overlooked the Straits of Tiran were silent and unmanned.
When the reconnaissance team reported back to Yoffe, he ordered the men of the 9th to advance into the city. They’d captured another city and a major gun installation without so much as a shot being fired. They were on a roll and morale was soaring.
Twelve miles to the east, Yoffe watched Sharm el-Sheikh through his binoculars. Even from that distance he could see Egyptian vehicles moving artillery and troops into position on the outskirts of the city. It was the most fortified city in all the Sinai. He had no illusion that the Egyptians would give up Sharm el-Sheikh without a very big and mean fight. But for the moment, he would let his men celebrate. He needed them confident for what they were about to face. Sharm el-Sheikh was the last major objective in Operation Kadesh. To the Israelis Sharm el-Sheikh meant freedom. If the city fell, Israeli ships could be assured access through the Straits of Tiran and could open trade routes to eastern Africa and Asia.
The Israelis had superior numbers and were well-led. The Egyptians had strong defensive positions with trenches, minefields and barbwire. The Egyptian soldiers were well-armed with artillery, heavy machine guns and anti-tank guns. As small units in defensive positions, the Egyptians fought well.
Operation Kadesh called for Yoffe and the Israeli soldiers of the 9th to attack Sharm el-Sheikh first from the east. The Israelis wanted the Egyptian commander to reorient his forces to face the threat coming at them from the eastern side of the city and port. While the Egyptians concentrated on the east, Sharon and the 202nd would attack from the west and smash through the enemy positions to overrun the city. Once Sharon and his men were in the city and attacking the enemy from the rear, the Egyptian commander would have no choice but to surrender or die.
The terrain between Ras Nasrani and Sharm el-Sheikh was flat as a pancake and offered little protection for the attacking force. It made Yoffe and his men a tempting target for the Egyptians. The 9th’s attack needed to be convincing. Yoffe send a company around the city’s outskirts to attack from the mountains to the north.
November 4, 1956 - Tor, Egypt
Sharon was careful not to make any movements toward Sharm el-Sheikh. He wanted the Egyptian commander to believe that he and his men were getting ready to head west toward the Suez Canal and had no orders to attack the southern-most city. If the Egyptians felt threatened by Sharon and his brigade they would not consolidate their forces to the east and the 202nd’s assault could be stalled. The road from Tor to Sharm el-Sheikh went along the eastern coastline of the Sinai and was mostly flat until it reached the southern mountains that towered over the city’s northeastern side. The 202nd would travel fast once they launched their attack from their staging area in Tor. It would give them the element of surprise over the Egyptians. The Egyptian commander was blind beyond the horizon because of their lack of reconnaissance aircraft.
November 4, 1956 - Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
Even the Israeli A
ir Force was careful to only bomb and strafe the Egyptian defensive positions on the eastern side of the city so it looked as if that was the side of the planned assault. Israeli fighter-bombers pounded away at the Egyptians for three days straight depriving them of sleep and shattering their nerves. While the warplanes had little effect against the well-protected Egyptians, their bombs and machineguns were demoralizing and created a large number of desertions from the inexperienced soldiers.
Colonel Raouf Mahfouz Zaki commanded the Egyptian forces at Sharm el-Sheikh. He had ordered the abandonment of Ras Nasrani once he received reports of a large Israeli force approaching the city from the north. He knew he could not defend both Ras Nasrani and Sharm el-Sheikh with the two battalions under his command. The two cities were far enough apart that they could not support each other with their artillery batteries and Zaki had no tanks under his command. He decided that the deep-water port and the airfield at Sharm el-Sheikh were more important strategically than the costal guns that protected the Straits of Tiran. Sharm el-Sheikh had substantially better prepared defensive positions than Ras Nasrani.
Zaki had also been told by his superiors in Cairo that he and his men were to be picked up by the Egyptian navy as soon as transports became available. He needed the port facilities to load his equipment and men. Sharm el-Sheikh was the obvious choice to defend. In the meantime, he and his men were ordered to defend the Straits of Tiran.
Zaki was in a black box. Without aircraft, he could not see out to know what was coming. He had reconnaissance patrols, but many were destroyed or captured by the Israelis before they could report back on their findings. He didn’t know from where the Israelis would arrive or what was the size of their force. He could only wait and see how the battlefield unfolded. He suspected that Israeli paratroopers would most likely be dropped on his flanks forcing him to divide his forces even more. It was a hopeless situation. He was biding his time, hoping the sealift would arrive before the Israelis.
Zaki was disappointed when he saw the first Israeli units occupy Ras Nasrani at noon on November the 4th. He was going to have to fight to save his men and his honor. He wasn’t afraid. There was too much to do to be afraid. He just didn’t want to make a mistake that would cost Egyptian lives. Other than that, he and his men would do their best to fend off the Israelis. He realized he was in a strong defensive position and he planned to make the Israeli pay dearly when they tried to capture the city.
It was dark on November 4, 1956 when Yoffe and the men of the 9th arrived on the outskirts of Sharm el-Sheikh, the last major strategic position held by the Egyptians in the Sinai. The Egyptians had been shelling the Israelis with artillery ever since they left the outskirts of Ras Nasrani. Egyptian fire teams had kept up a continuous harassment of machinegun fire the entire ten miles of the Israeli advance. The Egyptians would set up, fire on the Israelis forcing them to hit the ground, then abandon their position and fall back before the Israelis could overrun or flank them. Once they were out of danger, the Egyptian fire teams would set up the next ambush. Hit and run. Hit and run. It was old school guerilla warfare.
