GRAY, William Nicol (Inspector General). Wanted! Rewards will be paid by the Government of Palestine to any person providing information which leads to the arrest of any of the absconded criminals whose description appears hereunder and who escaped from the Central Prison Acre on Sunday 4th May 1947. [Jerusalem:] Government of Palestine Press, 18 August 1947.

Rare reward poster for information leading to the arrest of 29 Jewish Prisoners from Acre’s Prison Break on May 4, 1947.

Large lithographic poster (997 x 697 mm.), 29 police-type 'mug shot' portraits of the escaped prisoners, with descriptions in Arabic, English and Hebrew. (Extensively repaired and backed onto linen, 1010 x 710 mm., three light vertical and three light horizontal creasefolds, 130 mm. tear at top-centre margin extending through headline and into centre two portraits with small losses to two words and one image, central 40 mm. hole affecting a few words in one English description, one crease with associated small losses to central portrait in bottom row, 25 mm. hole to Hebrew text to bottom left, a few tiny marginal nicks and chips to extremities, scattered water, tape and glue stains.)

IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DOCUMENT related to the aftermath of the Acre Prison break operation orchestrated by the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun on 4 May 1947. Under British rule, Acre’s ancient fortress was converted into a central prison where it held not only members belonging to the Jewish paramilitary groups Irgun, Lehi and Haganah, but also a large group of Arab prisoners (some serving long sentences from the Arab Rebellion of 1936-1939) as well as mentally distrubed patients. Acre prison was the most highly-guarded fortress in the country, surrounded by walls and encircled to the east and north by a deep moat, and with the sea to the west.

An escape plan was put into motion when an Arab inmate reported hearing women's voices while working in the oil storeroom of the kitchens in the south wall of the fortress. This was reported to Eitan Livini the most senior Irgun prisoner, who deduced that the south wall of the prison bordered onto a street in the Old City. This information was smuggled out to the Irgun General Headquarters, with a proposal that the wall of the oil storehouse be exploited for a break-in to rescue inmates.

The break-in was planned for Sunday, 4 May 1947, at 4pm, the same day the United Nations General Assembly convened to discuss the Palestine issue. Livini selected 41 prisoners for escape: 30 Irgun and 11 Lehi, as this was the number of spots available at safe houses. The Irgun purchased various trucks and jeeps and disguised them as British military vehicles, while Irgun fighters dressed as British military personnel, entered into a Turkish bath house adjoining the prison as an ‘engineering unit’ in order to ‘mend’ the telephone lines. While this was taking place externally, within the prison, the doors of the cells were opened for afternoon exercise. The telephone repair team triggered a large explosion, blowing a hole in the wall of the ancient walls of fortress. The escapees changed into civilian clothing, and clambered into the waiting vehicles. The plan was extremely audacious, but the explosions attracted the attention of a bathing party of the Sixth Airborne, who mounted an impromptu roadblock half a mile outside the city, intercepting the vehicles. A fierce fire-fight erupted in which the British captured 5 members of the assault team, killing another 3 - including its leader, Dov Cohen - as well as 6 escaped prisoners. Another side effect was that over 200 Arab prisoners escaped from the fortress in the confusion. Despite this mixed military result, it provided a huge psychological boost to Irgun and the greater Jewish community, and served to underscore the fact that Britain was unable even to secure Palestine's maximum security prison.

In the present lot, there are 'mug shot' photos of 29 Jewish prisoners – some, with their prisoner numbers included – belonging to Irgun and Lehi groups. Under the order of the Inspector General, W.N. Gray, a reward of £1,000 is offered in return for any leads to their arrests. Although the escape took place on 4 May 1947, and although it is dated July 1947, the poster's imprint code states that it was printed on 18 August, suggesting that these 29 were still at large some 3 months after the event.