Grandma's army

  Just before the ceasefire, the Israeli armoured column was caught by surprise when they heard a wave of enemy warplanes suddenly appearing - killing several soldiers. When another wave came along, the gunners were ready, and hit at least one of the fighters. McElroy, one of the two veteran WWII pilots who were sent to engage in an air battle with the enemy, succeeded in gunning down two of their   Spitfires. His fellow pilot, Goodlin, was caught up in a dangerous duel with another enemy plane, in which he was successful. Neither of the pilots was Jewish. Happening to glance at the Spitfire’s fuselage, Goodlin couldn’t credit what he was seeing!    It was a distinctive large blue, white and red round emblem. The emblem of the British Royal Airforce. It transpired that the   British had been sending armed scouting flights over the battle area since the day before. Two Mosquito aircraft with four Spitfire escorts had flown over the battle zone, without be...

                              All it takes to change the course of history is one man with a mission. Ben-Gurion knew that, two weeks after the State of Israel was born - when the British withdrew - the armies of five surrounding Arab countries: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Transjordan, would roll like a seismic wave across Israel. With a sixty-to-one numerical advantage, the Arab armies would invade - fully armed. Geography was also on the side of the Arabs. The UN designated Jewish state was a long, thin strip of territory, squeezed in the middle - vulnerable on all sides. Jewish settlements were scattered in isolated pockets throughout the territory, each having to defend itself against the onslaught of entire armies. Israel’s only defense force was the Haganah . They had weapons for less than a third of its soldiers. They had enough ammunition for three day’s fighting. Haganah had no heavy gun...