Posted on 11/05/2006 4:36:43 AM PST by Nextrush
As Prime Minister Anthony Eden appeared to weaken in the face of opposition in the Conservative Party and from the United States, France worked harder than ever to land troops and take the Suez canal as soon as possible.
France wanted to control the canal before a UN force would come and take over.
Invasion planning moved landings back to November 7th, but considerations for the speed of the Israeli advance and the American presidential election brought the date to November 6th with the invasion ships speeded up.
At one point, the French suggested taking the canal with Israeli soliders dressed up as French soldiers, but Eden refused.
Now under French pressure, it was decided to land paratroopers ahead of the rest of the invasion force.
At 1:15 AM on November 5th, 1956 paratroopers woke up in Cyprus to prepare for drop later that morning at Port Said, a city at the northern end of the canal.
Egyptian ruler Abdel Gamal Nasser was on his way to Port Said, but decided to stay overnight in Ismaliya with the local leader. Nasser awoke the next morning to hear that the city was under attack.
At 8:20 AM 600 British paratroopers and at 8:35AM a force of 500 French paratroopers dropped into the area.
Later that day another French force dropped on the east side of the canal opposite Port Said.
The British landing at the Gameel Airport advanced into the city while the French seized the waterworks and shut off water to the city.
Egyptian troops were on the defensive and the Egyptians fought back with Soviet supplied artillery.
But by 5 PM they were talking with the British commander of the operation about a cease-fire and possible surrender.
However, fighting resumed later in the evening.
The Anglo-French commanders of the invasion force were operating under "rules of engagement" designed to prevent a lot of civilian casualties. As a result of those restrictions, the French battleship "Jean Bart" was prohibited from using her large guns in support of the operation.
In his book, "Suez; The Twice-Fought War," then "New York Times" Middle East correspondent Kennett Love describes the French parachute forces as battle-hardened veterans of the Algerian War who took no Egypian prisoners, gunning down some of them who raised their hands to give up.
Early in the morning of November 5th, Israeli forces in southern Sinai completed combat operations with a series of air and ground attacks on the Egyptian garrison at Sharm-el-Sheikh. The fighting ended at 9AM and the Egytpians surrendered.........
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