About a month after the successful raid on Rosh ha-Ayin and after many delays, the high command of the United Resistance finally approved a plan to launch a second raid on the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) headquarters in Jerusalem and Jaffa. These raids were exploited in order to plan confiscation of weapons from the army camp in the Exhibition rounds in Tel Aviv. From internal information, we learned that there was a stock of weapons in one of the depots, including American Thompson machine-guns (the so-called Tommy-gun which was widely used in the British armed forces), which we preferred to the Stens we were then using. After we had checked security arrangements, we decided to break through the fence from the Yarkon River side and to take over the base from within.
At the appointed time, the fence was opened with special cutters, and the raiding party set out for the central building. Gidi , who was the commander of the operation, called on the soldiers through a megaphone to lay down their arms. Several dozen British soldiers obeyed the order and surrendered. They were led into the central building and held there under guard until the raid was completed. Another unit made for the depots, but encountered automatic fire from one of the buildings. Avner (Dov Sternglaz) tried to fling a hand grenade towards the source of the shots, but was hit in the jaw in the process. His hand grenade exploded and he was seriously injured. Another five members of the unit also suffered injuries, but the attackers eventually succeeded in silencing the source of gunfire and breaking into the depot. To their disappointment, it proved empty of weapons, and they were forced to retreat, carrying with them their wounded and the few weapons they had taken. Two motorboats were waiting for them, and took them along the Yarkon River to the Seven Mills, as far as a small waterfall not traversable by boat.
At the beginning of the evening, all the necessary arrangements had been made to receive the fighters and weapons at the meeting point. Shmulik assigned me the task of preparing several boats which would be used to cross the river if necessary. I set out for the site and found a storage shed with boats for hire. We broke into the wooden hut and removed the boats and oars. Suddenly we heard shouts from across the road: "Thieves, thieves." The watchman in the Yerushalmi rope factory had spotted us and intended to inform the police. We went into the watchman's hut with cocked revolvers, explained who we were and 'recommended' that he avoid interfering. To be on the safe side we pulled out the telephone wires. Everything was ready for the returning unit. Even Menahem Lurie was waiting nearby with his wagon.
When we heard the motorboats approaching, we raced excitedly towards the water, but the sight of so many wounded men shocked us. This was the highest number of casualties so far in one operation. The wounded men had been treated in the boats by Topsy (Malka Yefet), a qualified nurse, and were now assisted by Dvora Kalfus-Nehushtan. Avner, who had been seriously wounded, was taken first to the apartment of Aliza (Litzi) and Moshe Greenberg, who were members of the Irgun, and then to Hadassah hospital in Tel Aviv, where he later died. The other wounded men were taken to the Peulan hospital in Ramat Gan, housed in a building owned by Shalom Shuk-Halevi, whose daughter Ruth was a member of the Irgun.
Among the injured was Noah Grizek, wounded in the thigh and hospitalised for a lengthy period. I was to meet him three months later, when he was my roommate in the Pohovsky hospital in Tel Aviv after I too was injured.
After the wounded had been evacuated, each of the fighters told his story with great emotion, and the noise and excitement were great. Suddenly we heard the order 'Attention' and Gidi, who towered above us all, lined us up. There was total silence as Gidi (Amihai Paglin) explained the withdrawal routes. Shmulik and I walked among the rows and loaded the weapons into sacks we had prepared in advance. The sacks were then loaded onto the wagon to be taken to the cache in the municipal school. After handing over the weapons, the fighters dispersed, some going to Tel Aviv and others to Petah Tikva.
As anticipated, a general curfew was imposed the following day in Ramat Gan and house-to-house searches were conducted. Fortunately, our house was outside the curfew area, and the British soldiers reached only as far as Salameh Road, which was the muncipal limit of Ramat Gan. When I saw the soldiers approaching, I immediately made my escape through the back door and headed for the nearby orange groves.
Several days later, when quiet had been restored, we decided to take the weapons out of the cache to clean them, oil them and prepare them for the next operation. Amos Goldblat, Menahem Lurie and I prepared to do this together. After removing the topsoil and exposing the cache, I climbed down and handed the sacks up to Amos, who had remained outside. I warned him not to take any of the weapons out of the sacks since they could be loaded. As I stood in the cache, I suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of a shot. I climbed out; fearing that the police had arrived to arrest us, and discovered that one of the revolvers had indeed fired. Unfortunately, the bullet had hit Amos in the finger and he was in need of proper medical treatment. I was afraid that the shot might have been heard in the adjacent police station and that someone would be sent to investigate, but when several minutes passed without incident, I asked Lurie to stand guard whilst I took Amos to the nearest first aid station. There we found Naftali Frankel, the duty medic that night, who bandaged the finger and suggested Amos be treated by a physician. He noted in his register that the wound had been caused by a work accident and assured me that he could manage without me. I ran back to the cache to help Lurie load the sacks onto the wagon and to take the weapons to the rented hut . Some time later I learned that Naftali Frankel was in fact a member of the Irgun.
