Israeli Air Force

Answering my own question, and in no way to I mean to denigrate George's contribution.
Bottom line there was no Israeli Air Force.

42598 George Ernest Goodman was Pilot Officer, later Flying Officer in No. 1 Squadron. His story is exceptional as he was born in Haifa, Israel on 8/10/20, though he may not have been Jewish. Wynn says he was British solely because he had a British passport – like most born under the Mandate - but he was in fact an Israeli “sabra” and the only Israeli in the Battle of Britain. RAF Museum researcher John Edwards testifies to these facts in an article in “London Jewish News” , 22/9/2000, by reporter John Kaye [9]. Furthermore in Mason’s book [10] on page 506, Goodman is described as “Palestinian”, in another [11] as “Israeli”, and yet another [12] also as Israeli. The author also has in his possession an official copy of Goodman’s birth certificate, all in Hebrew, from the Haifa municipality in Israel, now kept at the AJEX Musuem [13].


Educated at Highgate school he was son of Sydney and Bida Goodman, was in the OTC and took a commission in the RAF in early 1939, joining his Hurricane Squadron in France in March 1940, where he shared a kill of an HE 111 and shot down another later which had helped sink the SS Lancastria off St Nazaire. Later, flying from Northolt he shot down an Me109, shared in another, then shot down an He 111 and then shared a Do 17 and then shot down another 110. On August 18th he was hit in his Hurricane P3757 but managed to land safely [14] .On September 6th 1940 he shot down another 110 but was himself shot down , baling out with an injury. His plane crashed at Brownings Farm, Chiddingstone Causeway. He later shared a Ju 88, damaged a Do 17 and was awarded the DFC on 26/11/40.


In Nov. 1940 he flew the ferry route for the Middle East with 73 Squadron and stopped at Lagos where his parents were working in the diplomatic service. He saw his mother for the last time (his father was away) and as the Squadron later flew out, they did a roll over the Goodman home and then were away.


In February 1941 he shot down a CR42 in the Western Desert, and a 110 at Tobruk, but he was shot down but crash landed behind the British lines. He then shared an Hs 126, destroyed a Ju 87 and shared another, all over Tobruk. In April he took leave in Haifa, Israel, with his two sisters, but on June 14th 1941 he was shot down and killed by flak over Gazala. He is buried in Knightsbridge cemetery, Acroma, Libya, grave 10.C.21 [15].

More here:

http://www.jewishmag.com/126mag/geor...st_goodman.htm

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=7]G[/SIZE][/FONT] eorge Ernest Goodman was born to Sydney and Bida Goodman in the northern port city of Haifa.3 Not much is known about his parents, his youth or his family. Some sources suggest they were members of the British diplomatic service but most simply note that his father was a railway engineer. Goodman had two sisters who were living in Haifa in 1941, when his parents moved to Lagos, Nigeria as his father continued his engineering work.

And further down that page:

Though still a youngster, George was sent to England to be educated at London's elite Highgate School.4
In June 1939 he took a short service commission in the RAF. He was 19...

And here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Bri...e_contribution

The RAF's official "Battle of Britain Roll of Honour" recognises one pilot from Palestine, then a British Mandate territory. (This contribution is sometimes described as "Israeli", although the State of Israel was not proclaimed until 1948.) Plt Off George Ernest Goodman of the RAFVR, was born in Haifa, Palestine in 1920 to British parents, Sidney Charles and Bida Goodman; he was keen to fight in the RAF and enlisted early in the war, serving with No. 1 Squadron RAF during the Battle. Goodman was killed on 14 June 1941, aged 20 in the Western Desert serving with No. 73 Squadron RAF and was buried in the Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya. [18]

Describing Goodman as "Israeli" is in my opinon quite ridiculous. Israel did not exist at the time, and as Goodman's parents were British and he was educated in Britain, he probably considered himself British.


Last edited by baboon6; 08-27-2009 at 07:15 AM.