Unit 462 was the first Israeli company to be sent to land in Europe. On April 24, 1943, after the Passover holiday, a convoy of about 30 ships carrying equipment, fuel and auxiliary soldiers left the port of Alexandria, Egypt, for the island of Malta in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily. At the head of the convoy was the ship Erinpura, carrying the company's soldiers and their belongings. During the voyage, on May 1, the 27-member convoy carrying British Army soldiers was spotted by a German reconnaissance aircraft. The pilot summoned fighter jets, which arrived in the evening. The ship was hit twice and sank in about 4 minutes. 139 of the company's soldiers perished and many were wounded.
Shortly before their departure, the married soldiers signed a conditional divorce, which was realized with their drowning.