I completed my studies for the degrees of Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.), and Chartered Accountant (C.A.) in December 1940, and I joined the South African Air Force (SAAF) in January 1941. All the men and women who served in the South African Defense Forces in World War II were volunteers, as there was no conscription law in South Africa because of the political realities at that time.
I received my training as a navigator-bombardier at Lyttleton (Basic Training School) and at Youngsfield Air Base, and I did my OTU (Operational Training Unit) at Nanyuki in Kenya (at the very foot of Mount Kenya). Our OTU training was done in clapped-out Blenheim bombers, and as the cumulus clouds in the mountainous region where we did our flying used to build up to heights of 10,000 feet plus, the incidence of aircraft prangs (accidents) was enormous.
In June 1942, I was assigned to 21 SAAF Squadron, flying Baltimores (light bombers). 21 Squadron was part of no. 3 Wing (light bombers) which was part of the Desert Air Force (DAF), and we were initially based at various airfields in Egypt. The really serious action commenced in October 1942 with the Battle of El Alamein, which was really the first major turning point in favor of the Allies in World War II. With the relentless attacks on General Rommel’s Afrika Corps by General Montgomery’s Eighth Army and Air Marshall Tedder’s DAF, we kept on forcing the German Army westwards in its retreat from Egypt into Lybia, into Tunisia, and then to Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, from where we prepared for the Allied attacks on the Germans in Italy.
During the North African Campaign, I was seconded together with a number of other South Africans to a Royal Air Force (RAF) Baltimore Squadron, No. 223. I was one of the lead navigator-bombardiers in the squadron, and I completed my first tour of operations in Sicily.
My second tour of operations was in 35 Squadron SAAF Coastal Command, flying Catalina and Sunderland Flying Boats. I did my conversion course on coastal command aircraft in South Africa, and my OTU training in Ireland and Scotland. My squadron operated over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on submarine hunting, escorting shipping convoys, and naval reconnaissance. The German Army surrendered to the Allied Forces on 8th May, 1945. Just as we were about to move to the Far East for the war against the Japanese. Japan surrendered in August 1945 as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I was discharged from the SAAF in November ’45.
Following my discharge from the SAAF, I started a small practice in Johannesburg as an accountant and auditor. It became clear in 1947 that the war clouds were gathering over Palestine, and that a war with the Arabs appeared to be inevitable. Myra Weinberg and I were engaged to get married in June 1948, but when we both decided to volunteer for service in Palestine, we brought our wedding date forward to 22nd April. Myra had served as a flying meteorological observer in the SAAF, and she and I were part of an early contingent of volunteers from South Africa. We flew from Jan Smuts Airport to Palestine on 4th May ’48 in a Dakota aircraft operated by Suidair International Airways. Because of fierce fighting at Lydda Airport (our destination in Palestine), the Captain flew us to Cyprus and refused to continue the flight from Cyprus to Palestine. We insisted that Suidair Airways had contracted to get us to Palestine, and it was then arranged for a Cypriot Airline to fly us to Haifa Airport. We landed at Haifa on 9th May, 1948, and on 10th May, Myra and I registered at Sarona for service with the Israel Air Force.
The British Mandate formally terminated at midnight on 14th May. On the day of Friday 14th May, Boris Senior as captain, and I as navigator and Shmulik Videlis as photographer, flew in a Bonanza aircraft (which had been smuggled out of South Africa by Boris) on the Israel Air Force’s very first operational mission, on an air reconnaissance over Trans-Jordan. Hundreds of trucks and armored cars were moving westwards towards Palestine, and the forward Jordanian units were 5 miles east of the Allenby Bridge. Fires were burning in two kibbutzim in the north of the Kfar Etzion Block, and about 100 enemy vehicles were parked 2 miles east of Kfar Etzion. Boris and I were debriefed at Army HQ.
During the remaining days of May, I flew 5 additional operations in Fairchild and Bonanza aircraft as “navigator and bomb-chucker-outer”, dropping mainly 25 kg bombs and incendiaries, and a few 50 kg bombs.
