The information, are driven from the chapters dealing with the Anglo-French assault operations against Port Said. Many photos have been taken inside the city and are being published for the first time to the European readers. We should bear in mind, that this is an exempt and a summary only of some chapters.
Prologue
My participation in this war on the Egyptian front in Port Said in addition to having played a major role, particularly in Planing the underground resistance activities Co-ordinating and Implementing and their attacks and Co-Leading the secret underground groups against the Anglo-French troops adds a specific value to the following lines.
The Canal passage and the History
The Canal has actually been built and rebuilt many times, but only now when trade depends so heavily on it does it not fall to negligence. The first to have the idea of connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas was the Pharaoh Necho in Sixth Century BC. He did not complete it, however during the Persian Invasion of Egypt (also Sixth Century BC), King Darius I ordered the Canal completed.
The canal consisted of two parts. One part linked the Red Sea to the Great Bitter Lake, and a second linked the Lake with one of the Nile branches in the Delta.
The Canal served as a shortcut between Europe and India until the Ptolemic Era (367-47 BC) but then fell to disrepair. It was re-dug during the rule of the Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD), and later re-dug by the Arab ruler Amr Ibn-Al-Aas (around 700 AD).
Yet again it fell to disrepair and was completely abandoned after the trade route around Africa was discovered by the Europeans. Around 1800, Napoleon's Engineers brought back the idea of the Suez Canal.
However, the measurement the French Engineers made determined that there was a difference in 10 meters in the altitudes of the seas, and a large area would be flooded if the construction was carried out.
Later, the calculations were proved to be wrong, and Ferdinand de Lesseps undertook the construction. He was granted a decree by the Khedive Said of Egypt to run the Canal for 99 years after it was completed.
The Canal's construction began in 1854 and was carried out by mostly Egyptian workers in conditions similar to slave labor.
The Canal was completed around 1867 and was inaugurated on November 17, 1869. M. de Lesseps is known as the father of the Suez Canal because of his work. If you would like to learn more about the construction of the Suez Canal.
Ferdinand de Lesseps was sole controller of the Canal, but he sold shares to many French gentry, and the Khedive also held quite a bit. The sum of these shares was the Suez Canal Company. In 1874, Benjamin Disraeli took office as British Prime minister.
Disraeli was interested in buying part of the Suez for Britain, but so were several other countries. The biggest opposition would come from the French shareholders, but the French knew something that nobody else did. They knew that the Khedive had spent the country's surplus money and needed cash fast.
The Khedive had decided that if someone were to offer, he would sell his 177.2 shares of the Suez Canal Company. Since the French didn't think anybody else knew, they took their time raising the money. They did not know that Disraeli was a friend to the world's largest banker at the time, Baron Lionel de Rothschild. Rothschild knew of the Khedive's financial state and when Disraeli asked about it, he told. Disraeli then also asked if he could get a loan for 4 million British pounds to buy the shares, and Rothschild agreed.
He immediately sent a courier to propose the buy to the Khedive. French, Turkish, and Russian spies all discovered this information and sent their own people but it was too late. Disraeli had already bought the Khedive's shares. He then convinced the Queen and Parliament to pay off his debt to Rothschild. Britain controlled the Suez Canal for 84 years until President Nasser of Egypt nationalized it.
The Canal is 120 miles long, and it is the longest canal in the world without locks.
A glimps backwards
The 50's and 60's were the height of the Cold War between the two polarized powers of the world. Many countries of the world were able to use the Cold War to their advantage by receiving competing assistance from both sides in the war. Egypt was no different than these many other underdeveloped nations in that it wanted to use the Cold War to its advantage as well.
Egypt was being led by Nasser who announced an aggressive development program in 1952 for which he was lobbying for funds from around the world. He started by raising funds mainly through the UN, World Bank and the Western Democratic nations but soon sought the assistance of Communist nations. When an arms deal with Czechoslovakia went through, US Secretary of State John Dulles announced withdrawal of US funds and assistance for Nasser's development program. In response to the harsh treatment of Egypt by the United States, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956.
The nationalization of the canal took the world by surprise, especially the British and French stockholders who owned the Suez Canal Company.
Although Nasser promised that the company would be compensated for its loss, Britain, France, and Israel began plotting to take back the canal and overthrow Nasser as well.
