Etziongrad MTO (id:#61410)

(Genesis II ID: Genesis II #3)   [next]   [previous]

Prior Publication: Genesis 48

Kfar Etzion, Palestine Mandate 1948-05-13 (2 others)

Overview:

As the end of the British Mandate drew closer, the fighting in the region intensified. On May 4, a joint force of British, Arab Legion and irregular troops launched a major punitive attack on Kfar Etzion. The Haganah abandoned a few outposts but generally resisted, and the attack failed, leaving 12 Haganah soldiers dead, 30 wounded, with a similar number of Arab legionnaires killed, and several dozen wounded. Units from the bloc may have attacked Arab traffic the following day, but the failure of the Legion's assault led Hebronites and Legion units to plan a final attack and destroy the Etzion Bloc militarily. The final assault on Kfar Etzion began on May 12. Parts of two Arab Legion companies, assisted by hundreds of local irregulars, had a dozen armored cars and artillery, to which the Jewish defenders had no effective answer. The commander of Kfar Etzion requested from the Central Command in Jerusalem permission to evacuate the kibbutz, but was ordered to stay. Later in the day, the Arabs captured the Russian Orthodox monastery, which the Haganah used as a perimeter fortress for the Kfar Etzion area, killing twenty-four of its thirty-two defenders. On May 13, an attack broke through Kfar Etzion's defenses and reached the settlement's center, effectively cutting off the perimeter outposts from each other.

Defender: Israeli (Kibbutz inhabitants, Haganah troops of the Etzioni Brigade and Palmach troops of the Harel Brigade)  

Errata (source)