MIDDLE EAST DATABASE
Suez Crisis, 1956
By Tom Cooper
Sep 24, 2003, 19:55
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The Catastrophe in Sinai
The massive onslaught against the EAF made it clear to the Egyptian leadership that an Anglo-French invasion was imminent. Consequently, the order for the pullout of the Army troops from Sinai was repeated, and additional units sent towards Port Said area. For the units deployed along the Israeli border this was as start of a catastrophe: so far they fought from well fortified positions, but now – with part of them was already broken, while others were outmaneuvered by the Israelis – they had to retreat towards the west along only three roads, which were also used by the Israelis, and under constant air attacks of the IDF/AF, which was not contested by the EAF any more. As soon as the Israelis noticed this movement, they of course tried their best to put the Egyptians under a heavy pressure, and the result was a rout of the Egyptian Army on Sinai
Most of the remaining intact Egyptian units were pulling back along the coastal road from al-Arish. Mustangs repeatedly hit their columns. Much less hampered by the enemy anti-aircraft fire, the Israelis also suffered not as heavily as the day before: on 1 November only one Mustang was shot down. The pilot managed a crash-landing in the desert and was later recovered.
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| The Israeli Mustangs were continuously sent in new strikes against the Egyptian Army in Sinai. They caused some losses, but also suffered heavily from the fierce Egyptian defences. At the time, the IDF/AF was far from the glamour of its later days: note the improvised bomb-trolley. (IDF) |
In addition, also a part of the French contingent in Israel was permitted to start flying combat sorties. The F-84Fs and Mystéres flew 62 combat sorties on this day, claiming destruction of 38 T-34 tanks alone. None were shot down, but several were damaged by ground fire, and two crashed on landing. Elsewhere, the IDF/AF flew a series of strikes in the Mittla, Bir Jifjafa, and Bir Salim areas in an effort to prevent the Egyptians for establishing a second defensive line. Finally, in the afternoon, the 27th Israeli Mechanized Brigade occupied al-Arish, capturing piles of ammunition, 20 T-34s and six SU-100 tanks, and two Mraz training aircraft.
In the following night, the RAF repeated a series of strikes with Valiant and Canberra bombers hitting Cairo West, Fayd, Kasfareet, and Luxor. Canberras of the 15 Sqn were credited with destruction of four Il-28s at Luxor, where also the runways were cut in several pieces. By the morning of 2 November, the EAF was not an effective combat force any more: most of the remaining aircraft were not operational and destined to be destroyed during additional strikes against different airfields. The rest of the Egyptian MiG-15s and few Il-28s, as well as a number of Syrian MiG-15, which were to be put together, tested, and used for training of Syrian pilots in Egypt, were flown out of the country. Understanding the situation, the Anglo-French HQs ordered the start of the 2nd Phase of the Operation Musketeer, which intended to interdict the bases and the supply system of the Egyptian Army, and demoralize the population.
The first such strike was flown against the radio station in Cairo by 18 Canberras of the 27, 44, and 61 Sqns, based at Nicosia, escorted by 12 F-84Fs. The target was marked by two Canberras of the 18 Sqn, and particularly successful: dropping their bombs from a level of only 1.000m, the British hit the building and destroyed the main antenna mast. For the next two days, the British Radio Sharq al-Adna was able to emit propagandistic shows on the same frequency completely undisturbed. Other strikes on the same day hit again the airfields at Almaza and Cairo, but foremost the Egyptian Army bases nearby, and also the large material depot at Huckstep. The USN, however, was still very active, and a pair of RAF Venoms was bounced by two VA-94 F-9F-8s (based on USS Randolph), while underway to strafe Kibrit.