On 10th June ’48 (just before the first truce took effect), I flew as navigator in a Dakota in a night bombing attack on Damascus – the first air operation against an Arab capital. In order to maximize the psychological effect on the Syrians, we did 6 separate runs over the city, in which we dropped 16 x 80 kg bombs plus several boxes of incendiaries, as well as crates of empty bottles which create a shrieking noise. On the next day all foreigners in Damascus left the city.
During this period, I was asked by Dan Tolkowsky (director of operations) to join his staff, and I was appointed as Chief of Air Operations at IAF HQ. Shortly after this appointment, we were engaged in planning the flight of the 3 B-17 bombers from Czechoslovakia to Israel, and it was decided to use the B-17s for operational attacks on Egyptian targets on their maiden flight to Israel. As a rather fascinating curiosa, I had suggested to Aluf Aharon Remez (Chief of Air Force), that as this very first B-17 operational flight would give our Air Force an unprecedented and unique element of surprise, we should send all 3 B-17s over Cairo. We had already seen the significant effect of one Dakota over Damascus, and I was of the opinion that the impact of 3 B-17s over Cairo would create a devastating panic in Egypt’s capital city. However, Aharon felt that this was an unacceptable risk (as we did not know the strength of Cairo’s anti-aircraft defenses), and so the 3 B-17s were assigned to three separate targets – Cairo, Gaza, and El Arish airfield. As a result, the attack on Cairo by just a single B-17 caused thousands of Cairenes to leave the city.
The department of Air Operations consisted of two sections – to plan and control bomber and fighter operations respectively. I headed the department, with the rank of Rav-Seren (Major). As an English-speaking “wallah”, I was also the Air Force’s representative to the United Nations Mission. The Israeli team was headed by the late Chaim Herzog, who later became Israel’s 6th President..
One of my department’s most important tasks was to educate the Army in regard to the importance and execution of well co-ordinated and integrated air-ground operations. It took Yigal Yadin (Chief of Army Operations) quite a long time to understand how effectively the Air Force could be used in a “tactical war” such as ours. With the passage of time, we developed a very effective system of air-ground-support by attaching an Air Force liaison officer to the forward Army units, who was then able to direct and control the air attacks on specified targets.
Air Operations also worked very closely with the departments of Intelligence; Photography; Mapping; as well as Training Command. Air Operations also developed close relations with the Operations Departments of the Israel Army and Navy.
Amongst the names of personnel that I can remember who served in the department of Air Operations at different times, were Shlomo Landau (Lahat); Paul Homesky (Kedar); Leslie Shagam; Lou Lenart; Morrie Mann; Ronnie Cohen; Mike Mankowitz (Manor). Administrative adjutants were the late Arieh Rosenblum and Eli Ehrlich (Ered).
As the 425 flying and operational personnel in the IAF came from many diverse air forces, I felt it was important for the personnel in my Department who were responsible for planning operations to fly on missions themselves, so as to become familiar with the operational aircrews; operational practices; organization at the air bases, as well as with the terrain and environments of target areas, etc.
After my six initial flights before I went into Air Operations, I participated in 18 additional missions in quite a diverse range of aircraft, which included the following types of aircraft: Rapide; Bonanza; Norseman; Dakota; Harvard; Piper; B-17s, and C-47s. I had 9 flights in B-17s (69 Squadron). My first B-17 flight was on 18th July in a daylight attack on Damascus (Captain Moonitz), and my last B-17 flight was on 28th December (Captail Al Raisin), as part of the final thrust against the Egyptians (Operation “Ayin”).
I was discharged from the IAF in October 1950, and returned to South Africa. I came on aliyah with my wife and 4 children in February 1962.
My wife Myra was one of the IAF’s first meteorological instructors. My oldest son Saul was an F-15 pilot, and my youngest son Dan was a Phantom pilot. My grandson Erez is a Hercules captain. My daughter Philippa Tik served in Air Force Operations, and she was based in Sinai during the Yom Kippur War. My daughter Alice served in Nachal on the borders of Syria and Lebanon. Two of my grandsons are officers in the Israel Navy.
