The Pickup Truck That Evacuated the Wounded

With the UN's declaration of partition, battles erupted with gangs in the south. The truck was put at the disposal of Palmah's Company H (2nd Battalion, Negev Brigade - Battalion Commander: Haim Bar-Lev) under the command of Gershon Dubinboim to guard the water pipeline to the south, which Bedouin gangs repeatedly tried to sabotage. The truck patrolled between Gvar'am and Nirim to secure the water line and reservoirs. To this day, it is known as "Dubinboim's Truck."

In January 1948, the truck was stolen to the Nitzana sands by a Bedouin gang. Ezer Weizman, during an aerial reconnaissance in a "Primus" aircraft, located the truck in Nitzana and reported to Lieutenant Bar-Lev of the Palmah company, who then brought the truck back to the kibbutz.

The truck's off-road capability assisted Gvar'am during the war by traveling on dirt roads to bypass gang roadblocks. It was used for continuous supply to the kibbutz, transporting women in labor from Gvar'am to the maternity hospital in Rehovot, and sick and wounded individuals from Yad Mordechai to Gvar'am, from where they were transported to the Negev hospital and flown north.

During the Egyptian invasion of Yad Mordechai, the truck was used to evacuate children, women, and wounded from the battlefields and from the besieged Negev areas.

After the war, it was returned to Gvar'am, and upon receiving a new truck, it was retired to the kibbutz yard.