SAVIOURS IN THE SKY - AIRMEN III

 

After Modi Alon’s downing of the two Dakota bombers, the Egyptians had given up attacking Tel-Aviv from the air. Now they were coming from the sea. After one of the new volunteer airmen had crashed the last Messerschmitt fighter, the tiny Israeli Navy had nothing that could engage the Egyptian ships.

With no choice, an urgent call went out to the domestic airfield at Sdeh Dov. The Sdeh Dov airbase consisted of only a handful of utility planes, fewer than two dozen airmen and only one military trained pilot. A little band of three amateur “bombers” were sent to engage with the Egyptian navy. The desperate airmen had to toss bombs from the cockpits of wooden airplanes by hand. It was broad daylight in a clear blue sky. The Egyptian warships were armed with antiaircraft guns. Each plane made multiple round trips, re-arming at Sdeh Dov and returning to harrass the Egyptian ships.

When Israeli Intelligence received reports that the top officials of the Arab League were meeting in Amman on the night of June 4^th to discuss progress in the war against Israel, they decided to send the Arabs a message. 

Bomb Amman! The heavily defended capital of Transjordan straddled the Jordan River to the east of Israel and, until its independence in 1946, had been a British protectorate. It was still the site of a major military air base of the British, who maintained a watchful presence in the country.

By now, the plucky little band of pilots had already become amateur bombers. They had become used to chucking explosives from the open doors of all their light planes. Like almost all of their weapons, even the bombs were homemade.

The raid at Amman caused little actual damage.However, the real mission had been accomplished. A clear message had been sent to the Arab League officers. 

By June 7^th, the war that the Arabs were sure would be over in two weeks at the most, was becoming a contest of exhaustion. The Israeli troops  were completely shattered. Losses had been higher than expected and they had run out of everything – arms, food, even uniforms and footwear.

Israeli forces had been defeated three times at the fortress of Latrun, which commanded the only road between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem. As the British garrison left Latrun on May 14, 1948, the Arab Legion of Transjordan moved in. This was a disaster for the new Jewish state. The Arab Legion used this location to deny Jewish access to Jerusalem, so its 100,000 Jewish residents began to starve.

In addition, the Egyptians were encamped 25 miles south of Tel-Aviv, and the Iraqi’s were still threatening from the north. 

However, even the Arab forces, especially the Egyptian brigades that had penetrated most deeply into Israel, were overextended. 

The Israeli public were unaware of the dire situation. Ben-Gurion knew that the only way Israeli forces could go on was if the dream  of a truce  could be realised. On 11^th June, after non-stop negotiations by the UN mediator, Count Bernadette, the Arab League finally agreed on a month’s break in hostilities. 

At the new little air base in Herzliya new experienced fighter pilots, mainly from the U.S. and South.Africa, kept arriving. Bringing them all together, Ben-Gurion announced a change of tactics. Until now, the Israeli forces had been on the defensive. When the truce expired, on 9^th July, they must be ready to attack. Push the Arab Liberation Army out of the Galilee. Break the Egyptian grip on the Negev and back to the border in the Sinai.