The number of unusual – many would argue miraculous – incidents associated with Israel’s founding is remarkable. Among the most incredible of these is the story of Israel’s air force. Israel essentially had no air force on May 14, 1948 – the day it formally came into being – but a mere two weeks later, a handful of planes built at a former Nazi air base in Czechoslovakia halted two separate Arab invasions of the fledgling Jewish state.http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/the-incredible-genesis-of-israels-air-force-an-interview-with-author-robert-gandt/2017/10/10/
This fascinating history is outlined in the new book Angels in the Sky: How a Band of Volunteer Airmen Saved the New State of Israel (W.W. Norton & Company) by Robert Gandt. An award-winning author of more than a dozen books, Gandt is a former Navy pilot and the leader of the Mavericks Aerobatic Formation Team.
The Jewish Press: Your book is titled “Angels in the Sky.” Who were these angels?
Gandt: These were men, almost all of them World War II veterans, who went to Israel in 1948 when the newly founded country was overrun by invading Arab armies. They weren’t all Jewish. About a third of them were not. But together, these men – fighter pilots, bomber pilots, transport pilots, radio men, bombardiers, navigators – formed the nucleus of a tiny little air force that ultimately saved Israel.
Where did these men come from?
The greatest number came from the United States. A significant number came from Canada. Per capita, the largest contingent was from South Africa. And then there were some from France, several from Britain, and a scattering from half-a-dozen other countries, including Russia, Poland, and India.
You write that the number of local Israeli pilots was so small that the language of Israel’s air force was originally English, not Hebrew.
That’s correct. Of the fighter and bomber pilots, I think there were only two Israelis – Ezer Weizman, who later became the president of Israel, and a hero named Modi Alon, who was the first commander of the elite fighter squadron.
It’s interesting that even the “angel of death” logo of Israel’s first fighter squadron was conceived by foreign volunteers – two Californian Jews.
The emblem of Israel’s 101 Squadron – designed by two Californian Jews.
The emblem of Israel’s 101 Squadron – designed by two Californian Jews.
Yes, that emblem was designed by Bob Vickman and Stan Andrews, both of whom dropped out of art school in California to go to Israel. They were later killed in the war. That emblem is still on the nose of every plane in Israel’s 101st squadron today.
What motivated all these foreign pilots and airmen to fight for Israel?
A great number of them had family members who had been lost in the Holocaust, so they saw this as a holy cause – preventing a second Holocaust. Others were zealous Zionists. And some of them just missed the adrenaline rush of combat. You have to remember: These were all young men in their 20s, most of them were single, and almost all of them were World War II veterans. For a number of them, World War II had been the peak experience of their life. And here suddenly was a new and worthy adventure they could risk their lives for.
All these men come to Israel and the first planes they fly are Czech versions of Nazi fighter planes – which is more than a tad ironic considering that the Nazis had just finished murdering six million Jews three years earlier.
David Ben-Gurion searched far and wide for appropriate fighter aircraft but was unable to get them from the United States, Britain, or South Africa [because of an arms embargo imposed by these countries]. The only place he could find them was in Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia had built Messerschmitt fighters for the Nazis during World War II, and they were still producing versions of this Messerschmitt which they were willing to sell to Israel. They were inferior planes, but that was all that was available, so Israel bought them. The field in Czechoslovakia where [Israel’s] pilots trained was a former Luftwaffe fighter base, so all the equipment they used was left over from World War II: Nazi flight suits, goggles, parachutes, etc.
What made these planes inferior?
They were very difficult to land and take off. Israel lost far more airplanes in accidents than they did in combat. The pilots hated them. They lost at least two airplanes because they shot off their own propellers with machine guns that were supposed to fire between the propeller blades but weren’t properly synchronized.
Despite all the plane’s deficiencies, you write that it single-handedly stopped Egypt from conquering Tel Aviv two weeks after Israel’s founding. That’s quite an achievement.
By May 29, 1948, two Egyptian armored columns were within 20 miles of Tel Aviv, and word came to the fighter pilots: “Either strike immediately or the Arabs will be in Tel Aviv the next day, and the war will be over.” This wasn’t supposed to be their first strike, but off they went – four Messerschmitts is all they could get in the air – and they attacked this Arab column of about 10,000 troops.
Their machine guns jammed and they only dropped a few measly bombs, but they completely terrified the Egyptian army. The Egyptians had no idea Israel had an air force, and they went into a panic and hunkered down. Those four little ineffective fighters literally saved the country that evening.
And the next day these planes stopped another invasion from the east.
