PORT SAID BEACH LANDING - 6th NOVEMBER 1956
MEMORIES OF A ROYAL MARINE CAPTAIN
In July 1956 Gamal Abdul Nasser (1918-1970) the Egyptian President, nationalised the Suez Canal Company, owned jointly by the British, French and Egyptians. In response an Anglo-French force, with the assistance of the Israelis, invaded Egypt to persuade Nasser to reinstate the status quo and so began the politically ill-fated Operation Musketeer (or the Suez Crisis). The plan was for Israel to attack Egypt across the Sinai Peninsula on 29th October (Operation Kadesh) with an airborne assault on El Famil Airport. Port Said (British led) and capture of the Raswa bridges south of Port Said (French led) on 5th November, followed the next day by a sea borne assault on Port Said (British led) and on Port Fouad (French led).
Captain Derek Oakley joined the Marines in 1944 and had already served in Malaya before the Suez Crisis.
"We had thought we were going to Alexandria where there would have been a harbour and wall to climb but as it happened the last order that came through on the 26th/27th October told us that we were going to Port Said and were carrying out a rather different sort of landing across sandy beaches.
I don't think any of us were frightened, I think we were apprehensive about what would happen. It was a landing along the lines of D Day, with long lines of crafts going into the beach in one wave after the other. There were 6 rows of beach huts through which we had to go before we reached our first targets of real proper buildings. As we trundled through these, the fire and the smoke obliterated a lot of us and where we were going but it also stopped any Egyptians firing at us at the time.
About 45 minutes after landing we saw our first escorting tanks trundling up the beaches and this gave us a lot of comfort at the time. Our next job would be to do a dash through the town (about a mile and a half to two miles) in order to set up a stop on the southern side of Port Said town. We suddenly realised that the Egyptians were up on the roofs and were throwing grenades at us. A grenade landed in the back of my vehicle. It fell out of the back and exploded not very far away and my Sgt Major, Sgt Major Cassey, got a piece of shrapnel in his forehead.
Then the news came. "In the last few minutes, Sir Anthony Eden has announced in Parliament we have received news from the Secretary General of the United Nations a communication in which Israel and Egypt had accepted an unconditional cease-fire". This was, I suppose, one of the most humilitating moments of my life in a way that we had suddenly been told by the Government in London, who had no idea of what was going on, on the ground, that we would be withdrawn. It was greatly humilitating to have done two thirds of the job, lost casualties - I had three wounded and I knew there were others who had been killed - and you suddenly find yourself in this sort of position.