On the sea, the Corsairs and Avengers of the French Aéronavale sunk an Egyptian patrol boat, but also almost clashed with two USN destroyers near Alexandria. The FAA Sea Hawks and Sea Venoms repeated strikes against Cairo West, Bilbeis, Dekhlia, Inchas, and Almaza, where the Egyptian AAA was meanwhile weak. Nevertheless, over Almaza a Sea Venom of the NAS 893 was damaged, and the pilot, Lt.Cdr. Willcox, had to make an emergency landing aboard the HMS Eagle. But, it was the depot at Huckstep that became the main target for the rest of the day, and repeatedly hit by more RAF Venoms and AdA F-84Fs, as well as some naval aircraft. Hundreds of tanks and different other vehicles were destroyed despite fierce Egyptian AAA. As the EAF was not responding also slower aircraft, like Wyvrens and French Corsairs could now be deployed, albeit one of the later was badly damaged during an attack against Dekhlia, and had to be abandoned by the pilot, Lt. Nève, which was recovered by SAR helicopters.
In Sinai, the Israeli 37th Brigade attacked omm-Kattef on the morning of 2 November, supported by Mustangs. This time the unit broke through and then started moving westwards as the nearby 7th Armored Brigade misidentified it for the Egyptians: in the following fratricide battle, the CO and numerous troops of the 37th Brigade were killed. Meanwhile, the IDF/AF turned its attention to south Sinai, in order to support the 9th Brigade, deployed to capture Sharm el-Sheikh and thus open the Straits of Tyran for Israeli shipping. Sharm el-Sheikh, however, was a tough nut, and during the first series of strikes – undertaken by some 30 Israeli aircraft (foremost including the older types, such like Mosquitoes, Mustangs, and even B-17s), the Mystére flown by Maj. Peled was shot down. The pilot was recovered by an L-18 in the following night. Several other aircraft were badly damaged and barely managed it back to Israel for emergency landings. These strikes were actually flown too early, as the 9th Brigade – moving along the narrow and poor roads – could reach the town only two days later. But, the Israelis were in a rush, and so a decision was taken the C-47/Dakotas of the 103 Sqn to fly two companies of paras to A-Tur, a small town south of Port Said. 175 paras were dropped over the place around 17:00hrs, which by the evening have cleared a small landing strip, where additional transports could bring reinforcements, supplies, and even some vehicles, which made it possible to mount a second prong of the offensive towards Sharm al-Sheikh.
Allied Losses
In the night to 3 November the RAF sent 22 Canberras from Cyprus in a new raid against the Luxor airfield, where more damage was caused. Two additional waves of Canberras and Valiants then hit Huckstep before the bad weather precluded any additional starts from Malta. The material losses of the Egyptians by this time became so catastrophic, that Col. Salim suggested Nasser to commit a suicide. But, the public – encouraged by wrong reports about large victories against Israel – was supportive for the President in these decisive moments. The British and the French, namely, were already under a massive pressure to stop their operations from different sides, and had to considerably change their plans. In order to accelerate the preparations – and due to there being no MiGs to intercept them – on 3 November 20 Canberras of the 10, 15, and 44 Sqn, escorted by Hunters, flew strikes against the train stations at Nfisha, and Ismailia, as well as the barracks at Almaza. The EAF, on the contrary, almost ceased any operations: only a very small number of flights were recorded, mainly for the purpose of moving remaining aircraft to safer places.
Even these efforts were not easy to organized. At Fayd, RAF Venoms cached two EAF Meteors during refueling, and destroyed them both, and at Kibrit the last intact MiG-15 in Egypt was destroyed by the pilots of the 6 Sqn RAF. Four other Venoms from the same unit were on armed reconnaissance mission, at very low level, near al-Qantara, when they suffered their fist loss, as the formation first stumbled over a concentration of Egyptian flaks, and then the plane flown by Flt. Lt. Sheehan hit the water surface and crashed while trying to evade.
