Operation Boatswain

In May 1941, 23 Palmach soldiers went missing at sea. The British refused to acknowledge their part in the war effort until 2017 when their names were added to a memorial to men and women who went missing on active service during World War II, and to an online database.

On May 18, 1941, the Palmach and British were set to participate in a joint mission for the first time. Operation Boatswain involved 23 members of the Palmach and Maj. Sir Anthony Palmer from Britain’s elite Special Operations Executive (SOE). They boarded a British boat in Haifa carrying explosives from the Haganah with the assignment to blow up oil refineries in Tripoli, Lebanon, then under Vichy rule, to disrupt Axis army and German air force operations. All 24 men disappeared before reaching their destination and to this day their fate remains unknown.

In Israel, the 23 are commemorated in several locations, including a memorial on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl, a plaque along the Yarkon River in Tel Aviv and in street names in several cities. None of the Jews were recognized as members of the British military, however, so when the memorial and databases were constructed in Great Britain only Palmer’s name appeared. Investigators subsequently demonstrated “the vessel was British with a British captain, and that the entire operation served the British war effort.” Nevertheless, the British insisted a connection be proven between the individual soldiers and the military. Israeli investigators ultimately found the necessary evidence and the British agreed to add their names to the memorial. They were considered foreign volunteers for the SOE, who fell in battle and whose place of burial is unknown.

Source: Ofer Aderet, “After 76 Years, British Recognize Pre-state Israeli Militia Seamen as Their Own,” Haaretz, (July 2, 2017)