The only child of Victor, Edward Cohen was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 2nd July 1922 into a well-to-do family. He grew up in an assimilated background, completed high school and began his studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
World War II changed his plans, and he joined the South Africa Air Force, qualifying as a fighter pilot with the rank of Lieutenant. Upon his discharge at the end of the war, he did not return to his university studies, and took an office job in his father’s business. He loved playing sports with his friends: rugby, tennis and golf. He was also very fond of music and excelled at that, too.
His meetings with Zionist friends – discharged soldiers who were ready to leave for Palestine as pioneers – aroused his interest, and their beliefs awoke something in him and led to his decision to follow in their footsteps.
He arrived in Palestine in 1947 and joined his friends at Kibbutz Ma’ayan Baruch. The hard work was almost unbearable, until he began to work in the kibbutz vegetable garden; there, he discovered to his delight that his long-time back problem had disappeared. However, he was not satisfied with his new way of life. On a trip to Tel Aviv, he bought a number of books on archaeology and the history of Palestine, and in these scholarly works he found a new life, and began to take an interest in Judaism and his homeland.
He was just finding his Jewish feelings when once again he was called to the flag, as a pilot in the first fighter squadron of the Israel Air Force. He attended the first course in Czechoslovakia to qualify for flying the Avia S-199 aircraft. In the first fighter sortie of the Israel Air Force, he flew one of four S-199s, attacking an advancing Egyptian motorized column that was threatening Tel Aviv some 40 kilometers to the north. On 29th May 1948 his plane was downed by heavy anti-aircraft fire. He was the first casualty of the first fighter squadron of the reborn Jewish State.
In prisoner exchanges with the Egyptians for the remains of the Fallen, his body was identified by the then Chief Army Chaplain, Rabbi Shlomo Goren. Edward Cohen’s mother came from Johannesburg for the re-interment at the Mount Herzl military cemetery on 8th November 1951.
On 29th September 1949, on the orders of the Chief of Staff, Edward Cohen was posthumously promoted to the rank of Flight Commander.
Source: Translated from the Yizkor website by Joe Woolf.
Researcher’s Note:
A month or two before Edward met his death, he wrote a letter to his mother, saying “Today, Shabbat, I spent the whole day studying the history of the Jews and surrounding nations, using the Bible and other books. It is the most interesting study I have ever undertaken, as the area around this part of the world was the cradle of western civilization. My greatest regret is that I did not think of studying this branch of history earlier in my life, as so much can be learnt from it…”
Source: Henry Katzew’s book “SA 800”.