Happy New Year

Palestine

1944

Original envelope

Palestine

Includes rare seals of the same period

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Coastal Battery Guns

There were three units of artillery that protected the Land of Israel during World War II: the first Israeli anti-aircraft artillery unit, the 17th Infantry Regiment, 202 Field Field Regiment. Their main task was to protect the strategic installations of the British Army. Although there were bombings on the civilian population, as happened in Tel Aviv, the air defense did not relate to the protection of civilians.

The first unit was established on September 7, 1939, and numbered 42 soldiers, and was named the 17th Infantry Regiment. It was intended to protect the shores of the Land of Israel. It consisted of four 6-inch anti-aircraft guns, two placed in Bat Galim and two at the Kishon estuary, and in the fall of 1941 the Hagunah numbered 7 6-inch anti-aircraft guns: 3 on the Carmel in Stella Maris, 2 in Bat Galim and 2 in Kiryat Yam Of today, to protect the refineries. In addition, two 6-pound cannons were placed on the breakwaters at the entrance to the port of Haifa to protect against naval attacks and 10 90-cm searchlights.

In the autumn of 1941, the second unit of anti-aircraft artillery was established. The unit initially numbered 81 soldiers and later reached 300 soldiers. The volunteers were trained in Italian 20 mm cannons and a heavy anti-aircraft machine gun "Lewis". One artillery battery was attached to a British artillery battalion in Lebanon and Syria to protect the port in Tripoli, Lebanon. Their weapons were: 75mm cannons and searchlights, the Haganah, the Land of Israel, the Haifa area, the Naharayim power plant, the Dead Sea Works and the Tel Nof and Ramat David airports. In 1942, the weapon was replaced by the modern 40 mm "Bofors" anti-aircraft guns. Towards the end of 1943, the Gonda, all mechanically, moved to protect the island of Cyprus.

The most important unit was the third: In the fall of 1944, the 202th Field Artillery Battalion was established. It numbered 600 soldiers, among them was a member of the family of Baron Rothschild Edmond de Rothschild, born in 1916, the fifth generation of the British Rothschild dynasty, who established and commanded a battery of artillery in the Jewish Brigade, 300 British troops to complete the devices. The battalion's structure and armament were: 3 infantry battalions of 2 batteries each (for each Gonda from NCA) a total of 24 25-caliber field guns From March 27 to April 15, 1944, the battalion assisted the soldiers in defending the Sanyo River, Prison Break. On August 6, 1946, the Jewish Brigade was disbanded.