'Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine 1936' [‎100v] (205/294)

blocking the wadis against the return of rebels who had been operaf
during the night on the road and railway. The Southern Brigade us^
the 8 th Hussars and armoured cars, was to establish a cordon on the
of roads from Huwwara to Ein Sinya, and thence via Abud to Al Muzeir' 6
a frontage of 47 miles. In addition the Southern Brigade was to s
by 2000 hrs. a hill North-West of Saif it which was known to be used^^
the enemy as a signal station, and to surround Salfit and Farkha bv ,71
night. In addition they were also to block certain wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. entrances t "
catch returning rebels. By 2000 hrs. the Southern Brigade infantry °
columns which were to drive the area next morning were to be in ^
position at the points where the various wad is debouched Onto the
Nablus-Ramallah road.
At first light the following day the Northern Brigade was to start
an exhaustive search of all wadis and caves in its area, paying special
attention to the neighbourhood of Kafr Thulth. Simultaneously the
Southern Brigade, with the Camerons working from the East and the Bed
fords from the West, was to sweep inwards towards the centre of their
area searching en route with particular regard to the neighbourhood of
Farkha. Reconnaissance aircraft were to co-operate and were to be
prepared if necessary to drop food, water, ammunition and medical stores
on isolated detachments in answer to improvised ground signals. The
Air Striking Force was to stand by at Ramleh at immediate call.
All went according to plan and by midnight on the 5th. most of the
troops had reached their allotted positions without opposition, although
some of the cross-country moves in the dark took much longer than had
been anticipated and several columns had the greatest difficulty in recog
nising their objectives, both maps and guides being equally uncertain in
some cases. ^ Force HQ. and the two Brigade HQs. had been the first to
f et in P osltlon Just before dark, and an hour or so later the cordon
troops moved out followed by the infantry battalions in motor transport.
Long before midnight the whole countryside seemed alive with troops and
few Arabs ventured outside their homes. By the early hours of the
mornmg Force HQ. had been linked by telephone to both Brigades, a
lineq C h!Snn ? a ^ hleVTn ^ n '! : in the absence of any signal section, the
of . ^ f. ai ^ nand in the dark over difficult ground by personnel
wLn fh, R^ Sn S 1S P ermanent lin e detachment. One incident occurred
fl - red upon near Abud whilst establishing the
j . ‘ W, nd the actlon which followed a few Arabs were killed,
it wao the only opposition encountered during the night.
thrJZt 3 ^ 0 t 00 hrs * next mornin S the driv e b egan ^ continued
to be°cp 1 -v° an exce P tiona lly hot day. Few inhabitants were
The villacrp-r slde the villages and no opposition was offered.
tlooll be b0th awed ^ surprised at the sight of the
effect* nt hn + C ^ r0gatl0n proved how successful had been the recent
been'full v 1 pr ? pa ^ anda: ma rLy of the villages seemed to have
^ea had na^ f tne 1 l ^ eSsion that control of the whole of the hill
friendl’' and hnc; G0I f P Ki int0 tl:le 11311(13 oP the rebels. They appeared
Uon as t^hp S', 10 ln m ° St Cases ^ but attempt3 to obtain info^na-
infantrv ctni U 3 Were en tirely unsuccessful. The progress of the
so bad that tt* 13 slower than had been expected: the going was
progress whi^ ^ ° f the .^ were often the only m^ans of
and hill , tops wa= mn 0 ?" 3 Gddlnbdn g under a fierce sun to search caves
Possible poI exhausting. Under such conditions it proved
extremely difficult^ 3 ?u C ° Ver ^ Pron t a ge allotted to them and
on the flanks. ° r them t0 main tain any sort of touch with those
44816-1
154