In 1956, Egypt's crisis in the Suez Canal sparked a war of international giants, with British, French and Israeli forces invading, but Egyptian civilians did not flinch and defended the dignity of Port Said. It was a popular resistance that transcended the state, the army, united Egyptians from all walks of life, and created the legend of the City of Martyrs.
In the autumn of 60 years ago, Egypt became a fierce battle for international giants in the Sinai Peninsula. In 1956, when the Suez Crisis broke out, British, French and Israeli forces joined forces to invade, but in this war, Egyptian civilians did not flinch, and the legend of the City of Martyrs was achieved.
British Pallas and Marines at the Coast Guard barracks, with a captured SU-100 on the left
Elite British and French paratroopers and marines brave Port Said at the northern end of the Suez Canal. However, their opponents were not only the regular Egyptian army, but also conscripts, police, militias, women, the Muslim Brotherhood, Palestinian guerrillas, and civilian guerrillas. It was a popular resistance, and the fate of "Arnhem" (Stalingrad), which the British had feared, did not come true in Port Said.
Britain, France, and Israel saw Egypt as a common enemy, arguing that Egypt had seized control of the Suez Canal and threatened access to its Asian colonies. At the same time, Egyptian President Nasser supported Algeria's revolt against French rule, provoking international strife.
Israel invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on October 29, with the acquiescence of Britain and France, to intervene, ostensibly to separate the warring parties, but in fact to retake the Suez Canal. And their target is the resilient Port Said.
Port Said is a cosmopolitan port city with deep historical ties to England and France. Many of the city's 200,000 residents worked for foreign companies and the British military, but often felt the injustice of being treated as second-class citizens in their own country.
The Battle of Martyrs City under the Suez Crisis
Beginning in 1950, the guerrillas launched sniper and bombing raids on British troops along the Suez Canal. At first, the Muslim Brotherhood organized these groups with the assistance of sympathetic soldiers, but as religious radicals grew, the government tried to control these militias, renaming them the National Liberation Army and cooperating with the local police. In this battle, they paid a heavy price, killing dozens of British soldiers and civilians, and themselves about 200 people. However, the British soldiers withdrew, but did not relinquish control of the city.
"If they invade us, we have a plan for a continuous war," Nasser said, though he understood that Port Said would not be able to withstand for long. On the contrary, the city had to become a symbol of Egyptian resistance, a headache for the British and French. It is striking that only a few days before the invasion were serious attempts were made to fortify or garrison the city.
The Egyptian army in Port Said was a very large and complex force. It includes two infantry battalions from the regular army, three army reserve battalions, air defense and naval coastal artillery units, three National Guard battalions, as well as trained militia and women, city police and civilians from the National Liberation Army. Some of them were children, while others fought with the British for many years.
In this contingent there was also a young Palestinian lieutenant: Yasser Arafat. He was drafted into the Egyptian reserves, having previously fought against the Muslim Brotherhood guerrillas, and was now tasked with destroying vital infrastructure along the canal in case they fell into the hands of the British. At the last moment, four SU-100 assault guns arrived, becoming their only heavy weapon. Arsenals and warehouses were emptied, and thousands of rifles, submachine guns and pistols were quickly distributed throughout the city.
Egyptian stamps depict the Port Said Resistance
Egypt confronted Britain and France, and Port Said became the last line of defense
On November 1, 1956, British and French air raids began to destroy the Egyptian air force and hit targets around Port Said and across Egypt. On 5 November, the airborne assault was launched, however, gun barrels and obstacles prevented the aircraft from landing at the Gamil airfield in the British airdrop zone. All this became a clever cover for Pallas, and the defenders of the National Guard, suffering heavy losses in several days of air raids, quickly retreated. The Pallasians took over the airfield, entered the city, entered into skirmishes with the Egyptians and the mobile SU-100, and from the city's sewage treatment plant to the cemetery, the fighting was on the verge of breaking out.
French troops successfully attacked Port Fouad, captured police barracks, and 60 Egyptians were killed. The locals quickly learned that the French were ruthless warriors, many of whom were veterans of bitter battles in Algeria and India. In the heat of battle, the French convinced the defenders that it was pointless to face the amphibious offensive head-on. By that evening, the French police and the Egyptian police were patrolling the streets jointly.
In stark contrast, the British soldiers seemed to be more restrained and therefore became easier targets. Port Said was a larger and denser city than the suburban port of Fouad, providing a more favorable environment for the partisans. On 6 November, the amphibious assault was launched, and the French army considered that their paratroopers had performed well in Port Fouad, so a large-scale follow-up landing became unnecessary. However, the British failed to ensure the safety of the city, sending two Royal Marine commandos, supported by Centurion tanks and the Buffalo amphibious aircraft carrier.
