With 6th Airborne Division in Palestine 1945 – 48 Hardcover by Dare Wilson (Pen and Sword)

The 6th Airborne Division was formed in the late summer of 1943 and consisted of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades and the 6th Air Landing Brigade. Prior to their transfer to Palestine in September, 1945, they had participated in D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and Operation VARSITY. It had been designated the Imperial Strategic Reserve at the end of the war in Europe. Administered by Great Britain under the terms of the 1923 League of Nations Mandate, Palestine was a hotbed of continuing strife between Jews and Arabs. Arab intransigence over the surge of Jewish immigration that followed the end of the war in Europe in May, 1945, led to the formation of extreme dissident Zionist groups such as IZL (Irgun Zwai Leumi), the Stern Gang, Haganah, and the Lehi (Group), all seeking to promote their aims through violence. As tensions mounted, the 3rd Parachute Brigade moved to Lydda District, incorporating Tel Aviv and the 6th Air Landing Brigade to Samaria; while the 2nd Parachute Brigade remained in Gaza. Terrorist outrages, including assassinations, and the murder of airborne soldiers were exacerbated by the failure of the British White Paper in November, 1945 to offer a political solution to the Palestine problem. The division responded with aggressive cordon and search operations, road blocks, convoy protection, and guarding key points, which became the daily routine between 1946 and early 1947. Curfews imposed during strikes and rioting in Tel Aviv earned airborne troops the Jewish "Kalanyot" nickname, which associated the maroon beret with a red poppy, that has a black heart. Jewish civilians obstructed troops by all means. These operations were aimed at locating illegal arms caches, limiting sectarian hostilities and atrocities and capturing dissidents who frequently targeted British positions and personnel. The destruction of the King David Hotel, the most notorious terrorist incident of the Mandate period, is covered in detail. In mid-1947, a United Nations Special Committee recommended a partition of Palestine between Arab and Jew. Violence intensified as each side sought advantage before its planned introduction on 15 May 1948. Bus loads of Jews were rescued by airborne soldiers from Arab ambushes and one parachute battalion in Haifa regularly held the line between inter-communal violence. The bulk of the division departed Palestine in April, 1948 and the remainder followed prior to partition in May, 1948, ending Britain's role. The 6th Airborne Division was disbanded in line with peacetime reductions prior to its withdrawal from Palestine on 1 April 1948. Originally published in 1948 as CORDON AND SEARCH when the author was a relatively junior officer, WITH 6TH AIRBORNE DIVISION IN PALESTINE, 1945-1948, remains entirely relevant not just as the definitive history of the division's exemplary tour but as an expert description of how counter-insurgency operations should be conducted.