Airborne Assault MuseumOn the Haifa-Cairo Express
The 6th Airborne Division’s deployment to Palestine between 1945 and 1948 naturally meant increased usage of the region’s transport links, and of all of these methods, the central highlight was undoubtedly the Haifa-Cairo Express Train.
Extended from the Egyptian Expeditionary Force’s 1916 Sinai Railway, the line reached Haifa on 23 December, 1918, linking with the Hejaz Railway that ran from Medina to Damascus. The British Mandate period saw the railway sector being considered as one of the major employers in the region, with around 7,500 employees.
Indeed, members of the 6th Airborne also benefitted from the transport link that the line facilitated. Golden Sands Holiday Camp was located in Egypt, near Alexandria, and transit camps bringing soldiers back to Britain from Palestine were located at Port Said, next to the Suez Canal. Recollections of their time in Palestine by Vincent Leonard and Alan W Gauntlet can be found on ParaData and they so too mention the railway journey that took them from Egypt into Palestine.
But what was it like to be on the Express, and what sights and smells might the Paras have experienced on their way south to Egypt? From the Archive and additional research, we have managed to find out what places the Express passed through, the history of the Express, and what relation did this “backbone” of transport have in relation to the British Army during the Palestine Emergency.
Research for this article was primarily done through two sources, Cordon and Search by Major R.D. Wilson, and Journey from Palestine, Denis Edwards’ recollection of his journey on the Haifa-Cairo Express on the 27th December, 1947. This article is a meant as a companion to be read alongside Denis Edwards’ account, which I have taken quoted extracts (in bold and italics) from, but there is much more on his journey in his personal account that is attached below that I highly recommend reading.
06:30 Haifa East
“As we pulled out of Haifa East at 0630 hours intermittent rifle and machine gun fire could be heard in the northern area of the town.”
Haifa East was where the Palestine Railways Headquarters were located before their move to Khoury House in 1940, and was actually the first main station in Haifa before being replaced by Haifa Central in 1937. The station had suffered a heavy explosion in September 1946 that rendered the NAAFI shop in the station “completely destroyed”. Despite this, depots and goods yards at the station remained operational and was “a kay operational link between the Army camps to the north of Haifa and the Port”. This is where we join Denis Edwards, on the morning of the 27th of December as 1947 rolls to an end.
Haifa Central
“Long halt at Haifa Central. No trouble and firing has stopped. The town was almost deserted.”
“When we did see any people they were in gangs of five to ten and it is almost certain at least half of them had concealed weapons hidden beneath their robes or coats.”
“Wind is blowing from the North and is very chilly. The town is like a graveyard.”
“The port of Haifa was the port of Palestine”, Major R.D. Wilson writes in his book Cordon and Search. Haifa, a site on the Levantine Sea and under the shadow of Mount Carmel became a city of importance for the Airborne Forces as the HQ of the 6th Airborne was set up there during their stationing in Northern Palestine. Palestine’s third largest city saw intense conflict between the local Muslim and Jewish populations, ultimately culminating in the Battle of Haifa in April 1948. By July, only around 3,500 of the city’s Arab population of 50,000 remained.
As Major R.D. Wilson recalls, the Division’s role in Haifa was again to keep the peace, but this came with certain difficulty as the British forces were already withdrawing from the Territory in phases. Nevertheless, “the situation was never out of hand” throughout the winter and early spring, as the Paras patrolled and attempted to maintain control of points of conflict around the city. Fighting primarily took place at night. Despite this, the imminent end of the Mandate in May led to the decision of British forces not involving themselves in the Battle of Haifa in April and aiming to only firmly hold main roads and the Port.
With the end of Mandatory Palestine on the morning of the 15th of May, 1948, the remaining British forces awaiting withdrawal found themselves in the newly-established Haifa Enclave that dwindled in size gradually as more troops left Palestine. Indeed, Haifa was where the final British troops, aptly members of the 6th Airborne, embarked from on 30th June for home.
“Going out of town there was no trouble – at least not in our part of Haifa… With the sea on our right and a flat plain only broken by orange groves on our left. All quiet.”
Hadera
“More troops get on at Hadiera (sic.). Still quiet.”
Hadera would become the further station south that Palestine Railways would be able to operate to from May 1948 onwards as the Civil War raged further south. Close to the trainline would have been the HQ for the 33rd Airborne Light Regiment and the 87th Airborne Field Regiment from the Royal Artillery from late 1947 onwards.
Tulkarm
“Still more troops board at Telkarm (sic.).”
From here on out the Express passes through Southern Palestine, as we note that from 1945 to 1947 the 6th Airborne were stationed in the South and from 1947 to 1948 in the North. Tulkarm was a centre of the 1936-1939 Great Palestinian Revolt, and is now one of the largest cities in the West Bank. The Gordon Highlanders were stationed here in 1946.
