By the Skin of my Teeth: The Memoirs of an RAF Mustang Pilot in World War II and of Flying Sabres with USAF in Korea

by Colin Downes

  My impressions of flying some of the RAF’s jet aircraft of the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s are based on flying four Marks of Vampire, eight Marks of Meteor, two Marks of Venom, seven Marks of Hunter, three Marks of Javelin, two Marks of Canberra, one Mark of Gnat and one Mark of Lightning, as well as the French Fouga Magister. My experience of flying US jet fighters over the same period is limited to one Mark of Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, with one Mark of Lockheed T-33; one Mark of the US Marine Corps Grumman F-9F Panther; and three Marks of North American F-86 Sabre.

  Which way shall I fly? A man is indeed fortunate when he can say on retirement that he enjoyed his working life. I enjoyed my flying career in the Royal Air Force and considered myself fortunate to have attained a degree of senior officer rank during my twenty years of continuous flying. After more than a year at the RRE and my involvement in the Lightning development programme I was faced with the likelihood of a progression of ground or staff appointments. I therefore made a request to the Air Ministry for a transfer from fixed wing to rotary wing aircraft. This was turned down on grounds of rank and age, and I elected to take an early retirement from the RAF and join the aircraft industry. These memoirs were intended to correlate to my military career and so here is my journey’s end. I look back on my years in military aviation with a sense of satisfaction: the satisfaction of being part of the principal arm of the services that, despite political and inter-Service argument, was the deciding factor in winning the Second World War. It has been said that air power alone cannot win a war until a defeated country is occupied by land forces. This is the argument of semantics as one cannot view the unconditional surrender of Japan to any other cause than air power. It was air power that ensured that the survivors of the European conflict did not need the use of German as a second language. It was air power and nuclear missiles that kept Europe free during the years of the Cold War, and it was air power that brought about the armistice of the Korean War, with the US politically denied the means of victory. Victory by air power in the Vietnam War was also prevented by politicians. Air power could have ensured a definite conclusion to the first Gulf War and avoided a sequel. On retiring from active service in the RAF I was not entirely divorced from military aviation while in the aircraft industry. I was involved with both military and civil aircraft: first, with the Herald and the Jetstream while with Handley Page, then the Hunter, Harrier, Hawk, HS-748 and HS-125 with Hawker Siddeley, and the Twin Otter, Caribou and Buffalo with de Havilland Canada. I also became responsible for the activities of British Aerospace in Asia. It was during my time with Handley Page that I came closest to a quasi-war experience, although as an interested observer rather than a participant, when I was caught up in the Arab-Israeli Six Day War of 1967. The national airline of Israel, El Al, operated on the international routes, while its subsidiary, Arkia, operated the domestic routes. The airline ordered six Handley Page Herald aircraft for the interior domestic services. The fifty-seat twin RR Dart turbo-prop Heralds operated from Sede Dov airport on the north side of Tel Aviv. Handley Page delivered four Heralds to Arkia and in May 1967 I delivered the fifth Herald to the airline. I landed at Tel Aviv to find the country in a state of high tension in anticipation of an attack by the surrounding Arab Alliance. Israel was in a process of mobilization and a call to full mobilization occurred just after I arrived. This resulted in the majority of the younger Arkia pilots leaving the airline to join their military units, with most of them flying on the French Dassault Mystere and Mirage fighter squadrons. The remainder of the more senior pilots formed a temporary cadre transport squadron of Heralds under the command of Colonel Hugo Agmon, chief pilot of Arkia. The new Herald had scarcely time for formal acceptance when it and the other four aircraft were stripped of their seats and usual furnishings, and fitted with racks containing litters or stretchers for medical evacuation. The full mobilization of the country was by now complete and within a twenty-four hour period the essential services and facilities of the country were taken over by non-combatants which freed able men and women and enabled them to report to their military units. I have never before or since witnessed such a rapid transformation, and the calm and efficient way Israel went about it was indeed most impressive to one who thought with other outsiders, that this time Israel was in for a likely defeat or at least a bloody nose with the massive superiority in numbers of the Arab Alliance.

