Shlomo Aloni - Israeli Air Force Operations in the 1948 War

Israeli Air Force in the 1948 War

Aaron Morris

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Text Shlomo Aloni 2015

Monochrome images sourced by the author

Colour profi les drawn and commentary written by Tom Cooper, Tom Cooper 2015

Maps drawn by George Anderson Helion & Company Limited 2015

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The author and publisher apologize for any errors or omissions in this work, and would be grateful if notifi ed of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

Cover: The ILAF inventory included eight T-6s, but 1108 did not fly during HOREV and 1103 did not fly attack missions during HOREV, so the actual maximum T-6 force was six aircraft, as fl own during the Day 5 afternoon mission to raid Manshiya. Colour profile - The Avia S.199 D-121 did not follow the trend of ever-larger serials, but contrary to its looks during the summer of 1948 did receive full markings of the No. 101 First Fighter Squadron, including its spinner in red, and red and white stripes on the rudder. Notable is that the serial was applied in black and blue colors, and that the Red Cross insignia over the first-aid package was replaced with the Star of David applied in red.

ISBN 978-1-910294-11-6

eISBN 978-1-913118-16-7

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Note

One of the most important virtues of an officer is credibility. A military organization supposedly cannot win a war without credibility along the chain of command. It is therefore assumed that most - surely not all - of the debriefs quoted in this presentation are credible; latter accounts from biographies, interviews and memoirs are therefore mostly ignored in this presentation of ILAF operations during Operation HOREV. Largely, this book is not a narrative, a story or a tale but a plain presentation of ILAF operations, mostly from an Israeli perspective, along the timeline of HOREV. It is not fully complete; it is not absolutely accurate; it is certainly concise and perhaps precise; but it is the best possible effort at this point in time.

Shlomo Aloni

1 November 2013

Acknowledgements

This presentation of ILAF operations during ILDF Operation HOREV benefits from materials that have been gathered over a timeframe of more than 20 years from national archives and personal collections. The author thanks Oded Abarbanell, Haggai Agmon, Daniel Arber, Rudy Augarten, Zvi Avidror, Israel Ben-Shachar, Yeshayahu Bodilewsky, Judah Borovik, Jules Cuburnek, Brian Cull, Yoav Efrati, Eli Eyal, Ron Feldman, Seymour Feldman, Michel Finegood, Aaron Finkel, Leon Frankel, Shaya Gazit, Udi Gazit, Josef Gideoni, Johnny Harris, Leif Hellstrom, Moti Hod, Arie Jacoby, Eddy Kaplansky, Shabtai Katz, Josef Keidar, Samuel Laron, Lou Lenart, Zvi Lavon, George Lichter, Gideon Lichtman, Hugo Marom, Ariel Naor, Nathan Navot, David Nicolle, Josef Ofer, Benjamin Peled, Moshe Peled, Yoram Peled, Asher Roth, Meir Ruff, Boris Senior, Daniel Shapira, Smoky Simon, Pessach Tal, Yoash Tsiddon, Ran Yahalom and Zahik Yavneh, as well as ILDA, ILPO and UKNA for documents, memories and photos. All presented photos originated from collections of the aforementioned.

Glossary

Brief Background

UN Resolution 181, adopted on 29 November 1947, called for the partition of Palestine between an Arab State and a Jewish State with the British Mandate to end on 14 May 1948. Armed struggle between Arabs and Jews erupted immediately after the adoption of UN Resolution 181 as British forces prepared for withdrawal from Palestine and Arab League nations prepared to invade Palestine.

Israels Independence was announced on 14 May 1948 and an Arab League invasion started the following day. The first round of the war lasted until a UN truce was imposed in June 1948. Arab expeditionary forces gained ground but failed to accomplish the Arab League objective of a swift invasion of Israel.

The second round of the war was an Israeli summer offensive during July 1948. The ILDF summer offensive was not wholly successful but it signaled that Arab expeditionary forces lost initial momentum while Israel assumed the offensive initiative.

The third round of the war was an Israeli autumn offensive during October 1948. The ILDF autumn offensive was partially successful and secured Israel territorial integrity with Galilee in the north and Negev in the south.

The fourth round of the war was an Israeli winter offensive that lasted from 22 December 1948 until 7 January 1949 and was known to ILDF as Operation HOREV.

OPOR HOREV

ILDF Front D HQ issued OPOR HOREV on 20 December 1948. Main participating forces were Brigade 1, Brigade 3, Brigade 8, Brigade 12 and elements of Brigade 10. HOREVs objective was the defeat of EGDF in Israel.