Lydda
“No trouble as we move on down through plain and orange groves to Lydda. 20 minutes halt as yet more troops get on and crowd out already well over-crowded wooden coach.”
Travelling by rail in Palestine during the Emergency was in itself a dangerous and unreliable form of transport. In January 1948 alone, there were 65 recorded incidents on the Palestine Railways. A video of a wrecked train near Lydda on the Haifa -Cairo Express as a result of an Irgun bombing can be seen on British Pathe. We’ll talk more about railway sabotage when the train goes across West Ismale Bridge later in the day.
Yibna
“Long halt at Yibna. The sun is out and the wind has dropped. Here there are ploughed fields and groves of orange trees (now full of ripe fruit that will probably never be picked).”
Between Lydda and Yibna, the train would have passed through Rehovot, a city 5 km north of where RAF Aqir, the main RAF station in Palestine, was. Air transport for the 6th Airborne up till June 1947 was provided by the 283rd Wing of the RAF which was based at Aqir, and an Airborne Training School was set up there to run courses between 1946 and 1947. To know more about what went on, do visit ParaData’s entry for RAF Aqir.
“I wish that they would put some damned round wheels on these bloody ancient trains – the square ones plus the big gaps in the rails makes an over-crowded, wooden square seated cattle waggon trip down through Palestine most uncomfortable.”
Isdud
“Isdud – one of the many stations that seem so pointless as there is no kind of village within sight...”
Isdud was built in the vicinity of where many other more ancient towns once were. According to the Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestinian Question, Isdud derives from Ashdod, a town that dates back to at least the seventeenth century BC. Depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Isdud is now abandoned. Of the towns on the line, Yibna and Majdal were also depopulated in the late 1940s to early 1950s.
“Its (sic.) funny the way that you can get, in a matter of a mile or so, flat sand, sand hills, and scrub, and then, from nowhere, sudden strips of ploughed fields – looking exactly like any English landscape – then just as suddenly, seemingly endless miles of sandy wasteland.”
West Ismale Bridge
“More and more sand until we reach West Ismale Bridge guarded by Arabs of the Palestine Police – rotten job, stuck miles from anywhere, Just two or three of men, one tent, a lot of barbed wire and their vital bridge. Oh for the life of a policeman!”
Bridges, in Palestine as they were on the Rhine in 1945, were incredibly important strategic points that, when destroyed, could disrupt movement immensely. This was equally understood by certain Jewish groups such as the IZL or the Palmach, who on the infamous Night of the Bridges (16-17 June 1946), successfully wrecked 8 road bridges and 3 railway bridges to disrupt movements of the British Army.
Major R.D. Wilson offers an insight as to how these attacks were carried out:
“The technique of the saboteurs was either to mine the railway be night in order to blow up trains the following morning, or to blow up the permanent way so that no trains could operate until repairs were completed….
The majority were pressure mines exploded by the weight of a railway engine or armoured patrol-trolley, but occasionally there was the electrically operated type similar in principle to that which was used so largely on the roads.”
These frequent attacks on railways undoubtedly had a human toll as well. Major Wilson records that the Lehi and the Irgun combined to carry out 21 attacks against the railway in the first three weeks of November 1946, causing 6 deaths and 22 injuries. Protection of these bridges and railway lines in general thus became an issue of great importance for the British in Palestine.
Railway bridges were generally defended as described by Denis Edwards, with a few men and a sort of accommodation which could have ranged from a tent to a small house, and in late November 1946 a dedicated operation, “Earwig”, was set up and the whole Division dedicated themselves to patrolling 70 miles worth of track in the divisional area from before dusk till after dawn. Yet, despite continuous efforts by local police and the British Army, the problem of railway sabotage would not truly be resolved.
“A group of Arab women pass with massive baskets and water jugs (large earthenware pots) balanced upon their heads.”
Majdal… and then Gaza
“Majdal. Not very far from Gaza – about 30 miles. Still a certain amount of vegetation but it is lessening a good deal as we travel further south.”
Majdal and Gaza were the third and first most populated cities in the Gaza District respectively when the Department of Statistics decided to survey the general population and where they lived in 1945. The District was where the 2nd Parachute Brigade was stationed in 1945. Described by Major R.D. Wilson as “the quietest of the three brigade districts”, the Brigade was expected to focus on ground and air training.
On the whole, southern Palestine including El Balah, Khan Yunis, and Rafah were places where the British Forces saw less action during the Palestine Emergency, and as the Paras were moved up to the Northern Sector in 1947, less reports have been written about the South.
“Another Arab village. Amazing construction these hovels, built with mud and odd stones or sandblocks, with sometimes a wooden door into the one square room. More often than not they contain no furniture, there is a square hole for a window and usually the same for the entrance. Cooking is done outside and all of the family sleep on a mat all huddled together at this time of the year for mutual warmth. Quite often the sheep and goats share the same building! A terrific number of people seem to sleep in each hut – quite amazing.”
