Alan – August 29
— Driving along Egyptian border
— Destroyed Egyptian tanks from the 1956 Sinai Campaign
Destroyed Egyptian tanks and vehicles –
1956 Sinai Campaign
August 29, 1957 Thursday morning
Dear Alan,
It’s Thursday morning now but I began the letter last night. As I told you in my last letter I was going down to the Negev. We had a jeep and went all along Israel’s border with Egypt and just for kicks went up to some of the U.N. soldiers inside Egypt and asked them for a drink of something cold.
We then went and visited oil fields and other things like Negba Ashkelon etc. I saw many captured Egyptian tanks; some that were destroyed and left exactly as they fell. Too bad in 1948 we didn’t have some tanks and planes or they (the Israeli Army) really would have taught them a better lesson.
Are you a good boy? Either the mailman is lazy or else you are, because I haven’t received any mail from you for about two weeks.
Love your Pal,
Bob
Comments:
August 29, 1957 Thursday morning
“I saw many captured Egyptian tanks; some that were destroyed and left exactly as they fell.”
Israel destroyed many Egyptian tanks during the Sinai Campaign. In the summer of 1957 when my father visited the Egyptian border, the destroyed tanks were still there.
“As I told you in my last letter I was going down to the Negev. We had a jeep and went all along Israel’s border with Egypt and just for kicks went up to some of the U.N. soldiers inside Egypt and asked them for
a drink of something cold.”
My father was never shy. He would talk to UN personnel to get information or to get a cold drink.
“We… visited the oil fields in Negba, Ashkelon”
Israel had just discovered the Heletz oil field in the northern Negev. The new country was hoping to find more new oil wells. Negba is a kibbutz near the border with Egypt where many huge battles took place with Egypt in 1948.
