Newbold Brigadier (1 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Printed brown paper folder ms titled "Airbourne Forces" containing 12, 2pp foolscap sheets and 7 folding sheets bound at the top corners. Very good. Haifa Staff College (also known as the Middle East Staff School) was formed in 1940 when it became impossible for Grade 1 and 2 officers in the Middle East Force to return to the UK via the Mediterranean for training, with the return via the Cape judged to take too long. This extremely rare secret training document by them simulates scenarios for "Operation Dauntless", whose objective is the recapture of RAF Station Lydda and Wilhelma Satellite from German forces. Lydda was at this time a major hub connecting bases in Europe, Africa, Southwest, South and Southeast Asia. The appreciation of the situation credited to Brigadier Newbold, Comd 12 Para Brigade, at Baalbeck, 1930hrs on 25 Aug 1944, states the Airport is to be taken on a specified night and held until ground troops arrive. It details several assumptions with respect to weather ("suitable for the operation" but with limitations eg, "Conditions in SYRIA so bad that planes cannot take off"); own and enemy force relative strengths and locations; the element of surprise; topography; Moon; air support; options for landing battalions; related probability calculations, etc. The operation is presented in phases: I (training, recon and cover plan), II (emplaning and flight plan), III (capture of main airport), and IV (reorganisation and capture of Wilhelma Satellite). Appendices describe troop distributions, assembly areas, defence positions. Appendices for the air forces include several organisation charts. References are also made to separately published maps of the Levant and Palestine.