Warfare Operation Musketeer The Fighting / Battles that counted Chapter 13

Dr.Yahia Al Shaer

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Operation Musketeer

Chapter 13
The Fighting / Battles that counted



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The following lines about the street fightings (battles) in Port Said as of and during

1- 07.45 Monday the 5th ( while and after the British Para Landing at El-Gamil Airport (west of Port Said)

2- 07.45 Monday the 5th ( while and after the French Legion Etranger Para Landing) at both the Raswa Area
(south of Port Said) and the customes area (south of Port Fouad), to cut all the roads of Egyptian Army Units
comming or leaving both cities


3- All Tuesday the 6th. as of 07.00 ( after the British and French) amphebian landings in Port Said ( British LVTs and RTR 4 Centurion Tanks), and the French massive amphebian landings in Port Fouad ( backed with AMX-13 Tanks, Baton Tanks, and
Selfprobelled Tank-guns)

4- The topics will includne the sever Wednesday 7th. November 1956, batteles, paticularly attacking the Navy House Building,
which was the British Naval HQ ( prior to their departure from Egypt on 18th. June 1956, in accordance with the signed Anglo-Egyptian Suez Canal Area Evacuation-Treaty ).

The topics, are short description of the street and areas fightings that occured during those three invasion and assault days.

Please bear in mind, that this is only a summary , extracted from Yahia Al Shaer's arabic book "The Other Side of the Coin, The 1956.." about this forgotten War and the secret details of the Egyptian underground resistance activites and ambushes in Port Said".

Because of understandable reasons, it is recommended, to refer to the abovementioned book, to get larger in-depth details about these street battles / fightings and also to capture the complete magnitude and the frame of historical information about the resistance and the fightings in Port Said

The book's related chapters documenting the deatails of all the street fightings , between the Anglo-French invadors and the
Egyptian defenders - both during and after the Anglo-French assault operations against the city - are enriched by detailed maps, the exact positions of the troops and the development of the fighting.

Please note that these Web pages and the following chapters will always remain as no sbustitute for the book, for any one interested in the more details.

A question to answer

A question to answer at the begining, is where was Yahia Al Shaer during these decisive three days, so that he knows all these details??...it is a legetimate question and I ow the reader the answer:

- Yahia was one of the Special National Guards Commandos Groups (Feadeyeen), distributed within the City premises
for expected street fightings

- This selected (higly specialised and trained) group was assigned to move around the city to assist weaker defending positions facing the possible enemy approaches to Port Said.

- The focusing was at the beginning from the West direction (Moslem Cemetry), against approaching Para Troops from El-Gamil Airpot, then move to the North beach to combat any amphebian landings approaches. Port-Fouad, was under the full control
of the Egyptian Army as wel as the retreating units from Sinai (post Isreael`s Attack)

- The task assigned to Yahia and his group came at 06.30 early morning on Monday 5th November, directly from the leading Commander of the National Guards troops, Colonel Ghareeb El Hoseiny

- The group's task was striktly limited to sniper activities with the highst cautiousness to avoid being captured, under all circumstances and by all possible means

- Their deployment started at the West of the City (Sewage Garden and Moslem Cemetry) at the moment of the Parachute landing, to face the Paracute drop and engage in the fighting.

- They group was ordered again -by an Egyptian Army officer there- to move to the city center, as the French drop was setteled
at Raswa for the case of eventual necessisty or advancing to the south of the city.

- Expecting an approach from Raswa in the south, we were ordered again, to take positions along Mohamed Aly street and Saad Zagloul , the main Axis of the city and position near to El Mahrousa point), to face eventual amphebian assault and or Raswa.... We did NOT know who is who of the dropped Parachutists. We thought they were also English

- Yahia and commerades had kept positions near by Abassi Mosque and the Mahrousa street

- The great fire, near to Abbasi Mosque ( and the all the Houses Block north of it) , resulted from the British Air and Naval bombardement , had damaged the buildings in that area and made it impossible to hide in their traps behind their arcades.