At Gaza, Denis Edwards notes the existence of a firing range, the Military Training Camp, and the only Military Detention Barracks in Palestine. Here we join him for a free hot meal.
“Time 1150 hours. Yes. Gaza and a free meal – did I say meal? Well the cheese and Spam sandwiches were okay, the tea was warm and wet and the spuds, beetroot, beans and fat probably went a long way to fattening the thousands of stray dogs that now hang around the train. Someone must make a stack of cash out of the Gaza Meal Halt!”
“Back on the train, told to put up the wooden sand shutters. They will hopefully keep out a few of the stones if by any chance we have upset the Arabs in the South of Palestine and North of Egypt.”
El Balah… and then Khan Yunis
“1500 hours. El Balah. A shot was fired from somewhere nearby but there was no trouble.”
Between Gaza and El Balah is the city of Nuseirat, where in late 1945, the entirety of the 6 Airborne was based. It was only a concentration area before deployment later that same year and in early 1946, but nevertheless it was a place where the Paras spent an extended period of time. Major R.D. Wilson remembers, “Conditions were bad, but that was to be expected… The weather was still hot and the Division needed to acclimatize itself to this barren and sandy region…”
Khan Yunis was the second most populated city in the Gaza District according to the aforementioned 1945 survey, in line with Denis Edwards’ description of town.
“Due to the caution of the train driver we are quite a bit behind time now. We have just passed a road block manned by well armed civilian Arabs.”
Rafa (Rafah)
“Rafa. Just over the border. Train stops and we are pestered by literally thousands of young Arab boys selling Oranges…”
Beyond Rafah, the Express leaves Palestine and enters the Sinai Desert. This part of the railway is in Egypt, and was built starting in 1916 to support Allenby’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force’s advance into Palestine to push back Turkish forces. This standard-gauge line, haphazardly built with tight curves, linked onto an already existent line at Lydda to form the Haifa-Kantara line that Denis Edwards is on. This section of the railway was built for military purposes and followed the ancient “Via Maris”, and such suffered from many problems, such as lack of water and poor connection with population centres.
“The train is now getting very dusty inside. All the windows are closed and yet lips become dry and parched, teeth feel gritty with dust and hair is covered so that it appears to be grey, and our clothes take on a dusty reddish colour, hand and faces look extremely dirty and the surrounding air is a misty kind of grey similar to a smoke-fitted Public bar on a Saturday night…”
“1615 hours. The sun is beginning to sink and the few shrubs begin to throw weird long shadows across the surrounding sand; the dunes take on strange shadows and reflect their contours onto the flat desert and to these dunes each little sand ripple makes its own strange shadow… The sun has almost set and in its place is a scarlet and purple haze that only desert and sea can reflect. Now the colours are changing into a dark grey mist.”
El Kantara East
“Although it is still fairly light a full moon is rising in the sky – as clear and bright as the moon could ever be. We stop yet again and, as if from nowhere, are surrounded by vendors of oranges and peanuts at One Piasta a packet. We have arrived at El Kantara East at 20000 hours.”
The journey ends here, on the east bank of the Suez Canal, where many paras would have first boarded the train into Palestine in 1946, and where others like Denis Edwards, arrived at on their journey towards Port Said to commence the journey back home on the Levantine Sea.
“2115 hours. We “Up Kits” and move from Kantara East and onto the last stage of our journey through Palestine and Egypt to the comparative safety of the Suez Canal.”
As for this critical railway that linked Egypt and Palestine through World War One, World War Two, and the Palestine Emergency, one that so many British troops used, it would suffer a slow decline. Despite the Kantara-Rafah line being one of the only three tracks linking Palestine Railways to the outside world, it was not actually owned by Palestine but by the British Government. The decision to withdraw and end the Mandate in 1948 thus inevitably led to the decision to sell off that section of the line to the Egyptian Government in April of the same year. A mixture of conflict, damages and poor maintenance means that the line no longer exists, lost to the sands of the Sinai.
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/egypt-and-palestine-campaign
https://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/28_railway_1_0.pdf
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-210930/
https://academic.oup.com/book/51761/chapter-abstract/420473003?redirectedFrom=fulltext
file:///C:/Users/museu/Downloads/2007_12_Doctoral_Thesis.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-4eZqrvOsI
https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/a_su/A%20SURVEY%20OF%20PALESTINE%20DEC%201945-JAN%201946%20VOL%20I.pdf
https://www.palquest.org/en/place/17014/isdud
https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL_ALEPH990022497560205171/NLI
https://www.palquest.org/en/media/9535/haifa-railroad-station#&gid=1&pid=1
Written and researched by Raphael Tsang Airborne Assault volunteer.
