Modi Alon

Mordechai "Modi" Alon
Alon (center) with David Ben Gurion during the Prime Minister's visit to 101 Squadron
Born	January 17, 1921 Safed, British Mandate for Palestine
Died	October 16, 1948 Herzliya Airport, Israel
Buried at	Nahalat Yitzhack Cemetery, Tel Aviv
Allegiance	Royal Air Force Israel Defence Forces
Service/branch	Israeli Air Force
Years of service	1940–1948
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Commands held	101 Squadron
Battles/wars	1948 Arab-Israeli War

Mordechai "Modi" Alon (January 17, 1921 – October 16, 1948) was an Israeli fighter pilot who with the formation of the Israeli Air Force in May 1948, assumed command of its first fighter squadron. Flying the Avia S-199, Alon participated in the IAF's first combat sortie on May 29, 1948, and on June 3 scored the IAF's very first aerial victories, downing a pair of Royal Egyptian Air Force C-47s over Tel-Aviv.

Biography

Mordechai Alon was born in Safed on January 17, 1921, to Yaacov and Naomi Kalibansky. The family moved around several times before finally settling in Tel-Aviv, where Alon attented the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium while secretly enlisting in the Haganah. After graduating Alon went off to serve in Kibbutz Degania Alef and in 1938 was among the founding members of Hanita.^[1]

RAF service

In 1940 Alon enlisted in the Royal Air Force, heeding calls by the Jewish Agency for the Jews of Palestine to support the British war effort. Denied the chance to train as a fighter pilot, in November 1940 Alon attended the RAF's Wireless Operators course in Ismailia, qualifying as a Ground Wireless Operator.^[1]

Persisting in RAF service, in August 1943 Alon was finally allowed to undertake RAF flight training. He begun his training in Rhodesia on November 24, 1943, graduating on December 22, 1944. After several postings in Cairo and Italy, in August 1945 Alon was posted to an RAF squadron flying P-51 Mustangs out of RAF Ramat David. Growing tensions between British mandatory authorities and the Yeshuv, however, prompted the RAF to transfer Alon once again. Torn between conflicting loyalties, Alon shortly thereafter quit the RAF. On January 31, 1946, he returned to Palestine,^[1] where he enrolled at the Technion, studying architecture.^[2]

Sherut Avir and birth of the Israeli Air Force

With the adoption of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in November 1947, fighting erupted and Alon discontinued his studies. He enlisted with the Sherut Avir, the Haganah's nascent air service operating a collection of light aircraft, and in March 1948 was assigned command of its Tel Aviv Squadron.^[2][3] Sherut Avir pilots were employed flying reconnaissance missions, supplied besieged and isolated settlements, escorted convoys and even occasionally participated in fighting. On March 27–28 Alon flew a number of bombing sorties in support of the beleaguered Nebi Daniel Convoy which had attempted to break the siege of Gush Etzion and was under attack by Arab irregulars. He also served as a liaison officer between the Sherut Avir and Jewish ground forces during April's Operation Nachshon, aimed at breaking the siege of Jerusalem.^[4]

Avia S-199 at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim

With the end of the British Mandate for Palestine fast approaching, the Yeshuv sought to bolster its capabilities for the inevitable clash with Israel's Arab neighbors and their regular armies. It therefore secured the purchase of 25 Avia S-199s, a Czechoslovak derivative of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. Alon was in the first batch of Sherut Avir pilots sent to fly the new aircraft, and departed Sde Dov on May 6, 1948. He was soon flying the Avia at the Czechoslovak airfield at České Budějovice. On May 15, however, Israel declared its indepedence and found itself under immediate attack, including aerial strikes undertaken by the relatively powerful Royal Egyptian Air Force. Although they had not undergone any sort of gunnery training on the new aircraft, the pilots demanded to return home. On May 20, therefore, Alon and fellow pilots boarded a Douglas C-54B for the return flight to Israel.^[5]

On May 29 the fledgling Israeli Air Force officially formed 101 Squadron, its first fighter squadron. Modi Alon was given command of the squadron, although Lou Lenart, a World War II veteran of fighting in the Pacific, was to command it in the air.^[5] The squadron had received its first Avia on the night of May 20–21, 1948, and by May 29, four aircraft had been secretly assembled in a hangar at Ekron. The IAF had intended to reveal the Israeli acquisition of fighter aircraft with an attack on the Egyptian air base at El-Arish, but the desperate situation on the southern front, with an Egyptian column heading towards Tel-Aviv, prompted the a change of plans. Without their engines having been run before or their guns fired, Lenart, Alon, Ezer Weizman and Eddie Cohen took off late in the afternoon to attack Egyptian forces near Isdud, only about 10 miles away. Each dropped two bombs and strafed the enemy column. The aircraft inflicted only slight damage, losing one Avia S-199 and pilot (Cohen) to ground fire. Alon's aircraft was also damaged upon landing, but the sortie nevertheless bought Israeli forces enough time to halt the Egyptian advance.^[5][6]