Never the less, we were waiting the approching strom from north to south along Mohamed Aly street, near to El-Huseiny and Elmahrousa streets, where fierce fightings took place, particularly when the advancing BR Centurions were advancing and penetrating Mohammad Aly Street southwards, to meet the British toops ( LVTs and Centurions advancing fron North-West)
and French already in Raswa Area, to a joint further advance to the sout ( Ismaelia, Suez and CAIRO) to topple Nasse and the

Egyptian Regime .

- On Tuesday 06th Novembers, he was one of snipers awaiting the comming LVTs and Centurions along the Mohamed Aly Street. Yahia's sniping targets were the approching LVTs and Centurions armours.

- Our group was able to halt a LVT as a result of direct hit of the driver. The LVT stopped, their occupants had left it and embarked another LVT approching in que. The LVT was recovered by the British some houres later, but the the group suffered substancial and very high losse. We lost 3 persons out of 5.

- Together with the REST of his group and some infantry soldiers, who joined him, they were positioned at the cross-road Saad Zagloul / Mohaned Aly streets and kept positins until early after-noon.

- Hit and run Tactic / Methode was the following task...During these activities he was engaged in combat fighting with some aproaching British soldiers, near to the Govornorate building, where he lost the majority of his elite group, and had to act
upon his own accord after evaluating the field situation.

- Together with additional commerades form the Army and a pair of armed citizend, they consequently, proceeded south east twards the area of the customs house near to the Navy House, where a savage and long lasting tough fighting between the British CRM and the Egyptian Navy soldiers was going on in the area.

- The new formation and Yahia were covering flanks from the south west direction near the Railway station square. This gave them a possiblity to increase the fire directed at the CRMs approaching from the eastern direction supported with their centurions. The fighting and both controlled and uncontrolled shooting from every direction (foe and friend) was unimaginable....

The more danger came from behind,...our own people... They were just shooting any one any thing which moves....

We were dressed in dark khaki, which could have irretated and had caused friendly fire as well....... It is a great luck, that he was
not hit mistakingly by the fire of his own volks as many others had ...

Children of all ages had rifles and modern sub-machine guns... They were also shooting....They have seen howcowboys did in movies and films and now they just pulled the trigger..!!




45F[1].jpeg


Yahia, Flag Guard on the right​



SEPARATE TOPICS and Photos WILL FOLLOW



 
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CASUALTIES*


ROYAL NAVY
6th November 1956​

Royal Marines, Suez War, Anglo-French Invasion of Port Said, Egypt

40 Commando​

  • DUDHILL, Lorin, Marine, RM 15070, killed
  • FUDGE, Ronald J, Marine, RMV 202128, killed
  • MCCARTHY, Peter W, Act/Lieutenant, RM, killed in action
  • UFTON, Edward A, Act/Lieutenant, RM, killed in action
  • HOWARD, David, Marine, RM 15145, killed
  • DENNIS, Donald H A, Sergeant, RM, PLY/X 4537, killed by sniper

42 Commando​

  • PRICE, Bernard J, Marine, RM 11202, killed
  • SHORT, Brian J, Marine, RM 11158, killed

45 Commando​

  • FOWLER, Michael J, Marine, RM 14245, killed
  • GOODFELLOW, Cyril E, Marine, RM 13183, killed
Note:
Some of the Royal Marines, from 45 Cdo, were killed by "friendly fire" (Wikipedia).
An online account by Corporal(?) Colin Ireland of 45 Cdo, who was badly wounded in this attack confirms they were hit by cannon fire from a single carrier-borne Wyvern as they went in to finish off an enemy position that had just been strafed by other Wyverns.


OTHER

Details of other casualties have not been found. Anglo-French totals are quoted in the Despatch, but this is only believed to be up to the cease-fire on the 6 November. It appears that other Allied casualties occurred after this date and up to the Allied evacuation on the 22 December 1956 :

Britain - 16 killed, 96 wounded
France - 10 killed, 33 wounded
Egypt - well in excess of 1,000 military killed, a portion in action against the Israelis in the Sinai desert

The 10 Royal Marines killed leaves six from the other British services, of whom four were lost with 3 Para (Paradata.org). This would leave another two killed.

The Despatch lists two more British losses - (1) Lieutenant Moorhouse who was kidnapped (but not recovered) and (2) an officer of the Scots Guards ambushed and killed on the 16 December.



Dr. Yahia Al Shaer​

 

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