On the sea, there was frantic activity. The HMS Albion was taken out of the line in order to replenish in preparation for supporting the invasion. The remaining two British and two French carriers therefore had to accelerate their operations to compensate. The Avengers from Arromanches then detected the USN submarine USS Cutlass in the middle of the French task force, and forced it to surface. Finally, the HMS Eagle was ordered to send a strike against the Gamil Bridge, west from the Gamil airfield, which was to become one of the first targets of the invasion. Several Sea Venoms and Wyvrens flew the attack, but missed, while eight Sea Hawks from HMS Bulwark hit the Almaza, destroying one Meteor, a C-46 transport, and a single T-6 Harvard on the ground. The French Corsairs also attacked Almaza, where Lt.deV Lancrenon observed two EAF Meteors at take-off. While the rest of his formation started evasive maneuvering, Lancrenon initiated a pursuit: in the chaos which then developed he seems to have been shot down by the Egyptian AAA and was never seen again (the fate of Lt.deV Lancrenon remains unknown until today: Radio Cairo reported that his Corsair came down in the suburbs of Cairo and the pilot was killed in the cockpit; the Italian Military attaché in Egypt, however, later reported Lancrenon managed to bail out, but was subsequently lynched by mob). During the same attack, another Corsair was damaged by AAA as well, one landed aboard LaFayette with a bomb hung up under its wing, and a third example barely managed to return due to engine problems.
During additional strikes against the Gamil Bridge finally also the Wyvern flown by Lt. McCarthy was hit. The British pilot flew out over the sea and then ejected safely. Only recently it became known that this formation of Royal Navy fighters was actually intercepted by two Soviet-flown MiG-17Fs, lead by advisor-pilot Sincov Sergeiy Anatolievich, which were underway on a patrol north of the Suez Canal. The Soviets found the solitary Wyvern and attacked, with Sincov scoring several hits. As his gun-camera was not working he was never credited with this air-to-air victory. Nevertheless, the bridge was finally dropped by a direct hit of a 454kg bomb in additional attacks. In the late afternoon, the Sea Hawks from HMS Bulwark bombed Almaza, claiming destruction of 18 Chipmunks, Meteors, Furies, Harvards, and Lancasters in several waves.
As the Anglo-French operations were continued, and the Soviets threated with retaliation against Paris and London, the USA felt forced to prepare for all eventualities as well. The SAC put the 306th BW, equipped with B-47s and stationed at Ben Guerir, in Morocco, on alert. Already on 26 October, additional B-47s of the 70th SRW were deployed to Sidi Slimane, also in Morocco, in order to fly reconnaissance over Cyprus and Egypt. They were intercepted several times by RAF Hunters. The fighters from the USS Coral Sea and USS Randolph intensified their disturbing of British and French naval operations as well, forcing British carriers to repeatedly scramble Sea Hawks and Sea Venoms to intercept. This forced the British to deploy Shackleton MR.2s of the 37 Sqn, based at Malta and in Libya, in order to keep the US carriers under control. The ASW aircraft of the USN were active as well, as the E-1 Trackers were searching for French and British subs in the area south of Cyprus. The situation thus became even more tense, and the tensions probably reached their peak when on the afternoon of 3 November Israeli aircraft attacked a Royal Navy destroyer that operated near Sharm el-Sheikh: for a moment there was a serious threat of the Anglo-French-Israeli coalition falling apart, and the British requested the Israeli officers to be excluded from the joint HQ while considering attacking Israel as well.
The Strike against Luxor
The tempo of Anglo-French operations was not decreased on 4 November, although both the HMS Eagle and the two French carriers were pulled out of the line for replenishment, and no additional counter air strikes by Valiants and Canberras were flown. The reconnaissance showed, that so far an estimated 158 out of 216 EAF aircraft were destroyed. Nevertheless, the fighters from HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion flew no less but 355 combat sorties on the day, mainly striking different Egyptian Army columns and bases, foremost Huckstep, and also – around 07:00hrs – against several patrol boats of the Egyptian Navy. In the middle of this activity, the USN’s Coral Sea carrier battle group sailed though the center of the Royal Navy Task Force launching own aircraft! As in a miracle, there were no collisions – neither between the ships, nor between the aircraft. The RAF Venoms repeated their strikes against EAF airfields, claiming destruction of five MiG-15s at Abu Swayr, while the AdA F-84Fs targeted different radar stations with unguided rockets. In the afternoon, the first out of a series of strikes against different targets in the Port Said area were flown, with the aim of interdicting the traffic of the local Egyptian units, and hitting these in their barracks.
