El Gamil ( ar, الجميل; also called Gamil or El Gamīl; Romanized

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: Ṭâbiyet el-Gamîl) is a fortress with an airfield in

Port Said Governorate Port Said Governorate is one of the Canal Zone governorates of Egypt. It is located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Mediterranean Sea at the northern gate of the Suez Canal, making it the second most important harbor in Egypt. I ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. It was the landing site of British paratroopers in the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Suez Crisis

The capture of the airfield at El Gamil and the surrounding area was an essential element in Operation Musketeer, the joint Anglo-French airborne and amphibious assault on Port Said, with the ultimate aim of gaining control of the Suez Canal. The French 2nd Colonial Parachute Regiment were to land at Er Raswa while the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, part of 16th Independent Parachute Brigade, were tasked with the attack on El Gamil, which would be the first British

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

parachute assault since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the last to date. At the insistence of French commanders, the airborne assaults on El Gamil and Raswa were to take place a full 24 hours before the arrival of the seaborne element, in order to preserve the element of surprise, as it would be difficult to conceal the approach of the large invasion fleet.

Order of Battle

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

*Brigade Tactical HQ, 16th Independent Parachute Brigade, Brigadier M A H Butler, MC *

3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 PARA), is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and is a subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade. Roled as an Airborne light infantry unit, the battalion is capabl ...

, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Edwin Crooke, CBE DSO MA **"A" Company, Major Michael J. H. Walsh **"B" Company, Major Stevens **"C" Company, Major Ronald Norman **"D" Company * Forward Observation Officer (FOO) Detachment, 97 Battery (Lawson's Company) Royal Artillery, 33 (Para) Field Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

*3 Troop, 9 Independent Parachute Field Squadron, Royal Engineers *Detachment, 16th Independent Parachute Brigade Signal Squadron,

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

*Detachment, 23 Parachute Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps *Detachment, Parachute Platoon, 63 Company, Royal Army Service Corps *13 Air Contact Team,

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

*Detachment, Brigade RAF Parachute Detachment Egyptian Army *One battalion group comprising: **One company covering the airfield with 2 x

medium machine gun A medium machine gun (MMG), in modern terms, usually refers to a belt-fed machine gun firing a full-powered rifle cartridge, and is considered "medium" in weight (). Medium machine guns are light enough to be infantry-portable (as opposed to a h ...

s (MMG) in

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

es **One company holding the adjacent cemetery with 3 x MMG, 1x 6 pounder anti-tank gun and 4 x 81 mm mortars **One company holding a

coastguard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

barracks *Supported by 3 x

SU-100 The SU-100 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years af ...

tank destroyers, 2 x 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns *

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

paramilitaries A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

in the nearby townAirborne Assault - Media - Suez (Operation Musketeer) - Description of the capture of El Gamil airfield
(pp.1-2)

Suez Crisis

Order of Battle

References

See also