Memorial plaque of the Hagana air service headquarters in the Kirya - Tel Aviv

The Sherut Avir (, ''Air Service'') was the

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

of the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

and the forerunner of the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...

Founding

The Sherut Avir was founded on 10 November 1947, just two weeks prior to the passing of the

1947 UN Partition Plan The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...

on 29 November which proposed the division of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

state and an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

state. It was at this time that Haganah leaders brought the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

's air branch, the

Palavir The Palavir, an acronym for ''Plugat HaAvir'' (, ''Air Companies'') was the air force for the Palmach, based in Tel Aviv.Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, was quite insignificant. By the time of Israel's declaration of statehood in May 1948, the Sherut Avir had only 25 aircraft. Most of them had come from Aviron, the first Jewish airline in Palestine established in 1936. While Aviron itself was not part of the Haganah, they had worked closely together in liaison, reconnaissance, and medical missions. Between late-1947 and mid-1948, as tensions mounted before the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, Aviron transferred all of its aircraft to the fledgling air force. The second problem faced by the Sherut Avir was a lack of trained airmen and ground crew. Only a handful of mechanics, engineers, pilots, former- RAF servicemen, and

Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...

personnel filled the initial ranks.

Operations

The Sherut Avir set up headquarters on

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Montefiore Street Montefiore may refer to: People *Montefiore (surname), several people with the surname Montefiore, in particular **Sir Moses Montefiore (1784–1885), a prominent British financier, stockbroker, banker and philanthropist Places * Montefiore, a ...

and began its air operations just outside at

Sde Dov Airport Sde Dov Airport (, ''lit.'' Dov Field, ), also known as Dov Hoz Airport (, ''Nemal HaTe'ufa Dov Hoz'', ) was an airport in Tel Aviv, Israel that mainly handled scheduled domestic flights to Eilat, northern Israel (Haifa, the Galilee, and the G ...

. Its first combat came quickly; just before Christmas, on December 17, 1947, pilot

Pinchas Ben-Porat Pinchas ("Pini") Ben-Porat (; October 10, 1914 - July 27, 1955) was one of Israel's first aviators. He was involved in the Palavir, Sherut Avir, the IAF's 101 Squadron, and EL AL. History Pinchas Ben-Porat was born in Krevoe Ozero, a small '' ...

boarded his single-engine

RWD-13 The RWD 13 was a Polish touring plane of 1935 in aviation, 1935, three-seater high-wing monoplane, designed by the RWD (aircraft manufacturer), RWD team. It was the biggest commercial success of the RWD. Development The RWD 13 was a touring plane ...

to ferry a medical doctor to the small town of

Beit Eshel Beit Eshel () was a Jewish settlement established in the Negev desert in Mandate Palestine in 1943 as one of the " three lookouts" in the northern Negev, alongside Revivim and Gvulot. It was located two kilometres southeast of Beersheba. Name A ...

. Once he completed that leg of the mission, Ben-Porat was supposed to fly to

Nevatim Nevatim () is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert around south-east of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In it had a population of . The nearest settlements are the Bedoui ...

, but learning that 200 Arabs were assaulting it, he removed the doors of his aircraft to install a

Bren Gun The Bren gun (Brno-Enfield) was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in Worl ...

, and with a volunteer gunner and some

hand grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s, took off for the village.

Founding

Operations

See also

References

Further reading