As the EAF was not active any more, and the situation in Sinai was under control, the commander of the French contingent in Israel, Cdt. Perseval, then requested a permission to strike Luxor, where the EAF concentrated the rest of its Il-28-fleet. The permission was granted, and around 06:00hrs 13 F-84Fs of the EC.1, lead by Perseval personally, took off for their long trip. They caused a complete surprise, catching the EAF again off guard and finding no less but 20 Il-28s neatly parked in two rows. The French opened fire at anything they could make out, causing heavy damage. Five hours later, six F-84Fs appeared over Luxor again, this time followed by a single RF-84F of the ER.4/33, based on Cyprus, to complete the destruction. In total, 17 EAF aircraft – including at least ten Il-28s – were destroyed during these two strikes. Pilot Usama “Bunny” Sidki then flew out the last remaining Il-28s of the EAF to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia.
While the French were decimating the remnants of the Egyptian bomber-fleet, the Israelis were busy with their operations against Sharm el-Sheikh. At noon five Mustangs attacked the town with napalm, and this seems to have caused the local Egyptian commander to order an evacuation with help of several small ships. The local Egyptian garrison capitulated – after more Mustang strikes and a fierce attack of Israeli paras – on the next morning: 834 Egyptian troops became PoWs.
The rest of the Egyptian Army in Sinai meanwhile managed somehow to retreat into the Canal Zone. The war in Sinai was thus over.
The Landing at Gamil
Only in the night from 4 to 5 November did the RAF Valiants and Canberras re-appear over Egypt, but this time to hit targets away from the intended landing zones, so to divert the attention of the enemy. 19 bombers hit the artillery positions near al-Agami, while 22 hit Huckstep, where the destruction of pilled materials and equipment reached catastrophic relations already days before.
Simultaneously, the invasion fleet moved closer to Port Said, and – after intensive preparations – the landings were started at 07:00hrs, with 18 Valetta transports of the 30 and 83 Sqn RAF and six of the 114 Sqn dropping 600 paras of the 3 Para/16 Brigade (which, only days before, were fighting Greek guerilla on Cyprus). The first target of the British paras was the Gamil airfield, near Port Said, and their landing was introduced with a series of heavy raids against nearby Egyptian positions flown by Venoms of the 249 Sqn. Additional strikes were simultaneously flown against Huckstep again, while brand-new Hunter interceptors were covering the paras during their landing. The Egyptian air defense was still very fierce, and two RAF fighters were damaged. By 07:15hrs the C Company of the 3 Para was on the ground, and within only few minutes the control tower and nearby buildings was secured. The B Company meanwhile captured the eastern side of the airfield, securing the landing strip and nearby buildings. From that moment on, the paras were supported by the artillery from British and French warships, even if these could not move closer to the coast, as the local waters were not yet secured from mines, but this presented no serious problem, as the Egyptian resistance was initially weak, and only one soldier was killed while landing in a minefield.
The situation changed soon enough, however, as two squadrons of Egyptian SU-110 tanks appeared. These were in turn attacked by French Corsairs and forced to pull back. Additional strikes then destroyed numerous Egyptian vehicles and also broke the resistance at the Coast Guards barracks.
In the morning also two French Avengers were sent to attack some Egyptian warships near Port Said, but they had to turn back after only one bomb- and strafing pass due to heavy anti-air defenses, and the appearance of two USN Furies in their backs.
