SAVIOURS IN THE SKY - AIRMEN I
The war came to Israel at 05:25 in the morning after the State of Israel was declared. Arab spitfires almost destroyed Israel’s little fleet of utility airplanes at the Tel-Aviv airport. Israeli gunners managed to hit one plane and capture the Egyptian pilot who had bailed out. They learned from the talkative young pilot, that the Egyptian air-force had an entire squadron of Spitfires, as well as Dakota bombers, at El Arish air base beneath the Sinai border. Less than a hundred miles from Tel-Aviv. During a reconnaissance flight, the Israelis knew that, massed along the borders, were thousands of Arab troops, armoured vehicles, and troop carriers. Many of the Arab units were already inside the proposed new border, even though the British occupying force hadn’t pulled out yet. [On the 28 th May, 1948, the Haganah and the other splinter fighting groups were unified by Ben-Gurion into the Israeli Defense Forces. At the same time, the Haganah’s air service - consisting of ...