[Music] foreign [Music] the 1948 or First Arab-Israeli War. also known as the War of
Survival started following the United Nations Resolution 181 passed by the United Nations
General Assembly on 29 November 1947. This partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish
States but the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem being divided and governed by
an international committee. The British were stuck in the middle. This resolution marked
the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948, and the Israeli
Declaration of Independence had been issued earlier that day. Immediately a military
coalition of Arab states entered the territory of British Palestine on the morning of 15 May.
What were the great dilemmas facing the fighter pilots in the 1948 Arab Israeli
War? Who were some of the multinational mercenaries who flew for Israel?
How did they manage to create an air force after a war had started where none had existed?
What were the controversy's heightening tensions? Hello I'm Colin Heaton former
soldier, Marine Corps scout sniper, history professor, historian, and book autho, and we
will answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History [Music]
King Farouq of Egypt and King Abdullah of TransJordan rallied the Arabs in the region
to create a large Arab army to extinguish the Jews. By the time they started their attacks on
15 May 1948 their combined force numbered 240 000. The militaries of Egypt, Trans-Jordan, Syria and
forces from Iraq and Southern Lebanon then invaded Palestine attacking Israel. The Egyptian Air Force
had over 30 Spitfires four Hawker hurricanes and 20 C-47s modified into crude bombers.
The Syrian Air Force had 50 planes, the 10 newest of which were World War II generation models.
Israel did not have an air force as such and the call went out for volunteers around the world.
Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered that all abandoned aircraft left by the British be
repaired and made serviceable, and Israel needed pilots to fly them, mechanics to repair them,
and armorers and ammunition to service them. Many men answered the call; some brought planes with
them. Most were rebuilt from scraps or purchased in Europe. About 70 percent were volunteers from
15 different countries. They served as pilots, navigators, radio operators, bombardiers,
air gunners, aerial photographers, ordinance men, mechanics, and did so without rank, uniforms,
and in many cases without pay. Of the 205 World War II pilots in the IAF (the Israeli Air
Force) over the same period 181 were Jewish. What happened was the creation of the most unlikely air
force in history. Israeli marked P-51 Mustangs, British Spitfires, German Messerschmitts rebuilt
in Czechoslovakia, Typhoons, Tempests, Mosquitoes all engaging in combat against Arab flown aircraft
of the same makes and models. Of the 33 Israeli Air Force fliers killed or missing during the War
of Independence 19 were Jewish, eight were from the USA, six from Canada, three from Britain and
two from South Africa. We will mention a few of the notables. Some situations were beyond
belief. Israeli mercenaries fighting Egyptian and Syrian fighters but also fighting the British RAF.
The Israeli pilots and volunteers often came into contact with Egyptian and Syrian Air Force pilots.
However because the British Royal Air Force was patrolling these areas. Israeli, Egyptian,
and Syrian and British Pilots also engaged each other in a bizarre series of events.
In essence the air battles became a free-for-all. The mercenary pilots were highly effective mainly
due to the fact that so many were World War II combat veterans and they brought that experience
with them, as well as the ability to fly various types of aircraft as they became available.
As Israeli ground forces fought a primarily defensive battle they were able to take the
initiative and push into the Arab forces due to their pilots hitting enemy troops and vehicles.
The greatest factor in their success was control of the air. The Arab Air Forces needed to dominate
the airspace for their ground troops and tanks, and the following pilots are just a few examples
of how Israel destroyed the enemy in the air securing victory. Such as on 22 May 1948 when
British Flying Officer Tim McElhaw flying a Royal Air Force Spitfire shot down a royal Egyptian Air
Force Spitfire while it was mistakenly attacking RAF base Ramat David in Palestine on August 16,
1948. American World War II P-47 Thunderbolt pilot Rudolph Augarten flying a Czech-built
Messerschmitt 109 encountered two Egyptian Spitfires shooting one down.
Another memorable event was when Canadian John Frederick McElroy a World War II 11 and a half
victory ace in World War II with the Royal Canadian Air Force decided to leave Canada and
fly for Israel himself. The British had started flying in the narrow corridors between the two
belligerents and their pilots often found themselves in combat with both Israeli and
Arab pilots. This confusion tended to benefit the Israelis more than the Arabs who did not
want to bring Great Britain into the conflict. The Israelis knew that the United Nations in
its majority and global public opinion was on their side so they had nothing to lose. Anyway
these encounters became diplomatic and political problems for the British Royal Air Force. McElroy
while not even Jewish was flying Spitfires for the Israelis and was credited with a Machi C.205V
on December 30th 1948 and two of four Spitfire FR18s of No. 208 Squadron Royal Air Force and the
war had just started. Non-Jewish American pilot Chalmers "Slick" Goodland was soon engaged with
four British No. 208 Squadron RAF Spitfires that stuck their noses in the middle of a battle that
they should not have been involved with. The other 208 Squadron Spitfire was brought down
by Israeli ground fire. The pilot Frank Close survived with a broken jaw after landing on his
head under his tangled parachute. Both McElhaw and Close were captured by the Israelis and sent
to Cyprus which was under British control. Another amazing encounter was on 20th November 1948 when
an unarmed British RAF photo reconnaissance de Havilland Mosquito of No. 13 Squadron was shot
down by an Israeli Air Force P-51 Mustang flown by American volunteer Wayne Peak as it flew over
the Galilee towards Hatzor Air Base. Wayne Peak flew with the USAAF in World War II and earned
the nickname "the friendly fighter pilot," as one day after a skirmish with an Arab pilot,
seeing that his opponent's gun had jammed he waved to the helpless enemy pilot and let him run home.
On January 8 certain pilots of the Israeli No. 101 Squadron sent a message to the British RAF
No. 208 Squadron, "Sorry about yesterday but you were on the wrong side of the fence. Come
over and have a drink sometime. You will see many familiar faces." That was not an empty gesture as
several of the mercenary pilots had flown with a few of the British pilots they had just engaged.
Tim McElhaw later said, "I was visited by McElroy whilst I was a POW in Tel Aviv. I
could only recall that we had a perfectly civil conversation, whilst both being on guard not to
reveal anything of operational significance. I think he said that he had been involved." In March
1949 after this incident the authorities hustled McElroy and Goodlin out of Israel and they were
shipped home. There are many great stories about the air war, but these examples proved just how
confusing and dangerous the skies over Palestine were during Israel's First Arab-Israeli War.
Without dedicated pilots from around the world willing to fly and fight with the Israelis
giving them air superiority, it is doubtful that Israel would have survived to become a nation.
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