Nevertheless, by 09:00hrs Gamil airfield was secured, and the situation stabilized. Minutes later the first Whirlwind helicopters from HMS Eagle landed there, delivering supplies and evacuating injured. Meanwhile, the Venoms from Akrotiri started suppressing Egyptian flaks in the vicinity, while other fighter-bombers interdicted several columns of the Egyptian Army moving towards Gamil, and 16 Canberras hit Huckstep again. At least three British planes were damaged during these operations but all returned to their bases safely. By 13:00hrs, the paras at Gamil were surrounded by one battalion of the Egyptian Army, two battalions of the Egyptian National Guards, two squadrons of SU-100s. But during the following 45 minutes the constant air support surprised the Egyptians enough for 100 additional paras, seven jeeps with 106mm recoilless guns, and some ammunition to be flown in.
Meanwhile, the carrier-borne aircraft flew new strikes against Almaza, where a number of MiGs and even one Il-28 were observed, claiming destruction of ten EAF additional aircraft. The FAA and Aéronavale fighters also had to take care about several Egyptian flaks in the Port Said area, one of which was positioned on the roof of the local hospital. These had to be taken out with special care not to hit the civilian objects nearby, but the FAA pilots solved most of these problems by flying extremely low and opening their fire only in the last moment, from closest possible range. Nevertheless, the Wyvern flown by Lt.Cdr. Vowling was hit during the attack on the Coast Guards base, and the pilot ejected to be recovered by the Whirlwind helicopters from HMS Eagle.
Despite all the problems, already by noon of 5 November, the British paras broke out of their bridgehead. In a swift and furious battle, they inflicted heavy losses on the Egyptians, capturing one position after the other, and by the evening Port Said was cut off from the rest of Egypt. The Egyptians had probably over 200 killed and injured; the British suffered a loss of four killed and 36 injured. In the late afternoon the situation at Gamil was already considered safe enough to permit the landings of the French C-47 transports. The Egyptian commander of Port Said already considered a capitulation when the Radio Cairo reported about an outbreak of the WWIII, and that the Soviet Union was coming to help Egypt.
French Paras
Simultaneously with British, also 500 paras of the 2. RPC (Colonial Paras) jumped over the al-Raswa bridges from F-84F-escorted Noratlas transports of the ET.1/61 and ET.3/61, together with some combat engineers of the Guards Ind. Parachute Company. Despite a loss of two soldiers, the western bridge was swiftly secured, and then the Corsairs of the 14F and 15F flew a series of close-air-support missions, destroying several SU-100s. The F-84Fs also hit two large oil tanks in Port Said, which went up in flames and covered most of the city in a thick cloud of smoke for the next several days. In the afternoon, 522 additional French paras were dropped near Port Fuad. These were also constantly supported by the Corsairs of the Aéronavale, which flew very intensive operations: for example, although the carrier LaFayette developed catapult problems, no less but 40 combat sorties were started; the last five Corsairs airborne on that day landed already well after the sunset, despite their crews not being qualified for night-landings! In total, the French lost ten killed and 30 injured troops during the landing and the subsequent battles.
The Egyptians were again taken by surprise by the landings of British and French paras; President Nasser tried to ascertain help from the USSR, but the Soviets – busy with their own intervention in Hungary – were reluctant to do more than issue threats towards London and Paris. Although it was later often explained that these threats stopped the Anglo-French invasion, it was actually the USA, which was the only power capable of doing this. Washington issued a counter-threat against Moscow, explaining it would defend its NATO allies if these would be attacked, and simultaneously increased the pressure on the French and the British. These, however, initially reacted with another escalation, as the 1.100 paras in Port Said and near Port Fuad could obviously not hold their positions alone.
