Green Island (Arabic:الجزيرة الخضراء)[note 1] is a small (145 m long x 50 m) artificial island in theRed Sea at the southern mouth of theSuez Canal.[1][2]
Green Island was a fortress built by theBritish Army (probably byBritish Troops in Egypt orRear-Admiral, Alexandria, Royal Navy) to protect theSuez Canal from air and sea attack duringWorld War II. This waterway was of enormous strategic significance for Britain at this time. Located three kilometers south ofPort Ibrahim and four kilometers south of the city ofSuez and the mouth of theSuez Canal, the fortress was built on a bed of stable corals and made out of reinforced concrete. It consisted of a one-storey building with a large courtyard. At one end of the island, a concrete bridge jutted out into the water toward a circular five-metre-high tower supporting a radar site and two heavy anti-aircraft machine guns. A wall reinforced with thick rows of barbed wire was built at the water's edge, to deter attack from the sea. Heavy machine guns were emplaced in the roof, and there were over a dozen machine gun nests. A series of concrete bunkers sat atop an 8-foot-high (2.4 m) seawall, ringed by razor wire three rolls deep. There were several gun emplacements.
In 1969, during theWar of Attrition betweenIsrael andEgypt, the island was heavily defended. Its garrison consisted of approximately 70Egyptian infantrymen and 12special forcescommandos, 14 machine gun positions (14.5 mm to 25 mm), two 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, and four 85 mm anti-aircraft guns. On the night of July 19, 1969 the island was raided byIsraeli commandos (Operation Bulmus 6). The Egyptian facilities on the island were completely destroyed with Israeli casualties of threeSayeret Matkal and threeShayetet 13 commandos killed, and 11 wounded.
29°54′42″N32°31′48″E / 29.9118°N 32.5299°E /29.9118; 32.5299
Islands ofEgypt | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nile islands | ||
| Red Sea islands | ||
| Mediterranean Sea islands | ||
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