(06-04-09) Our new partner, Miguel Ángel Cerezo, dive us in one of the Arab-Israeli war scenarios: a quite unknown cemetery for military wastes. This place does not appear in diving guide books, but is particularly attractive.

    It is the year 1956... In a swift and devastating operation that lasted only 100 hours, commanded by the General of the General General Staff Moshe Dayan, the entire Sinai Peninsula fell into Israel’s hands. It was the beginning of the second Arab-Israeli war. The nationalization of the Suez Canal led by Gamal Abadel Nasser, colonel of the army and president of Egypt, was its trigger.

    The political and strategic decision to stop Israel trade damages the interests of France and Britain (countries that financed the infrastructure of this important artificial means of communication and that lose the privileges of 12 years of exploitation) and the interests of Israel, whose unique outlet to Red Sea is closed.

    The Canal was built with French capital and Egyptian participation. By economic problems, Egypt sold its shares to United Kingdom. With this background, President Nasser supported by the URS nationalized Suez Canal provoking a double military intervention: on one hand, the United Kingdom and France, to safeguard their interests in the region; on the other hand Israel, which fears for its safety and considers blocking the Straits of Tiran a direct assault which prevents Israeli ships from having an exit to Red Sea.

operation kadesh

    At the end of October, in a swift and bold surprise attack that only lasted 100 hours, the Egyptian army was defeated and Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula having only lost 231 soldiers killed in combat.

    Commanded by General Moshe Dayan, reserve units questioned before the war acted effectively equipped with requisitioned civilian buses as the only means of transport. They advanced through the desert with the support of tanks. The Egyptian defense was poor, so Israel quickly conquered Sharm el-Sheikh at the southern tip of the peninsula.

    The conflict ended by pressure from U.S. and UN. Israel was 10 years in relative peace until the Six-Day War in 1967 that ended with a new Israeli victory in the Sinai.

the dump of the war

     If in the first war in 1948 the infantry was the main character, in 1956 they were the armoured and mechanized units. Much equipment was destroyed or unusable and, as unfortunately often happens when people do not know what to do with the remains and the sea is near, everything was just thrown there.

     So is the reef with no name, a garbage dump of the war, a place with no name because it wants to be forgotten by those who changed there a coral garden full of life for a cemetery of war machines. It is non visited place, a place that is not seen and where life, despite everything, continues.

    Quite close to the main port of Sharm el-Sheikh, below a cliff, there is this ghostly place, which not considered a dive point and therefore it does not appear in the guide book. In there the explosion of colour and life of the Red Sea is changed for a barren place, almost uninhabited by coral, full of junk and where we can find a lot of life if look carefully.

a wall with no coral

    The wall of this cliff drops smoothly to a 35 meters depth where the sandy bottom is. All vehicles are between 10 and 27 meters deep. Almost without corals, although they are slowly beginning to settle the war machine, we can easily make out transport trucks and light tanks that probably are the British Bren Carrier.

    This small armoured vehicle is fast, lightweight and agile. The prototype appeared in 1925 as opposed to the outdated idea of producing highly armoured and armed cars, like those used in the Great War (1914-1918). With only one crew member, it was designed for exploration and transportation of troops and artillery. In manufacturing since 1939, they have been used on all fronts during World War II and many years later in the armies of several countries.

    Among this mass of iron, it is easy to see medium-sized lion fish (Pterais volitans) that have turned these nooks into their place for hunting; a few anthias (Pseudanthias squanipinis), here and there a pair of white anemones bulbs (Entacmaea quadricolor), with the always likeable and brave clown fish (Amphiprion bicinctus). In large cavities between vehicle and vehicle there are examples of big grunt fish (Plectorhinchus gaterinus) and the always impressive giant moray eel (Gymnothorax javanicus)

    This place is very different of the rest of the coral reef preserved in its natural state, because of the large number of invertebrates that houses, such as the sea urchin (Diadema setosum), as well as because of the easily seen nudibranchs, planarias and bicolour shrimps of the species Stenopus hispidus.

     It is always preferable to enjoy absolute beautiful places teeming with life like those that the Red Sea offers in areas popular for diving, such as the reefs of Tiran or Ras Mohamed in Sharm el-Sheikh, but it will be always curious to visit this place, provided that you are taken there…!

Text and Photos: Miguel Ángel Cerezo