SAVIOURS IN THE SKY - AIRMEN IX

 

From the early hours, on the Sabbath of January 8^th, pilots were already strapped in their cockpits. They were waiting for the inevitable reprisal attack from the humiliated RAF. The hours crept by as the tension mounted.

Contrary to the demands of the RAF squadron leaders who were begging for the go-ahead to launch a massive retaliatory strike against Israel, RAF headquarters withheld permission. Instead, the British Foreign Office fired off a furious protest to the Israeli government, demanding compensation for the loss of airmen and aircraft.

Truman was condemning  the British for interfering in the Middle East conflict. The British House of Commons was in an uproar. While they were debating the issue, Winston Churchill demanded an explanation for the unreported downing of another British warplane shot down over the coast of Israel the month before! Although the British Air Ministry tried to dodge the question, Churchill continued to probe. When finally admitting that the warplane had been on a reconnaissance mission over Israel, the truth came to light. The British squadron based in Cyprus had been regularly flying such missions since the beginning of hostilities.  

The overall tally of British aircraft shot down by the IAF had risen to six.

An Egyptian brigade had been cut off and starving inside the Faluja Pocket. Egypt was on the brink of revolution at the huge loss of life and resources which they had suffered. As a condition of the truce, all Israeli forces were to withdraw from Egyptian territory by January 10^th.

Two days later, the delegations of Israel and Egypt began UN-sponsored peace talks. Israel, which had paid the overwhelming price of over six thousand deaths, was more than ready for the end of a war which was not of their choosing.

An armistice agreement was signed in Rhodes on 29^th February. The other Arab countries followed Egypt’s example, except for Iraq which, however, agreed to cease hostilities.

There still remained an unresolved dispute. The 120 miles of desert extending from Beersheva to the port of Eilat. It was a vital gateway to Africa and the Far East, and was still unclaimed. Since the end of the fighting, Jordan had been quietly infiltrating troops into the southern desert.

Israel was determined to establish its claim on the vast wasteland of the Negev. It had always been Ben-Gurion’s dream of a home for future immigrants. The two IDF units taking part in Israel’s last offensive, were given orders to avoid conflict with the Jordanians on the east, and the Egyptians along the western border. 

Another landing strip, called Hatzor, had been hastily carved out in the wilderness - 30 miles from Eilat.The transport planes began  hauling reinforcements, ammunition and food for the fast-moving Israeli brigades  in round-the-clock missions.

Five days after the Operation had begun, on March 10^th, vehicles of the Negev Brigade, covered with dust and filled with cheering Israeli soldiers, rolled into the ancient port of Eilat. They met no resistance. The Transjordan occupying troops had already gone home. One of the nurses from an ambulance unit appeared with a bedsheet, on which they painted an Israeli flag. A young captain slithered up a makeshift flagpole to mount what would be called the “Ink Flag”.

                                                                            

The two brigades, the Negev and Golani, had achieved one of Israel’s most significant victories - without a fight. Israel had doubled its land mass. The raising of the “Ink Flag” marked a symbolic end to Israel’s War of Independence.