The Goldschmidt Fortress Attack

At 3:00 pm on a Saturday (when there would be no one but themselves on the streets) five Irgun fighters entered the military zone of the Goldschmidt Fortress on King George Avenue in an Irgun truck disguised as a British lorry.

They killed a challenging sentry. Three of the five jumped off the truck with a hundred kilos of explosives in their arms. The three ran to the fortress and tossed their bombs accurately into its windows.

At the same time, two civilians stepped out of a taxi that had followed the disguised lorry. One of the civilians carried a Bren gun. The other had a armload of hand grenades.

The Bren gun was in the hands of one of the Irgun’s coolest and bravest young men, the incredible battler, Avshalom Haviv.

Haviv pumped Bren gun bullets accurately through the windows of the British fortress. Hundreds of British rifles cracked back.

Simultaneously, another few Irgunists rushed through the streets, soaking them with kerosene. The kerosene was lighted and a wall of flames rose around the fortress.

As the flames roared, a few more Irgun men came bounding out of the Jewish Agency building (across the street and unoccupied on the Sabbath). This group tossed smoke bombs on the fire-encircled barricades.

During the hullabaloo, a car carrying four British officers turned into the street. Avshalom Haviv saw them in time and killed the four officers. A few minutes later the Goldschmidt fortress and scores of officers were blown up.

The entire Irgun force that laid low the British fortress numbered fifteen men. All fifteen escaped, untouched.

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