By 30 October, the 3rd Battalion, of the Parachute Regiment, in Cyprus, was starting to prepare for an "airborne exercise." On 3 November they got their orders for Operation Musketeer, an invasion of Port Said set for 6 November. The jump was moved forward by 24 hours leaving the naval support, sailing from Malta, out of range for the first day of the invasion. The aircraft used were Valettas carrying twenty jumpers and Hastings carrying thirty. At 0300hr they boarded the planes for the jump that was to take place just after dawn. Many men slept on the planes. On 5 November, 1956, 3 Para jumped from six hundred feet onto the El Gamil Airfield. P-Hr (parachute hour) was 0515. The winds were almost zero. Their Intelligence told them they would be outnumbered five to one. The Egyptians had an armoured division in the desert to the south of the town and a battalion group surrounding the airfield. The orders called for "A" Coy to capture the control tower buildings and then secure a bridge at the west end of the field. Before take-off aerial photos showed the bridge had already been destroyed. "B" Coy was to capture the buildings at the east end of the airfield. Many members of "B" Coy landed right on the Egyptian position and were engaged in immediate hand to hand combat. "B" Coy lost five to ten percent of their men within seconds. The British method of packing their weapons in Sims containers caused great difficulty for those who found themselves under fire even before they landed. The north and south side of the airfield were bounded by water "C" Coy was to act as a reserve force and assist in capturing the buildings. The Paras captured the airfield in about forty five minutes and had it ready to use by noon. Unfortunately the runways were too short for the British transport planes so all their reinforcements and supplies had to be parachuted in.