  My first indication that I was stuck in the middle of an Arab-Israeli war came when seeing elements of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) participating in ‘Operation Focus’ in the early hours of 5 June 1967. At 07.45 the IAF carried out a devastating pre-emptive strike against the Egyptian airfields in the Sinai and Egypt. Within a few hours the Egyptians lost the bulk of their Soviet built fighters and bombers, with around 300 aircraft destroyed in their parking areas. The timing of the strike was brilliant, but whether it will also be remembered as a day that will live in infamy is another matter! The Egyptian airfields were hit following a routine Egyptian Air Force (EAF) dawn patrol. With the bulk of the Egyptian fighter force on the ground for a turn-around the Israelis hit them and continued to do so throughout the morning until the EAF had virtually ceased to exist as a fighting force. With the destruction of the Egyptian Air Force, the Israeli Air Force switched their attention to the airfields in Jordan, Syria and Iraq. Only the Jordanian Hunters attempted a response but they were soon out of action and by late afternoon on 5 June the Arab air forces had ceased to be a factor in the conflict. This was the most important feature of the Six Day War as the Israelis were able to switch the IAF from attacking the Arab airfields and air forces to supporting the Israeli armoured thrust into the Sinai called ‘Operation Red Sheet’ that started at 08.15 hours. Although the Israeli ground forces met with stiff resistance in places from a superior number of Egyptian tanks and guns, the release of the IAF to support the armoured divisions, now relieved of attacks from the Egyptian Air Force, made the task easier. The intense daytime heat of the Sinai Desert was another factor against the Egyptian tanks supplied from the Soviet Union without air conditioning and still retaining the heaters necessary for Russian winters. The overall result was an overwhelming and devastating defeat of the Egyptian army.

  A significant factor in the success of the IAF was not only the dedication and performance of their pilots but also the efficiency of their ground crews, who managed to reduce the normal turn-around times of the fighters by half to around ten minutes. As the Israeli armour advanced into the Sinai the IAF left the smoking remnants of the EAF fighters on the Sinai airfields, and bombed and strafed the Egyptian armour in front of the Israeli tanks. Meanwhile, Israeli paratroops dropped on the forward airfields in the Sinai supported by helicopter airborne troops. In Tel Aviv we did not know what was going on other than an extreme amount of aerial activity and the Heralds were held on constant readiness and loaded with medical staff and supplies together with drinking water and food. When Arkia received word that a Sinai airfield was captured by the Israeli troops and secure, the Heralds took-off for the airfield and unloaded the medical staff and supplies, returning with the Israeli dead and the wounded for medical attention at the excellent hospitals in Tel Aviv.

  The next two days were hectic for all concerned as the armoured units raced towards the Sinai escarpment to close the escape routes through the passes to Suez. The Israeli fighters ranged across the Sinai desert bombing and strafing the Egyptian army. Soon the Sinai became a shooting gallery for the Israeli fighters as the desert became strewn with burning, destroyed and abandoned Egyptian tanks, guns and transports that were rendered vulnerable by the destruction of the Egyptian Air Force. The Arkia Heralds flew into the Sinai airfields when they became occupied by the Israeli troops ferrying in vital supplies and carrying out the Israeli casualties. In front of the advancing Israeli armour the Egyptian tanks ran out of fuel and were attacked by Israeli fighters after their crews abandoned them and attempted to walk back to Suez. By 8 June advanced Israeli airborne troops secured road block
s in the Tassa and Gidi Passes, and the bigger and more important Mitla Pass through the Sinai Plateau to Suez. These Israeli units held the passes from both sides causing the few roads leading to the passes to become jammed with motorized columns attempting to retreat into Egypt. These columns stretched back many miles into the desert presenting the Israeli fighters with static targets as they systematically took a terrible toll with continuous strafing of the immobilized columns; and by the end of the day the Egyptian army as well as the air force had ceased to exist as a fighting force.

  I did not fly on any of the medical evacuation (medevac) missions for the Israelis until after the cease-fire in the Sinai. For the first few days I was with the Heralds on the base at Tel Aviv acting in a technical support capacity. Obviously, my hosts did not want the embarrassment of a foreign casualty should the Heralds experience battle damage, but after the cease-fire things became more relaxed and I flew as supernumerary crew on supply missions. The following two days involved the taking of Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan and the Golan Heights in Syria above Lake Tiberias, the Biblical Sea of Galilee. The Arkia Heralds continued to fly to the Sinai airfields as far as the southern tip of the Sinai at Sharm-el-Shiekh on the Red Sea. The scene in the desert of carnage and destruction of what had been an army of seven divisions amounting to 100,000 men was quite incredible. We flew over the Mitla Pass the day after the cease-fire and I could hardly believe my eyes as the stationary remnants of what had been the Egyptian army stretched back miles along the few roads leading to the pass. I took some photographs but kept to a safe height in case there were still Egyptian troops manning the vehicles eager to have a shot at us. As a result of maintaining a prudent height the photographs did not convey the impact of the total destruction of an army in the field, with the hundreds of tanks and trucks merely showing as black dots resembling lines of ants converging along the escarpment roads to the Mitla Pass.

  Following the cease-fire I had a fascinating time with a grand aerial and ground tour of Biblical places that had not been possible before the 1967 War. The flight to Sharm-el-Sheikh on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula was particularly interesting as we flew low over the Sinai Massif, passing alongside the Monastery of St. Katherina perched like an eagle’s nest at 8,000 feet near Mount Sinai. Another magic moment was flying over the Wilderness of Judah to land by the shore of the Dead Sea, 1,200 feet below sea level. The 1,000 feet climb up the escarpment to the ancient fortress site of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea, although exhausting, was spellbinding. This natural fortress was defended by the Zealots during the Jewish uprising against Roman rule in the first century AD. It resisted a siege for many months until the Romans had built a land bridge to position their assault towers. However, before the Romans could break into the fortress the 800 inhabitants committed mass suicide. The site is a required pilgrimage for the Israeli recruits into the armed forces.

