When the frontal assaults on the Latrun fortress failed in May-June 1948, the Israelis found another way to save Jerusalem. Engineers and laborers, working under fire and often at night, carved a bypass road through the rocky hills south of Latrun, avoiding the Arab Legion positions entirely.
Building the Road
The road, named after the Burma Road of World War II (which bypassed Japanese positions in Southeast Asia), was barely passable. Trucks ground up the steep grades in low gear, and in places the road was so rough that supplies had to be carried by hand or on donkeys. Hundreds of workers, many of them elderly volunteers from Jerusalem, carried sacks of flour on their backs along the steepest sections. But it worked.
Siege Is Broken
The first convoy reached Jerusalem via the Burma Road on June 1, 1948. The siege was broken. Jerusalem would not fall. The Burma Road, improvised in desperation, saved a city of 100,000 people from starvation and surrender.
Trail Today
Sections of the original road are preserved as a memorial trail, and the rusted remains of supply trucks that made the journey are displayed along the route. Walking the trail, you can see the steep grades and rocky terrain that the trucks and porters navigated in the dark, and understand the desperation and ingenuity that saved Jerusalem.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Burma Road trail is a short, powerful walk through one of the most dramatic chapters of the 1948 war. Hoshen Tours combines it with Latrun and Yad LaShiryon for the full story of the battle for the road to Jerusalem.