Battle of Ammunition Hill

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of the Ammunition Hill


caption=A trench on the Ammunition Hill, with the police academy seen in the background, Jerusalem, 1967.
partof=Six Day War
date=June 6, 1967
place=coord|31|47|58|N|35|13|41|E|type:mountain|name=Ammunition Hill|display=inline,title
Ammunition Hill, North-East Jerusalem
result=Israeli victory
combatant1=Israel
combatant2=Jordan
commander1=Mordechai Gur, Yossi Yafe
commander2=
strength1=Reinforced company
strength2=About 150 soldiers
casualties1=37 killed, 21 of them on the hill
casualties2=71 all of them on the hill|

Ammunition Hill ( _he. גבעת התחמושת, "Giv'at HaTahmoshet") was a military post in Jordanian controlled East Jerusalem, and the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Six Day War. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122473]

Historical background

Ammunition Hill was located across from a police academy, with a fortified trench connecting them. The site was built by the British during their Mandatory government of Palestine in the 1930s, and was used to store the police academy's ammunition. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the post remained under control of the Jordanian Arab Legion, severing the link with West Jerusalem. In the wake of the Jordan-Israel Armistice Agreement, parts of Mount Scopus remained an Israeli enclavehttp://books.google.com/books?id=I09YcIEto08C&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=mount+scopus+Israeli+enclave&source=web&ots=1IL21a7X3s&sig=7atxW7g5CDnD_0bWdhQCN6-y5ys&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result"Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947-1967" Raphael Israeli ] in Jordanian-held territory, with the Jordanians blocking access to Hadassah Hospital and the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the hilltop.

The post consisted of tens of bunkers built along the three main trenches. When the Six Day War broke out, the post was defended by a reinforced Jordanian company of 150 soldiers, of the El-Hussein regiment (number 2).

The battle

The fighting at the police academy site and Ammunition Hill began on June 6, 1967, at 2:30 AM. The task of capturing the hill was given to the Israeli 3rd company of the 66th regiment, of the Paratroopers Brigade's reserve force (55th brigade), and during the battle, a force of the 2nd company joined the fighting. The battle ended at 7 AM. 36 Israeli soldiers were killed in the battle for Ammunition Hill.

Ten of the soldiers who fought in this battle were given citations by the Israeli chief of general staff. The commander of the Paratroopers Brigade was Mordechai Gur. The commander of the 66th regiment was Yossi Yafe.

Memorial site

In 1975, a memorial site was inaugurated in which a part of the old post was preserved and a museum was built. One wall in the museum lists the names of the 182 Israeli soldiers killed in the battles for the capture of Jerusalem. In 1987, the site was declared a national memorial site. The main ceremony on Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) is held there.

References

External links

* [http://www.historama.com/online-resources/israeli-music/idf_bands.html#Ammunition Lyrics of the Hebrew song "Giv'at HaTachmoshet" in English translation]
* [http://www.givathatachmosht.org.il/ Memorial Site] he icon
* [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/122473 Story about an IDF private who led the battle in the trenches]