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Armed Jews Raid Largest British Military Camp in Palestine; Escape with Ammunition

A daylight raid on the largest British military camp in Palestine was made this afternoon by a group of armed Jews, dressed in uniforms of airborne infantrymen. The camp is situated at Sarafand.

The raiders, who drove into the camp in a military truck, overpowered guards and succeeded in escaping with a quantity of ammunition. A British constable and a British woman welfare worker were wounded in an exchange of fire between the raiders and troops.

Following the attack, a curfew was imposed on the Jewish settlements of Rishon L’Zion and Rehovoth, located in the neighborhood of the camp. A Jewish taxi carrying three men and one woman was detained at Rehovoth by police authorities and all four passengers arrested.

Early reports of the raid state that at about 1:30 this afternoon 14 armed Jews entered the Sarafand camp in an army truck and proceeded to the camp’s ammunition dump. There they overpowered the guard and started to load ammunition onto the lorry. They were recognized after having loaded a small quantity, and retreated after an exchange of shots.

The raiders left an explosive charge which destroyed a tent containing arms and ammunition. During the exchange of fire, a British woman, doing welfare work at the camp, was seriously injured by a stray bullet which penetrated through the wooden walls of the building in which she was working.

While the raid was in progress, three armed Jews dressed in British battledress held up the guard at the gate leading to Rishon L’Zion, in order to prevent the raiders from being trapped inside the camp. A British constable was wounded.