First kills

Modi Alon's Avia S-199 pursuing an Egyptian Dakota over Tel Aviv, June 3, 1948

Only one Avia S-199 (probably D-106^[7]) was servicable on June 3, 1948, when a pair of Egyptian C-47s and their two Spitfire escorts returned for their 16th bombing of Tel Aviv. Dozens of civilians had been killed in previous raids, and flying the IAF's sole combat aircraft, Alon engaged the four Egyptian aircraft. Swinging out to sea to get the sun behind him, Alon evaded the Spitfires and then pursued and shot down both bombers, scoring the first aerial victories of the Israeli Air Force. The event took place in sight of the astonished populace which was not aware of the existence of an Israeli fighter arm. The air force held a press conference which Alon attended, and its headquarters was subsequently flooded with gifts, flowers and alcohol for the pilot despite the wartime scarcity of such luxuries. Although Tel Aviv would yet witness raids by Egyptian fighter aircraft, no bombers were ever to appear over the city again.^[6][8][9]

Lou Lenart left the squadron in early July, leaving Alon in sole command.^[10] In the early evening of July 18 Alon scored his third victory, when a formation of three Avias returning from a ground attack mission encountered a pair of REAF Spitfire Mk. VCs. Alon maneuvered behind one of the Spitfires to down Wing Commander Said Afifi al-Janzuri.^[6][11]

In late September 1948 Alon participated in Operation Velvetta, ferrying Czechoslovak Spitfires to Israel. Alon and fellow pilot Boris Senior burned too much of their fuel during one leg of the flight and were forced to land in Maritsa, Rhodes. The aircraft were impounded but both men released.^[12]

Death

At 16:58 On October 16, 1948, Alon and Ezer Weizman took off from Herzliya to attack Egyptian forces operating in the vicinity of Isdud, not far from where both had participated in the squadron's combat debut in May. Returning to base, Alon had trouble lowering the plane's landing gear and consequently began flying violent maneuvers to try and force the wheels to lower. The Avia's engine started streaming white smoke and the aircraft began losing altitude before hitting the ground and bursting into flames, instantly killing Alon. He was survived by his wife, Mina, three months pregnant at the time.^[13] Alon's daughter, Michal, would later serve her mandatory IDF service with 101 Squadron.

On October 25, soon after Alon's death, the airfield at St. Jean, home to the IAF Flight Academy, was renamed "Camp Alon" in his honor. When the academy moved to Kfar Sirkin (former RAF Petah Tiqva) in 1949, so did the name.^[14] The Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat HaTayasim (Hebrew: רמת הטייסים‎, lit. Pilots' Heights), established during the 1950s, was named after three fallen pilots renowned for their defense of the city – Modi Alon, Matityahu Sukenik and Aharon David Sprinzak. The latter two were killed on June 4, 1948, attacking an Egyptian flotilla off the Tel Aviv coast while flying a Fairchild Argus. A memorial to the three stands in a local public garden.

See also

• Gordon Levett
• George Beurling
• Bob Vickman

Notes

Alon, Sukenik and Sprinzak memorial in Tel Aviv

1. ^ ^{a b c} Moran (May 1987)
2. ^ ^{a b} Moran (July 1987)
3. ^ Cohen et al (1997), p. 145
4. ^ Cohen et al (1997), pp. 276, 279, 296
5. ^ ^{a b c} Yofe and Nyveen (2007), pp. 3–13
6. ^ ^{a b c} Norton (2004), pp. 110–112
7. ^ Yofe and Nyveen (2007), p. 94
8. ^ Aloni (2001), p. 11
9. ^ Yofe and Nyveen (2007), pp. 17–19
10. ^ Yofe and Nyveen (2007), p. 40
11. ^ Nordeen and Nicolle (1996), p. 97
12. ^ Norton (2004), p. 116
13. ^ Yofe and Nyveen (2007), p. 61
14. ^ Cohen (2004), pp. 674–676

References

• Aloni, Shlomo (2001). Arab–Israeli Air Wars. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1841762946. http://books.google.com/books?id=mO02czQ9jyYC. 
• Cohen, Avi; Eyal, Eli; Imbar, Ido (1997) (in Hebrew). The Roots of the Israeli Air Force 1913–1948. Israeli Ministry of Defence. ISBN 9650509143. 
• Cohen, Avi (2004) (in Hebrew). The History of the Israeli Air Force in the War for Independence. Volume III: October 1948 - July 1949. Israeli Ministry of Defence. ISBN 9650512454. 
• Moran, Meirav (May 1987). "Modi Alon: A Fallen Oak (pt. I)" (in Hebrew). Israeli Air Force Magazine (Israeli Air Force) (57): 60–63. 
• Moran, Meirav (July 1987). "Modi Alon: A Fallen Oak (pt. II)" (in Hebrew). Israeli Air Force Magazine (Israeli Air Force) (58): 60–62. 
• Nordeen, Lon; Nicolle, David (1996). Phoenix Over The Nile. Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 335–340. ISBN 9781560986263. 
• Norton, Bill (2004). Air War on the Edge – A History of the Israel Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947. Midland Publishing. ISBN 1 85780 088 5. 
• Yofe, Alex; Nyveen, Lawrence (2007). Avia S-199 in Israeli Air Force Service 1948-1950. White Crow Publications. ISBN 0977462714. 

Persondata
Name	Alon, Modi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 17, 1921
Place of birth	Safed, British Mandate for Palestine
Date of death	October 16, 1948
Place of death	Herzliya Airport, Israel