6th Airborne Division in Palestine

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.The 6th Airborne Division in Palestine was initially posted to the region as the Imperial Strategic Reserve.

It was envisioned as a mobile peace keeping force, positioned to be able to respond quickly to any area of the British Empire.

As the situation worsened, the men of the division had to patrol the towns and cities, enforce curfews and deal with rioting by the civilian population.

Then in September 1922, the League of Nations and Great Britain decided that any Jewish homeland would not be formed in the land to the east of the River Jordan.

[20] However, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Japanese surrender, ended the war and changed British plans.

[7] It was not long before the division became involved in operations, enforcing a night time curfew at the end of October after the railway in the divisional area was sabotaged.

[7] On 13 November the British Government confirmed they would examine the conditions of Jews in Europe and consult the Arabs to ensure Jewish immigration, at the time around 1,500 persons a month, was not hindered.

Rioting started in Tel Aviv and the Jewish part of Jerusalem, which resulted in the 3rd Parachute Brigade being deployed to patrol the streets for the following five days.

The next day, 26 November, the police were involved in hand-to-hand fighting with the villagers and eventually withdrew, calling on the brigade to enter the settlements and enforce law and order.

[30] Near the end of the year, over the night of 26/27 December, several attacks were carried out by the Irgun on police stations, Palestine Railways installations and one British Army armoury.

Then on 29 December, it took part in Operation Pintail, the search of Ramat Gan, for Irgun members involved in the attacks.

This time the objective was the cordon and search of the town of Rishon LeZion by the 3rd Parachute Brigade and the police, during which fifty-five suspects were taken into custody.

[32] The next action involving the division was over the night of 2/3 April, when units of the Irgun attacked railway installations in the divisional area.

While one attack on the Yibna railway station and police post was in progress, a mobile patrol from the 9th Parachute Battalion arrived, detonating a mine while crossing a bridge.

Once inside the compound, they entered the guard tents, killing four unarmed soldiers and looting the rifle racks of weapons.

In response to the attack, the British imposed a road curfew from 18:00 to 06:00 each night and all cafes, restaurants and public entertainment venues in Tel Aviv were closed between 20:00 and 05:00.

[39] Attacks on the security services had increased to a level that on 19 June all ranks were ordered to be armed at all times on or off duty, and to travel in pairs during the day and in threes at night.

[40] Near the end of June the division received orders for Operation Agatha, the arrest of Jewish leaders "suspected of condoning" or being involved in sabotage or murder of civil and military personnel.

Agatha was a nationwide operation involving not only the 6th Airborne Division but the Palestinian Police Force and all other army units in the country.

[44] The next major incident was on 22 July, when the British administrative and military headquarters located in the King David Hotel were bombed.

No members of the division were directly involved, but the Royal Engineers of the 9th Airborne Squadron were called in to take charge of the search for survivors and secure the part of the building left standing.

Believing that the bombers were being sheltered in Tel Aviv, every dwelling and building was searched for members of the Lehi and Irgun, and the population questioned.

During the searches, five arms dumps were found, containing four machine guns, twenty-three mortars, 176 rifles and pistols, and 127,000 round of ammunition.

[49] The division's next operations were Bream and Eel, searching for arms in Dorot and Ruhama, by the 3rd and 8th Parachute Battalions, and the 9th Airborne Squadron Royal Engineers.

Over the next six days the settlements were searched, during which a large quantity of assorted weapons, including heavy machine guns and mortars, were found.

[53] Between 29 December 1946 and 3 January the division's brigades carried out seven search operations in Tel Aviv, arresting 191 people.

Another attack on the same day was carried out by the Lehi against the 1st Parachute Battalion headquarters in Tel Aviv, killing a Jewish policeman and wounding two soldiers and another police officer.

[59] The 1st Parachute Brigade also took under its command the Transjordan Frontier Force and a battalion of the Arab Legion to cover their large area.

[65] The division's bathing party killed four attackers, four Jewish and one Arab escapee, and recaptured thirteen Jews.

The division's last units, comprising part of divisional headquarters, the 1st Parachute Battalion and the 1st Airborne Squadron Royal Engineers, departed on 18 May.