HYMAN (HY “CHAIM”) GOLDSTEIN
By Eddy Kaplansky
Left to right: Bill Wadman, Hy Goldstein, 1948
Hy Goldstdein’s previously flying experience was as a civilian licensed private pilot. His record as an IAF pilot in 1948 was quite remarkable. His unique story is almost inseparable from that of Canadian Ralph Moster, with whom he worked closely during most of the war.
Ralph and Hy were appointed Commanding Officer and Deputy Commander respectively of the Negev Squadron soon after its move from Nir-Am to Dorot in July 1948. Dorot became isolated from the rest of the country when the Egyptian army swept into the Negev, and was now one of several such Israel-held pockets that were accessible only by air. A dirt strip hacked out of the desert served as runway for their small fleet of light planes, and for the transport airplanes that flew in supplies almost nightly.
When they took command the squadron had only a few restored ex-RAF Austers which were augmented in September by some new 90 horsepower Piper Cubs. Ralph and Hy soon proved themselves to be bold and imaginative leaders of the “follow-me” type, and were much respected by the young Israeli pilots under their command. Their’s was an all-purpose communications squadron, whose duties included support of Palmach units operating in the area and local reconnaissance flights. To minimize the risks of being attacked by Egyptian Air Force fighters, who controlled the skies of Israel during the day, the squadron’s airplanes flew mainly at night. Daily before dawn the planes would be rolled by hand into inclined dug-outs and covered with camouflage netting; there to remain hidden from enemy eyes until nightfall.
On the eve of Operation Yoav (a.k.a. Ten Plagues), the squadron then consisted of five Piper Cubs, one Auster, five young Israeli pilots as well as Ralph and Hy. One of the Israeli pilots doubled as base intelligence officer and another handled administrative matters.
Some 24 hours before the start of Operation Yoav, two other pilots and I spent a night shuttling back and forth between Sde Dov and Dorot in three Rapides delivering the bombs the Negev Squadron required for the campaign. Hy and Ralph worked right through that night under black-out conditions, as one with the pilots under their command, participating in all the goings-on. They were the flying controllers for our repeated landings and take-offs, they supervised the lighting and dousing of the goose neck flare path, helped unload our cargoes and did whatever else had to be done.
Ralph and Hy used those bombs throughout Operation Yoav in a unique tactic they themselves had devised, which contributed much towards the campaign’s objective of driving the Egyptians out of the Negev. Working closely with an army liaison officer, they would fly as many missions as each night allowed. The door panels of their Piper Cubs had been removed, and in the rear seats was a bomb-chucker holding a box of “our “ bombs on his lap. Because of the special skills required, Ralph and Hy flew those missions while the younger pilots doubled as their “bomb-chuckers” and flew the squadron’s more usual missions.
Their targets were enemy-held entrenched positions that the army wanted to knock out. After identifying a targeted position, no easy task from altitudes of 1500 or 2000 feet even on moonlit nights, they would throttle back and glide silently down until just a few meters over it. Then the “chucker” would toss out as many bombs as he could while the pilot opened full throttle to climb away for the next attack. Not having heard the attacker’s silent approach, and with the exploding bombs drowning out the engine noise of the rapidly departing airplane, the Egyptian soldiers never knew what hit them and almost always abandoned their position in a panicky retreat.
On one occasion during the campaign they were asked to drop experimental bombs whose fuses had to be manually ignited just before being tossed out of the plane. Being avid cigar smokers and worried about the dangers of lighting a match in flight, Hy and Ralph chose to ignite the fuses from their burning cigars rather than with a match. Nevertheless, the experiment showed that this bomb-type was too dangerous to plane and occupants to justify further development.
Several days into the campaign, when the Egyptian army was no longer in their vicinity, they began flying also in daylight. The risk of being attacked by Egyptian airplanes prompted them to ask for fighter cover, but 101 Squadron was too short of fighter aircraft to be able to comply. To defend themselves against enemy fighters, Ralph and Hy tried flying with Sten guns on their laps but soon realized that the chances of striking their own propellers or other parts of their planes were very great. The gun also got in the way of the joy stick. So they abandoned the idea and flew close to the ground instead.
By the end of Operation Yoav, Beersheba had been captured and the Egyptian army was out of the Negev except for the Faluja pocket and the Gaza strip. The Negev Squadron was now redundant and was soon disbanded. In the ensuing shuffle of pilots and airplanes, Hy was appointed Commanding Officer of the Galil Squadron which was now based at Ramat David, while Ralph was made acting Commanding Officer of Sde Dov’s No. 1 Squadron.
Only a few weeks later, on 7th December 1948, Ralph was killed in a tragic accident on the Kinneret. This proved to be a very hard blow for Hy and following the end of Operation Horev in January, after the last battles of the war had been fought, he decided that it was time to return home to the U.S.A.
Hy Goldstein was an unusually brave and imaginative pilot, who almost single-handedly did so much to help win the all-important War of Independence.
Source: American Veterans of Israel newsletter: Spring 2001