Timeline of The Operation
On March 5, 1949, (4 Adar 5709) Negev Brigade forces set out from Beersheba to the Ramon Crater, through Bir 'Asluj. Golani forces simultaneously set out from Mamshit to Ein Husub.
On March 6, the Negev Brigade travelled to Sde Avraham and began to clear land for an airfield there.
In the night of March 6, 7th Brigade reinforcements from the Gahal platoon arrived by air in the newly cleared airfield. They carried supplies and fuel vital to continue the operation.
On March 7, Golani forces conquered the village Ein Harouf. On the same day, the Alexandroni Brigade moved from Beersheba through Mamshit towards Sodom. From there it made an amphibious landing near Ein Gedi through the dead sea.
On March 8, Golani conquered al-Ghamr. The defending Jordanian forces withdrew. Simultaneously, Negev forces moved towards Umm Rashrash through the Valley of Fingers. At night, the Alexandroni Brigade set sail from Sodom on the Dead Sea and landed at Ein Gedi before dawn.
On March 8–9, the Alexandroni Brigade split into three groups, one of which captured Ein Gedi and the southern group captured Masada. During that time the Negev Brigade stayed at the Valley of Fingers for two days, looking for a roundabout way to reach Ras al-Naqb.
On March 9, Golani forces captured Gharandal and proceeded to Ein Ghadyan (now Yotvata).
In the morning of March 10, an aerial photographer discovered that the police station guarding Ras al-Naqb was abandoned. The Negev Brigade set out towards Umm Rashrash through Ras al-Naqb.
Negev and Golani Bridages actively competed on who would reach the Red Sea first, and on March 10 at 15:00, the Negev Brigade accomplished the feat, reaching the abandoned police station at Umm Rashrash (where the city of Eilat was later built). The Golani Brigade arrived two hours later.
Because Operation Uvda was the last military operation during the war, the raising at the police station of the hand-drawn Israeli flag (popularly known as the Ink Flag) on March 10 at 16:00 is considered to have ended the war.
The front commander sent this telegram at the conclusion of the campaign: "On Hagana day, the 11th of Adar, the Palmach Negev brigade and the Golani brigade present the Gulf of Eilat to the State of Israel".
Read more about this topic: Operation Uvda
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