  Flying up the Jordan rift valley across Jericho and Samaria and the West Bank of the Jordan, we could at last fly over the Sea of Galilee and Nazareth without danger of being fired on from the Golan Heights in Syria. Then a visit to Jerusalem, without the restrictions that existed before the war, rounded off three of the most interesting weeks of my life, and changed many of the preconceived views I had of the Arab-Israeli disputes.

  The nearest I came to any trouble was while standing on a hill on the Jordanian border overlooking Bethlehem, when someone took pot-shots at us causing us to beat a hasty retreat. With bad memories of the troubles after the Second World War in British Palestine and some sympathy for the Palestinian Arabs, I nevertheless formed a great respect for the proficiency and courage of the Israeli forces, and experienced the most friendly and generous hospitality before, during and after the war. I am sorry that after Israel’s magnificent achievement during the Six Day War they could not find a process of magnanimity acceptable to the Arabs in avoiding what was to follow. I had the satisfaction that the Heralds performed immaculately with little or no unserviceability problems to ground them, and that they provided an invaluable service in the medical evacuation of Israeli casualties. Just before I left Israel to return to the UK I met the Israeli Air Force CinC General Ezer Weizman, a former Spitfire pilot and later to become President of Israel. During a conversation with the general I congratulated him on the performance of his air force and expressed my admiration for the Israeli forces in inflicting such a devastating defeat on an enemy that had out numbered them by at least 15:1. General Weizman with modesty and grace replied that although Israel was a small country with a population of around 3,000,000, it had the good fortune to have 11,000,000 taxpayers!

  An interesting interlude followed later in the year when I was introduced to David Stirling, the creator of the SAS in 1941 during the North African campaign. Stirling expressed interest in securing the services of pilots for his security services company and he invited me to visit him in London. After a pleasant lunch a fairly intensive meeting followed with him and two of his lieutenants at his company headquarters. Although no specific enterprise was discussed, I came to the conclusion that such activity did not guarantee long term prospects and consequently was not for me. The feeling must have been mutual for although we parted with an assurance of further contact, I heard nothing more. On reflection this was probably just as well!

  When I returned with the sixth Herald for Arkia the following year, the Egyptians sank the Israeli destroyer ‘Eilat’ with a surface-to-surface missile during my stay and I thought: here we go again! Fortunately, the Israeli reprisals that followed did not result in another Arab-Israeli war. During my second and last visit to Israel, I took the opportunity to take some leave to explore the southern Negeve and the Sinai coast along the Gulf of Aqaba. While staying at Eilat I enrolled in a scuba diving course with the Swedish Red Sea Diving School. The diving along the coral cliffs of the gulf was fascinating with more than 300 varieties of coral and 400 species of fish. I have dived on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, and in The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand but the diving in the Red Sea was the finest of them all. Before leaving Israel I was able to dive at Caesarea, the submerged port and ancient capital of Roman Palestine, founded by Herod the Great. Although it could not compare with the Red Sea for the variety of coral and fish, and the water was a lot colder with poor visibility at times, it was fascinating to swim among the city ruins and see Roman and Greek amphorae scattered on the sea floor from ship wrecks.

  While in Jerusalem, the holy city of three great religions, in order to gain some perspective I walked the Via Dolorosa through narrow streets cleared by the Israeli army to the Christian holy of holies, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It seemed incongruous that the official guide describing the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus was a Jordanian Arab. Throughout his presentation he punctuated his remarks with – ‘so the story goes.’ I could see some Americans were uncomfortable with this and it proved to be too much for one American woman, who had probably waited her whole life for this pilgrimage, as in evident exasperation she loudly interrupted him saying – ‘It is not a story! It is true! It is in the Bible!’ At which the guide shrugged commenting – ‘Well; whatever pleases you to believe!’ This was followed by a visit to the Jewish holy of holies, the site of the Jewish Temple where a group of Arab huts in the shadow of the Wailing Wall had been bulldozed away to leave the area clear. In an altercation between Israeli soldiers and some orthodox Jews who were complaining that the soldiers should show more respect for this holy place, I heard one soldier shout – ‘What did you people do to preserve this? I shed my blood for this place! Many of my friends died for it!’ Finally, after climbing up to the Mount of Olives I visited the Moslem holy of holies, the Dome of the Rock. Inside the vast mosque I descended some steps to a small cave in the rock beneath the mosque floor. A small blackened hole in the roof clearly indicated a chimney that suggested before the building of the mosque the cave was shelter for shepherds during the
cold nights. The Jordanian Arab guide explained that through this hole while mounted on his horse, the Prophet Mahomet passed on his way to visit Allah. He was not interrupted.