New Heavens: My Life as a Fighter Pilot and a Founder of the Israel Air Force (Potomac Books' Aviation Classics series)

289 Pages·2005·2.93 MB·English

by  Boris Senior

NEW HEAVENS
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Series Editors
Walter J. Boyne and Peter B. Mersky
Aviation Classics are inspired nonfiction and fictional ac-
counts that reveal the human drama of flight. The series
covers every era of military and civil aviation, is interna-
tionalinscope,andencompassesflyinginallofitsdiversity.
Some of the books are well known best-sellers and others
are superb but unheralded titles that deserve a wider audi-
ence.
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OperationOverflight:AMemoiroftheU-2Incident
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ThirtySecondsoverTokyo
byCapt.Ted W.Lawson
‘‘Wildcats’’overCasablanca:
U.S.NavyFightersinOperationTorch
byLt.M.T.WordellandLt.E.N.Seiler
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NEW HEAVENS
My Life as a Fighter Pilot
and a Founder of the Israel Air Force
For behold,I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold I create Jerusalem for rejoicing,
And herpeople for gladness.
—Isaiah 65:17–18
Boris Senior
Foreword by Peter B. Mersky
Foreword to the First Edition by Ezer Weizman
Potomac Books,Inc.
Washington,D.C.
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Copyright(cid:1)2005byPotomacBooks,Inc.
PublishedintheUnitedStatesbyPotomacBooks,Inc.(formerlyBrassey’s,
Inc.).Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinany
mannerwhatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptin
thecaseofbriefquotationsembodiedincriticalarticlesandreviews.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Senior,Boris.
[Shamayimo`hadashim.English]
Newheavens:mylifeasaFighterpilotandafounderoftheIsrael
AirForce/BorisSenior;forewordbyPeterMersky;forewordtothe
firsteditionbyEzerWeizman.
p. cm.
ISBN1-57488-679-7(hardcover:alk.paper)
1.Senior,Boris. 2.Israelo`Helha-ao`vir—History. 3.Israel—History,
Military. 4.Israel-ArabWar,1948–1949—Aerialoperations. I.Title.
UG635.I75S4613 2005
956.04(cid:1)2—dc22 2003021721
PrintedinCanadaonacid-freepaperthatmeetstheAmericanNational
StandardsInstituteZ39-48Standard.
PotomacBooks,Inc.
22841QuicksilverDrive
Dulles,Virginia20166
FirstEdition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
ListofMaps
vii
Foreword byPeterB.Mersky
ix
Foreword totheFirstEditionbyEzerWeizman
xiii
CHAPTER ONE
AYellowStainintheWater
1
CHAPTER TWO
Heritage
28
CHAPTER THREE
War
48
v
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vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER FOUR
Zion
77
CHAPTER FIVE
FirstMissions
118
CHAPTER SIX
Airplanesand Volunteers
133
CHAPTER SEVEN
Independence
163
Index
253
AbouttheAuthor
255
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Maps
Egypt,showingEgyptianandIsraeliairfields
duringtheWarofIndependence
166
Israel,showingIsraeliairfields
duringtheWarofIndependence
173
vii
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Foreword
THEestablishmentoftheStateofIsraelinMay1948caught
the world by surprise, especially when this event was so
quickly followed by a particularly nasty war between the Is-
raelis and their Arab neighbors. Confrontations between
Jewish settlers and their sworn enemies, who had lived in
the region since before biblical times, were an unfortunate
partoflifeforthenew arrivalsseekingahomelandafterthe
horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. The influx of
these refugees swelled the ranks of the new nation and
forced a do-or-die defense that has yet to be resolved after
more than fifty-five years.
The Israel Army of 1948 was far removed from the well-
equipped, highly trained force the world has come to know
and respect.It relied on avast collection ofvolunteers from
all over the world, and an equally large, disparate assembly
of equipment, much of which had long since been dis-
carded by its original owners after World War II. Cadres of
ex-patriots from Europe, America, Canada, and South Af-
rica bolstered the meager ranks of the native-born Israeli
ix
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