Yoffe could see that his men were tired but he decided to push the attack. He needed the Egyptians to reposition their troops before Sharon and the 202nd arrived. The Israelis advanced and met stiff resistance from the Egyptian trenches. Tracer rounds from the machineguns streaked across the desert and lit up the sky.
The battle lasted four hours. At one point, it looked like the Israelis would overrun the western Egyptian positions, but Zaki sent in his reserves at the last moment and drove the Israelis back.
The Israelis were exhausted. Yoffe ordered his men to fall back into the desert. The Egyptians kept up their artillery fire, determined not to the allow the Israelis to regroup. Yoffe ordered his men to dig in and wait until morning, when they would attack again.
November 5, 1956 - Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
At dawn, the Israeli Air Force arrived at Sharm el-Sheikh. The warplanes proceeded with a massive bombardment that included Napalm and rockets. The Egyptians were driven from their forward trenches and forced back into the city where they took up defensive positions in the buildings and houses.
During the predawn hours, an Israeli battalion had swept around the northern side of the city using the mountains to obscure their movements. Yoffe’s main force remained at the eastern edge of the city. When the air force let up, the Israelis attacked from two sides and tore into the Egyptians with everything they had.
It was too much. Within an hour, Zaki and his men surrendered. Sharm el-Sheikh fell to the Israeli 9th Infantry Brigade four hours before Sharon and the 202nd Paratrooper Brigade arrived. Yoffe had unknowingly stolen Sharon’s thunder and Sharon would never let him forget it.
Operation Kadesh ended in victory once again. The Israelis had completed their part of the Sèvres Protocol. Now it was time for the French and British to complete their end of the bargain. Operation Revise was about to begin and the world was about to become a much more dangerous place to live in.
November 5, 1956 – Sinai Desert, Egypt
It was early in the morning, a few hours before sun up. The fighting had calmed to a lull in the northern Sinai. The Egyptians were in full retreat back to the Suez Canal and fire fights involving stray soldiers were sporadic. The Israelis had strict instruction not to advance any further than their current positions. They were allowed to defend themselves, but there was a sort of self-imposed ceasefire. The Israelis did not chase after the Egyptians. They had beaten them badly and Dayan was anxious not to see any more Israelis die when it wasn’t necessary to achieve his objectives. They had won a great victory for Israel and that was enough. They were in a strong position to negotiate when the peace process finally started.
As part of their defense, the task forces had placed dozens of outposts throughout the desert. Any change in the Egyptians retreat would be immediately detected and the Israelis would respond. In the meantime, it was boring guard duty for the Israeli troops. A far cry from the excitement they had faced in the last five days.
The desert sky had already started to lighten and was now a dull grayish-blue with the stars fading. Two Israeli soldiers manned a light machinegun overlooking a section of the desert toward the south. “I hope I get a promotion after this. I really need a raise,” said a private. “Chana and I are getting married as soon as I get back.”
“You don’t want to get married,” said a corporal. “You’re both too young.”
“I’m too young to get married?” said the private kneeling behind the machinegun. “I’m risking my life and fighting a fucking war in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“One has nothing to do with the other.”
“Like hell it doesn’t. When did you get married?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
“Why is that irrelevant?”
“It’s about maturity, not age. I was far more mature than you when I was your age.”
“But you said I was too young, not immature.”
“You’re both. Look… I’m not saying it to be mean. I just don’t want to see you making a mistake and ending up in a divorce.”
“We’re in love with each other.”
“Irrelevant. Shit happens. People change.”
“We’re not gonna get a divorce.”
“You say that but you don’t know.”
“Nobody knows the future. Except God. God knows the future.”
“Don’t go getting religious on me. We’re just talking here. No need to bring God in on the conversation.”
“Hey. I think I saw something.”
“Where?”
“Out there,” said the private pointing. “Two hundred meters.”
The corporal looked out in the direction the private was pointing. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because you can’t see shit at night. I’m telling you I saw something.”
“So, what the hell was it?”
“I don’t know.
A guy I think.”
“You saw a guy? You mean like a soldier?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t look like he was carrying anything. A soldier would be carrying a rifle, right?”
“Maybe. The Egyptians have been tossing their weapons so they can move faster.”
“You think he’s Egyptian?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see him. But who else would be roaming around the desert in the dark?”
“You think he’s gonna attack?”
“I doubt it. Most of the Egyptians are running for the Suez. He probably just got lost.”
“But you don’t know that?”
“No. Not for sure.”
“So, he could be a sniper or something?”
“I suppose.”
It was Coyle. He was wandering. He had lost his sense of direction. He was dehydrated and exhausted. His mind was not working right. He was just putting one foot in front of the other. It was all he could think to do. He hadn’t slept in two days and was starting to hallucinate. He saw Brigitte. His cracked lips smiled. “Brigitte, you’re here.” The ghostly image said nothing in return. “Are you mad at me?” said Coyle concerned.
The image shook its head and reached out with both its arms. Coyle smiled again. He was with Brigitte. He was safe and could sleep now.
“It’s definitely a man,” said the private, staring into the darkness.
“What’s he doing?” said the corporal also looking out but not seeing anything.
“He’s walking toward us that’s what he’s doing.”
“That can’t be good. He’s closing his distance.”
“I’m going to fire a burst.”
“Alright. I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”
Sèvres Protocol Page 25