Britain, France and Israel united in secret in what was to become known as the tripartite collusion, something that they denied publicly for many years. Israel opted to participate in the plans against Egypt in order to gain favor in the sight of western nations because the small developing nation was in constant fear of being overrun by Arab nations.
Arrangements were made for Israel to make the initial invasion of Egypt and overtake one side of the Suez Canal.
The British and French attempted to follow the Israeli invasion with diplomacy, but they were unsuccessful.
Egypt responded by sinking the 40 ships that were in the Canal at the time.
The U.S. and the Soviet Union both disagreed with the collusion's actions because their interference would help their influence in the Middle East.
However, the action on the part of the tripartite collusion was not viewed in favor by the US or the Soviet Union since their intervention signified their predominance in the area.
The Cold War was still going strong so the interference could have determined who had control of the Middle East: the US or the Soviet Union.
The British and French troops were forced to withdraw from the Canal Zone in December under the direction of the United Nations. The canal was returned to Egypt's possession and reparations were paid by Egypt under the supervision of the World Bank. Overall the actions of the tripartite collusion were not at all beneficial to the democratic plight in the Cold War because they drew Nasser and Egypt into further relations with the USSR. The fight over the canal also laid the groundwork for the Six Day War in 1967 due to a lack of a peace settlement following the 1956 war.
It is unbelievable, how a dark star has accompanied this operation and sustained from revealing its light upon it. The Anglo-French differences since the beginning of the war against Port Said, partially because of century old Military rivalty between the Commanding Officers of both nations, have characterised this war.
Those differences were not only found in the used Language, but also evident and clearly seen in the differences of deployed Equipment, the applied tactics and the implemented assault plans.
It was evident and clear cut before every thing else, in the individual behaviour of the Anglo-French soldiers of each nation, in the occupied areas that were under their immediate authority.
The behaviour of the French soldiers in Port Fouad or during the assault was characterised with unimaginable severity and sometimes savageness, opposite to the Egyptian POWs, inhabitants of Port-Fouad - the small sister city of Port Said - which had been declared by the French commanders as a French Colony... Consequentially, the French invaders have transported many POWs to France
Meanwhile the British soldiers were behaving in a more civil manner, wit only some individual exceptions
The differences between Britain and its ally France have mounted every day. It started and ended with frustrating not only the UN and USA, but most important of all, disappointing thousands of British citizens including many involved soldiers, who did not understand the reasoning for deploying such huge destructive Naval Armadas, concentration of numerous military troops and the engagement of the massive Air power against a helpless city " Port Said ", which was still remaining in their vivid memories as a peaceful little town.
It was the last time in history that two empires, in association would ever try to impose their will on a weaker nation. These facts have contributed to the increasing fierceness of the underground resistance operations against the British troops. Britain stood alone to face its destiny, namely. "....
The declination of the British Empire and its dissolution
for ever after the Suez Crisis "......
Prime Minister Sir Antony Eden
The crisis was provoked by an American and British decision not to finance the construction of the Aswan Dam, as they had promised. Their refusal was a direct response to the growing ties between Egypt and Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. Gamal Abdel Nasser reacted to the American and British decision by the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company on July 26th 1956. Prime Minister Sir Antony Eden was obsessed with comparing Nasser's Nationalisation of the Suez Canal with Hitler/Mussolini in the '30s. As a stanch Opponent of Chamberlain's appeasement policy twenty years ealier, PM Eden believed that he had to act with force against the Egyptians, otherwise Gamal Abdel Nasser would emerge as the next Hitler. Eden was also influenced by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri-Al-Said and King Feisal, both of whom were dining with Eden at No. 10 when the Crisis occurred. Their response to Nasser's action was "You've got to hit him fast, and you've got to hit him now!". Often, the role of the individual leader can prove to be a turning point in any conflict.
The endless efforts to achieve a consense between Prime Minister Antony Eden's hate to Gamal Abdel Nasser and the implementation of war plans that result in harvesting the fruits of its objectives have led nowhere but the damage and prestigious loss to both Britain and France Economy.
Operation Musketeer has started as a crusading WAR and ended as a military expedition. Literally, it started by dark; ended in dark and its full details still remains in dark, even the that of Egyptians.
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