Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Captain Dawson]

Hello chaps!

Just thought I'd share some interesting info on some combat situations that transpired in post-WWII Middle East. We all know about WWII. WWII brought us into the Jet Age, forever changing aviation. But many of us may have never heard the fact that this was not the end of the glorious Spitfire's time in the skies. The Arab-Israeli war of 1948 was a 3 sided war, in which all 3 sides used almost the exact models of Spitfires! The new nation of Israel along with their arch enemy, Egypt, had both acquired Spits from the British (though the Israelis bought them covertly through the Czechs because of the embargo). However, when the British were caught in between the two sides with no way to back down, they found themselves in a three way Spitfire war! Not surprisingly, chaos and confusion resulted. Israeli and Egyptian Spits mistakenly shot down RAF Spits assuming they were their real enemies. The British were drawn into defending themselves, and in the process shot down some of their own Spits!

http://www.machal.org.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=122&Itemid=176&lang=en

While the RAF had Spits, Tempests, and Mosquitoes and the Egyptians had Spits and MC.205s, the Israelis had a hodgepodge aircraft commandeered from the now silent battlefields of WWII. S-199s, (Czech Bf-109 derivative) Spitfires, P-51s, and B-17s formed the mainstay of Israeli defense.








The Israeli War of Independence seemed an impossible war to win for the Israelis. They were surrounded by enemies that wanted nothing less than to wipe the fledgling nation off the planet. But in the end, Israel was able to win against all odds and establish re-establish herself as a nation.











I see the Israeli War of Independence as an interesting echo of WWII, and it offers some very interesting scenarios in IL-2!

On Silver Wings
IAF anthem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt7oT6pcawE

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of history!

-Captain Dawson

[Ta183Huckebein]

Very cool!

There's actually an Il-2 music video of sorts that actually showcases this exact type of scenario. I seem to remember that it was called "Brothers in Arms" or something similar (the Dire Straits song of the same name was used in the video).

[Captain Dawson]

Very cool!

There's actually an Il-2 music video of sorts that actually showcases this exact type of scenario. I seem to remember that it was called "Brothers in Arms" or something similar (the Dire Straits song of the same name was used in the video).

Thank you!

This must be it:

*Not entirely historical, but a great video nonetheless.

Very sad that these two former allied pilots ended up shooting down their brothers at arms. But they had a job to do. The British did wrongfully come into their territory.

Letter to the family of a RAF pilot shot down:
You can see there was still confusion as to what the situation was. He refers to RAF Spits attacking, though it was really REAF Spits that had attacked earlier. When the RAF flew over the Israeli convoy seemingly on an attack run, the Israeli Spits thought they had no choice but to attack, seeing as the RAF and REAF Spits were of course difficult to distinguish. In this later incident, a large formation of British Tempests was attacked by Israeli Spits, still assuming the British were trying to attack their ground forces.


There was certainly question as to the purpose of Britain's role in this whole affair.

[LameHawk]

Having been away on holiday at the time I have only just discovered this topic.

It is very interesting. Partly because I happen to have a photo of a shot down Egyptian Spitfire.

The accompanying text is on the backside of the photo. The date is interesting: 20.5.48.

It can only be the one shot down on the 15th, but it is the only picture I have seen where the nose points towards the sea.

According to "Spitfires over Israel" by Cull, Aloni and Nicolle the Israelis maintain that the pilot's name was Barakat. Whereas the Egyptians equally maintain that they never had a pilot by that name.