As in the night from 5 to 6 November the invasion fleet finally came close under the Egyptian coast, the French battleship Jean Bart, the British cruisers Ceylon and Jamaica, as well as the French cruiser Georges Leygues started shelling Egyptian coastal batteries (albeit only using artillery under the caliber 114mm, in order to minimize the danger for the civilians living near the targets). Shortly after the dawn the Venoms of the 249 Sqn RAF flew a strike against the Egyptian artillery positions as well, and they appeared over the Port Said just in the same moment as a solitary EAF MiG-15 flew the one and only strike against the British paras at Gamil. Flg. Off. Budd immediately tried to attack the MiG, but this managed to get away due to its higher speed. Nevertheless, the landing was then started, and around 05:45 the first troops of the 40 and 42 Commando arrived on the beach near Port Said. Half an hour later the first Centurion MBTs followed. Together, the commandos and tanks then drove thought the city towards South.
Simultaneously, the Whirlwind helicopters of the NAS 845 landed the first troops of the 45 Commando near the football stadion: this group of the British was, however, only minutes later surrounded by the Egyptians and had to be evacuated by the helicopters, one of which was hit no less but 22 times. Nevertheless, the heliborne-landings were continued to other places in the city, and within only 1 ½ hours six Whirlwind HAR.2 and six Sycamore HC-14 of the Joint Helicopter Unit (JHU), as well as seven Whirlwind HAR.22 of the NAS 845 delivered 417 troops and 20ts of equipment, in turn evacuating the injured (one of the injured commandos was flown back to the aircraft carrier only 19 minutes after taking-off from there aboard a helicopter). Only one helicopter was lost: a Whirlwind of NAS 845 run out of fuel while transferring injured between HMS Eagle and HMS Theseus, while only some 800m away from the last ship, and ditched. The crew and the passengers were all recovered by another helicopter. Also a Sycamore of the JHU made a hard landing on HMS Ocean and was damaged.
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| "Helicopter carrier": HMS Theseus see during the Suez action with Whirlwinds and Sycamores of the Joint Army/RAF Helicopter Development Unit,. which operated alongside Naval Air Squadron 845. Together with the carrier Ocean, Theseus acted as a training ship before being sent into the Mediterranean, but was then hastiliy fitted out as a Commando Carrier and she performed - together with HMS Ocean - admirably in this role, leadin to a later decision to convert two other carriers permanently to commando helicopter support role. (FAA Museum) |
While the commandos and Centurion tanks breached through to the paras at Gamil, these were also reinforced as now all the available Dakotas and Valettas were flying reinforcements to this airfield. The Egyptian resistance in the Port Said area became subsequently so weak, that the British troops needed no air support any more. Nevertheless, the Venoms and F-84Fs flew some additional strikes, foremost in the Ismailia area.
Contrary to the ground-based fighters, the naval aviation was very busy, foremost by cleaning eventual obstacles in the way of the commandos and Centurion tanks which rushed towards the south. By 10:00hrs no less but 70 combat sorties were flown. The Egyptian AAA was still active, time and again scoring some hits, and a NAS 800 Sea Hawk, flown by Lt. Stuart-Jervis, was shot down. He ejected over the sea and was recovered (the later Lt.Cdr. Stuart-Jervis MBE RN was killed in September 1995, when – while taking part in the Gordon Bennett Trophy – his blimp was shot down by Belarus helicopters near the military airfield of Osowtsy). Shortly after also a NAS 897 Sea Hawk, flown by Lt. Mills, was shot down over the road from Port Fuad and Ismailia. The pilot ejected over the enemy-held territory, but was recovered by a Whirlwind helicopter, covered by the rest of his flight and despite a number of Egyptian tanks nearby.
In the early afternoon the 40 Commando was stopped by Egyptian resistance south of Port Said, but the Sea Hawks from British carriers then flew a series of highly effective strikes, and the advance was continued. Simultaneously, the rest of the 16 Brigade and the Centurions of the 6 RTR arrived on the beach and reinforced the drive towards the south. On the east side of the Suez, the French 1e REF landed, together with some Marines and the AMX-13 light tanks of the 7 Division; these units were also swift to organize an advance towards the south.
