'Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine 1936' [‎18r] (40/294)

during a night ambush by a band of some 60 rifles, and this brought the
list of military and H.A.F. casualties to just under 50. On the night
of the 16th the Dorsets detachment in Hebron, which had been suffering
from troublesome sniping of the billets, carried out a successful ambush
and killed a prominent local leader of fanatical character in a fierce
hand-to-hand struggle: a collective fine of £ 2,000 was also imposed upon
the town.
17th - 51st July
Two further reinforcing units, released from Egypt on the withdrawal
of Italian forces from Libya, reached Palestine before the end of July.
19 Coy. R.A.S.C. arrived by road on the 20th and assumed the duties o
providing tactical transport for infantry in the Jerusalem ar ^* p 1 ®
second unit was "A” Coy. 1st Anti-Aircraft Bn. R.E. which was allotted to
the HQ Troops, while its lights were distributed in sections over a wide
area of the country to assist in counter-measures against snipers and
saboteurs on the railway line and the Iraq Petroleum Company 3 pipe-lme,
which had several times been punctured by rifle fire and set alight.
The situation in the G-aza area was starting to give cause for
anxiety, and it was evident that arms smugglers were making good use ol
the desert gap at the southern end of the cordon. ^ It was an area P a ^"
ticularly suited to the Ford pick-ups of the 8 th Hussars, ana on tne 30
July the Regiment, less a squadron retained at Jerusalem, was movea o
Gaza and Beersheba and the area placed under the Regimental Commander.
Two platoons of infantry, a section of sappers and a searchlight detach
ment were added to its garrison.
Several more important engagements took place before the end of
July. On the 20th a convoy was fired upon near the Inn of the Good
Samaritan on the Jerusalem- Jericho road. It was escorted by a few
military guards and one aircraft. The aircraft promptly a^tac^ed -..nth
machine-gun fire and 20 -lb. bombs and inflicted seven known causaltxes,
all of whom were killed. In the early morning of the 22 nd a patrol o.
the newly-arrived Lincolnshire Regiment was ambushed from uhe dense
groves bordering the min road near Tulkarm and suffered five casualties,
including one Private killed. On the 26th an action on the Jerusalem-
Jaffa road provided an excellent demonstration of troops ana aircraf
working in close co-operation. The aircraft which was called to the
scene of the engagement indicated the location of a small band then
retiring among the hills; and while the troops manoeuvred for position
the aircraft pinned the enemy with bombs, until a aetachment of the
Dorsets was able to close with the bayonet. The bombs had already
accounted for two of the band, nine more were killed by the troops,
while one succeeded in escaping v/ith slight wounds: -here were n
casualties among the Government forces.
A small band was successfully routed near Nablus on the 27th, and
on the 28th two further actions took place in the same neighbourhood.
Over 30 casualties were inflicted upon the Arabs,
stable was killed. Other events before tne end of tbe “onth were th
announcement on the 30th of the composition and terms of reference of
the Royal Commission which was to visit Palestine as soon as order was
restored; and a particularly horrible bomb outrage at ^lAviV. to
the morning of the 23rd an Arab threw a Bomo into a crowu oi chil
ranging in age from 7 to 13 as they were leaving the courtyard of a
Yemenite Jewish religious school; 9 of the chxld^n were injured, and
a worse disaster was only averted by the bomb accidentally hitting the
fence and rebounding out of the courtyard into the street.
Further legal difficulties were meanwhile arising out of the
application of punitive measures under the Emergency Regulations, an
on the 30th July the High Court, composed as in the cases of tne Jaffa
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