ELKAN LEVITAN
Although an Air Force’s heroes are sure to be found among its fliers, heroics are not necessarily their exclusive domain. A case in point may be found in the World War II record of Elkan Levitan.
Elkan was barely 18 when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. After training as an aero-engine mechanic, he was posted to No. 410 Squadron in England where he serviced the air-defense unit’s Mosquito night fighters. His next assignment was in Scotland with No. 403 Squadron, a Coastal Command unit equipped with Bristol Beaufighters. After a while he was sent to a newly formed squadron in England, No. 433, the first RCAF unit to use Halifax heavy bombers.
Several months before the end of the war in Europe, Elkan was assigned to a combined operations unit in Italy whose purpose was to remove secret equipment from downed Allied airplanes, or if unable to do so, to destroy the airplane. The unit was made up of several six-man teams, each consisting of two infantry soldiers, two demolition experts and two airplane mechanics. They operated in front-line areas, and at times were involved in skirmishes with the enemy.
On 28th April 1945, shortly before VE-Day, Elkan’s team was behind enemy lines on a joint mission with four other teams when suddenly they came across a Germany infantry unit. Being greatly outnumbered they considered surrendering, but much to their delight the Germans surrendered to them instead.
While Elkan was in Italy, Jewish personnel in nearby Allied military units were invited to a Passover Seder given by the Jewish Brigade of the British Army. His introduction to Eretz Israelis made Elkan acutely aware of their clandestine efforts to rehabilitate Holocaust survivors, and also sparked his interest in the Zionist cause.
He was amongst the very early Machalniks, and was sent to Czechoslovakia in May 1948. There he inspected the Avia S-199 fighter planes (known as the ME-109) and other military supplies purchased for the nascent Israel Air Force. A short while later he was in Israel assembling the same Avia S-199 fighters, around which the IAF’s 101 Squadron was formed. Elkan stayed with 101 Squadron for about three years, maintaining and serving its Spitfires and Mustangs.
Source: American Veteran of Israel Newsletter: Winter 2003