The Untold Story Behind the Palmach’s First Mission

On the morning of Sunday, May 18, 1941, 23 elite members of the newly formed Palmach, set sail on the Sea Lion boat from the Haifa port to Tripoli, Lebanon. The Sea Lion was a British boat which was mainly used by the British Mandate police authority to prevent Jewish immigration into Mandatory Palestine. After a few hours at sea, the boat sent a transmission saying “Boat OK, 60 (miles) from Haifa.” That was the last transmission from the boat or any of the fighters onboard.

Since the British authorities in Mandate Palestine introduced the White Paper in 1939, which put dramatic caps on the amount of Jews allowed to immigrate to the country, paramilitary like the Haganah, and the more radical Lehi (also known as The Stern Gang) and Irgun organizations were fighting against British rule and defying its orders by supporting illegal Jewish immigration into Israel.

A few months after the introduction of the White Paper in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. Despite the frustration and anger at the British authorities, the Zionist leadership decided to adopt a policy of cooperation with the British to aid the fight against the Nazi regime, while still fighting the White Paper and supporting illegal Jewish immigration. David Ben-Gurion, the Jewish Agency, said: “We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper.”

The Jewish-British military cooperation was led by the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, and the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret organization created in 1940 with the enthusiastic support of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, used to conduct subversion, sabotage, and reconnaissance operations all over the world against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements. 

On May 18th, 1941, just three days after the official formation of the Palmach, Operation Boatswain commenced to attack and shut down the refineries in Tripoli, Lebanon, producing fuel for Nazi airplanes.

Unfortunately, a few hours after their departure, communications with the boat were lost, and the 23 Jewish fighters, along with their SOE officer, were gone. To this day neither their whereabouts nor the reason for their disappearance are known. The operation failed and struck a major blow to both the newly formed Palmach and the SOE.

Palmach was beneficial for the British fight against the Nazis in the Middle East. During the successful British invasion of Lebanon and Syria, and later at the Battle of El-Alamein against a large Nazi force, the Palmach and the other Jewish fighters proved to be major contributors to the overall victory.

After the Nazi retreated from the Middle East, the relations between the British Mandatory government and the Haganah soured. Both the British forces and the Palmach fighters began to see their former brothers-in-arms as rivals, and the story began fading from the collective memory. In 2016 Paul McCue, a British military historian, and author began taking interest in the unique alliance between the SOE and the Haganah. 

The “Generation’s Arrow”– Helping Commemorating Jewish-British Alliance

Paul says he was first exposed to the subject “In 2016 when I was asked by the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX) to help arrange the unveiling of the names of the 23 Jewish fighters from Operation Boatswain in Brookwood Military Cemetery. Their remarkable story sparked my interest and I decided to further research the subject of the British and Jewish military alliance.”

“There seemed to be an assumption that most of the SOE training was done in Europe, but through my research, I found an extensive network of training bases for British special forces and intelligence agents in Mandatory Palestine before their deployment in Nazi-occupied Europe, many run by the SOE and the Special Air Service (SAS), and many times in cooperation with the Jewish community (the Yishuv). Sadly, their story was often overlooked in Britain and Israel. Through my educational charity Secret WWII and with funding support from the Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Charitable Fund, I made it my mission to commemorate this unique connection.” 

At the same time, Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez David Maisel, who served as the head of the IDF’s International Cooperation Division at the time and today is a member of the Haganah Heritage Association, initiated the military commemoration of the Generation’s Arrow project. The project aims to commemorate historical events of international cooperation between the IDF and foreign armies, reflecting the contribution of international cooperation to protect Israeli civilians and achieve military goals.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Maisel explained that the main goal behind the Generation’s Arrow project is “to assert that throughout history armies who work together can be more successful. We wanted to implement this message on the ground and commemorate the successful and beneficial connections the IDF made throughout its existence. The commemoration both pays respects to the partner and encourages further cooperation in the future.”

(The first Generation’s Arrow unveiling in Ramat David Airbase, with the British Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, and Ramat David’s commander, Col. G)

Brig. Gen. (res.) Maisel created a strong connection with Paul over their joint interest on the subject. He wanted to commemorate the unique alliance both about Operation Boatswain and in other fields, such as the training given by the SOE in kibbutz Mishmar Ha’emek.

(Operation Boatswain commemoration in Brookwood Military Cemetery: Mr. McCue and Israel’s ambassador to the UK, H.E Mark Regev)

Brig. Gen. (res.) Maisel emphasizes: “the British aid to the Jewish forces can be felt to this day: the British army was an inspirational and tactical source for the IDF in its formation days, and many units in the IDF have adopted British military traditions, like the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal, which adopted the motto of the British SAS “Who Dares Wins”, as their own.”

When Paul is asked what were the reasons both the Jews and the British agreed to that unique alliance, Paul assures that: “Most of the British irregular warfare commanders in the SOE were eager to train the Jewish fighting forces, admiring their fighting spirit and seeing their potential in the fight against the Nazi regime. At the same time, the Haganah high command recognized that being of use to the British against their common enemy might help the British regime see the Jewish Yishuv in a more favorably, and a good opportunity to gain military training and operational experience for the newly formed Palmach.”

Brig. Gen. (res.) Maisel emphasizes: “the Jewish Yishuv knew that they wanted to create a strong Jewish fighting force, but at the same time to improve their relations with the British, and the Haganah’s ability to always find the time and place to create strong alliances with the British to fight their common enemy is truly remarkable.”

(Paul (right), and Brig. Gen. (res.) Maisel (fourth to the right, in uniform) in the “Generation’s Arrow” unveiling ceremony in the Hebrew Reali school (The IDF Junior Command Military Academy) in Haifa, alongside the British ambassador in Israel, H.E. Neil Wigan OBE, and the Czech Defence Attaché)

The “Generation’s Arrow” project has set up 24 heritage points commemorating joint efforts of the IDF and foreign armies, but Brig. Gen. (res.) Maisel’s biggest aspiration is yet to come: “Our end goal is to create an Israeli-British common heritage route celebrating the clandestine fight against Nazi aggression.” He believes that much of the project’s success can be attributed to the connection with Paul: “From the first moment it was clear Paul is a true Mensch and shared my ambition to commemorate this unique connection. We both believe that human connections can make big differences, and when you believe in that you can create big things”.

Paul agrees and shares the message he would like to deliver to the Israeli public: “Though the relations between the British and the Zionist movement knew its ups and downs, I hope this project will encourage the younger Israeli generation, especially the soldiers in the IDF, to be more aware of the positive parts of the relationship. The more historic links we create, the better the Israeli-British partnership will be in the future”.