Ashdod Travelers guide

What brought us here 129 Now continue (it is recommended by foot, but you can also continue with your car) about 500 meters northeast, toward the monument for the Givati soldiers and the Ad Halom bridge. The dirt trail curves to the right along the southern bank of the stream, and next to it there are quotes by those who participated in the battles. From this point you can only continue on foot. Further down the path you will reach a large plaza, which provides a beautiful view of the Lachish stream . A wind rose is painted on the floor of the plaza, which illustrates the distances (that are relatively short) to the most important sites during the War of Independence, such as to Tel Aviv, Cairo and the village of Isdud. Next to it stands the Pillbox , the guard post of the British police, which was built in 1936 for the purpose of protecting the bridge and the railway track from Arab attacks. The post's nickname, Pillbox, derives from its cylindrical shape, which resembles the shape of a pill box. Opposite the Pillbox is the memorial monument to the Givati combat soldiers . The names of the 54 soldiers who fell in the War of Independence battles are engraved on the memorial wall, next to the inscription "To the warriors who cried up to here, fell and did not win". On the wall there is also a relief map of the Operation Philistia, the great battle that took place here on June 3rd, 1948. More about: The containment battle on the bridge Hours after the declaration of independence, on the eve of May 15, 1948, Arab armies, including the Egyptian army, invaded the country. The invasion began with an assault on two fronts : one towards the Be'er Sheva-Hebron-Jerusalem area, and the other towards Tel Aviv. The combat soldiers of Company B, Battalion 54 of the Givati Brigade, who were in charge of the sector, prepared in advance for the Egyptian invasion and several days earlier, on May 12, blew up the bridge over the Lachish stream as part of Operation "Barak", with the aim of blocking the Egyptian advance into the center of the country. Blowing up the bridge turned out to be quite a difficult task, after the two mules that carried the explosives shook off the charges and disappeared into the dark. The soldiers had to carry the explosives themselves. A failed attempt to attack the Egyptians in the vicinity of the bridge during Operation