Egyptian soldiers in Port Said mostly wore civilian clothes and acted in small groups. But they were still organized, and the head of military intelligence, General Abdel Fattah Abu Fadel, was responsible for coordinating operations in the city. Voices of encouragement and directives spread throughout the city, and resistance fighters were organized into eight groups, with five more joining from outside the city. Megaphones around the city were in action, and broadcasts encouraged residents to resist.
During the amphibious assault on 6 November, British soldiers quickly captured key buildings, and the Egyptians were surrounded or retreated. The British offensive resulted in an Egyptian machine-gun nest being set up in the hospital, trapping civilians in the crossfire. Pallas and the Marines wisely chose not to attack Arab City, believing that urban battles were a pointless nightmare.
A British Centurion tank disembarked from the tank landing ship HMS Puncher in Port Said
The Anglo-French alliance pursued their dreams, and the Egyptians faced a dilemma
The British took full advantage of their superiority in firepower. When the Marines met stubborn resistance in the customs warehouse, the centurions stepped forward. At the naval building, 130 Egyptian sailors fought the fiercest battle of the day, while the commandos launched an air strike. It was the first combat air raid in history, and the Marines attacked the police station with helicopters.
In Port Fouad, the French landed AMX-13 light tanks and additional units. In one clash they killed or captured dozens of policemen, while Pallas prevented hundreds of Egyptians from trying to break through from the neighboring Port Said, supported by T-34/85 tanks and SU-100 self-propelled guns.
The next day, the Anglo-French forces won the battle by virtue of their absolute superiority. Despite the ceasefire in effect that night, tensions persisted, with Egyptian snipers working through the night.
In the days that followed, Anglo-French civil affairs teams began their work, restoring water and electricity, cleaning up bodies, and providing assistance to trapped civilians. British commandos confiscated enough small arms to carry 57 trucks and dumped them into the sea.
After the battle, British paratroopers and commandos withdrew, and an infantry brigade took over Port Said, and the occupation lasted 46 days. Although these days were "tedious, uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous," the British soldier described.
During the occupation, cooperation between Egyptians and the occupying forces was sometimes tense but usually friendly, as they worked together to solve the problems of daily life on the ground. Despite some tensions, many Egyptians, who had been working with the British for many years, quickly adapted to this familiar process. At a time when the Egyptian police, who were distributing food to civilians, were overwhelmed, the situation of near-riots developed rapidly, and British troops were asked to come in to protect them, the same policeman who had shot a few weeks earlier.
On November 5, the oil storage tank burned after a British and French air raid
Triumph and sorrow in Port Said
By late November, the first UN peacekeepers began arriving to replace Britain and France. The Egyptians welcomed them warmly.
As the invaders retreated, the celebrations in Egypt became more numerous and more boisterous. Sniper and grenade attacks on British patrols and checkpoints, fueled by propaganda broadcasts, were repeated. A British officer was kidnapped, and a week later his body was found, suffocating to death in the cupboard where the abductees were held and buried.
The British took off their gloves and launched a punitive night raid on the safe houses of Egyptian partisans with tanks. On December 23, when the last British and French ships left the docks of Port Said, Egyptian snipers began firing. The fire grew, a massive burst of gunfire was heard from Port Said, mostly celebratory, and the send-off of Egyptian soldiers and partisans from the city of martyrs became more and more intense.
The British estimated that 650 Egyptians died in Port Said and another 100 died in Port Fouad during the invasion and occupation, a quarter of them civilians. In comparison, the death toll in Britain and France was a fraction of that number: 16 British soldiers and 10 French soldiers.
Nasser's propaganda machine turned the story of Port Said's resistance to Britain and France into a myth. The city was called the "City of Martyrs" or "Stalingrad of Egypt". While these comparisons sometimes seem reluctant, they are based on a number of facts.
The war was an embarrassing fiasco for Britain, leading to the collapse of the government. For Paris, the lesson of the war was that the alliance was unreliable, prompting France to leave NATO.
British troops disembarked at Port Said
A victorious voice of peace
On December 23, the day the last British and French soldiers retreated, it became Victory Day in Port Said, one of the most important secular holidays during Nasser's reign. The submachine gun of local production was named "Port Said" and became an iconic feature in photographs and art.
The battle quickly made its way into popular songs. "Three countries are armed, but none of them have set foot in Port Said," sang Um Kalthoum, the most popular singer in the Arab world. "The voice of peace prevailed, and our blood was sprinkled on the ground and will never be erased from our land. ”