Night of the Trains

The Night of the Trains (or Operation Party) was a sabotage operation of the British railways in Palestine ("Palestine Railways") on November 1, 1945. The operation was one of the first carried out by the Jewish Resistance Movement, before its official establishment, and symbolized its founding.

The Night of the Trains (or Operation Party) was a sabotage operation, targeting the British railways in Palestine on November 1, 1945. The operation was one of the first carried out by the Jewish Resistance Movement, before its official establishment, and symbolized its founding. During the operation Palmach units sabotaged a network of railways around the country and blew up three British guard boats in Jaffa port and in Haifa, and a combined Irgun-Lehi unit attacked Lydda railway station, which is the key junction between the Haifa – El Kantara main line and the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. An estimated 1,000 men were involved in the operations.

Approximately fifty Palmach units, which included sappers and guard, severely damaged 153 points along the railway system in Mandate Palestine, primarily at railway junctions and bridges above them. The operations took place around 11:00 p.m., fully synchronized, in order to prevent a British response. In only two places did shootings occur, and they both ended with no casualties. Over 242 breaks in the railway lines were made, and a stationmaster's office, telephone installation, and petrol wagon were bombed.

At the same time, the Palmach's marine unit, the Palyam, sank three British guard boats; two in Haifa and one in Jaffa. These boats were part of the closure imposed on the shores in order to prevent Jewish immigration. In Haifa Yohai Ben-Nun led the operation and in Jaffa, Yossi Harel and Zalman Cohen did, after a briefing by Yitzhak Sadeh. In both cases the sappers arrived in boats, dived under the British boats and attached explosives with a delay mechanism to the boats.

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