Operation Musketeer (1956)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Operation Musketeer" 1956 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Operation Musketeer
Part of Suez Crisis
Port Said during the 1956 Operation Musketeer
Date November 1956 Location Egypt and Sinai Peninsula Result Coalition military victory
Belligerents
British Army  French Army Israeli Army	Egyptian Army

Operation Musketeer (French: Opération Mousquetaire) was the Anglo-French plan^[1] for the invasion of the Suez canal zone to capture the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis in 1956. The operation had initially been given the codename Operation Hamilcar, but this name was quickly dropped when it was found that the British were painting an air recognition letter H on their vehicles, while the French, who spelled Hamilcar differently, were painting an A. Musketeer was chosen as a replacement because it started with M in both languages. Israel, which invaded the Sinai peninsula, had the additional objectives of opening the Straits of Tiran and halting fedayeen incursions into Israel. The Anglo-French military operation was originally planned for early September, but the necessity of coordination with Israel delayed it until early November.^[2] However, on 10 September British and French politicians and Chiefs of the General Staff agreed to adopt General Charles Keightley's alterations to the military plans with the intention of reducing Egyptian civilian casualties. The new plan, renamed Musketeer Revise, provided the basis of the actual Suez operation.^[3]