ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 94064
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| Date: | Tuesday 19 October 1948 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk X |
| Owner/operator: | 103 Sqn Israeli Air Force (IDF/IAF) |
| Registration: | D-171 |
| MSN: | ex.RD448 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Iraq al Suweidan, 17 miles NE of Gaza, Mandator Palestina -
 Israel
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Ramat David AB, Israel |
The Bristol Beaufighter had earned an excellent reputation during World War II especially in anti-shipping strikes and was heavily armed, however by now most were being retired. Zur came up with the simple idea of producing a film about the exploits of the Beaufighter and its New Zealand crews and using this as a cover to fly the aircraft out of the country. Six Beaufighters arrived at Haddenham in early May of 1948 and for a short time were to be seen taxying around the airfield followed by a cars with cameramen in.
When the time came for the aircraft to leave for Israel, as it was soon to become, flight plans for a trip to Scotland for ‘better scenery’ were filed. Before anybody could do anything about it the aircraft were on their way in the other direction! However all this was not before a tragic accident had occurred on the 28th May when one of the Beaufighters (G-AJME), spun in after an engine failure in the circuit, the pilot, Julian MacNeile Verschoyle-Campbell, being killed instantly. This undoubtedly hurried their departure.
The Times of April 26th 1949 reports that P/O B.J.G. Carbury was one of 4 pilots who was fined for flying a Beaufighter to Palestine 'around August 1948 illegally and without a valid export licence'. He had been paid £500 for the trip.
The Beaufighters had left Haddenham unarmed as befitting their film role, and so this was Zur’s next task. The hardest part of this was not the procurement but the transportation of the guns and ammunition to Israel. Following an abortive attempt to take them by sea, John Harvey a British-born Israeli chartered a friends Halifax, which co-incidentally had once belonged to British American Air Services. G-AJPJ’s flight from White Waltham went smoothly until it tried to land at Ekron air base where unfortunately the landing lights had failed. Diverting to Tel Aviv and after a double engine failure the Halifax crashed off the end of the short runway and overturned. Both pilot and cargo survived although the aircraft itself was a complete write-off.
The Beaufighters, flown by 103 Sqdn at Ramat David, proved useful at a time when they were needed but a lack of spares as well as combat losses soon grounded them and in fact none are believed to have flown after 1949. One of the aircraft disappeared on a mission in October 1948 - believed Shot down by an Egyptian Hawker Fury - and the wreckage found near Ishdud (Ashdod) 46 years later! The remains are with the Israeli Air Force Museum.
One Beaufighter which has a known and traceable identity was IDF/AF "D-171" ex-RAF Beaufighter RD448; * - "On the morning of October 19th, D.171 was sent to assist the Israeli Navy in battles against Egyptian naval vessels when it encountered an Egyptian Hawker Fury flown by Abd Al-Hamid Abu Zayd, commander of Egypt's 2nd squadron. Aware that the Beaufighter stood little chance in a dogfight, the pilot, Len Fitchett, jettisoned his bomb load and put his bomber into a dive low over the water. Followed by the Egyptian, Fitchett abruptly pulled up, just in time to see the Fury crash into the sea. The same day saw a Beaufighter bombing the Egyptian stronghold of Iraq-Suidan.
On the next day, October 20th, two Beaufighters again took off from Ramat David to assist Israeli forces in fighting around Iraq-Suidan.
The lead Beaufighter D171, manned by Leonard Fitchett (Ignoring orders, Fitchett made a second pass at the target and suffered a hit in the port engine), Dov Shugerman and Stanley Andrews, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in Egyptian controlled territory, all three survived but were captured, murdered and mutilated by Egyptian troops. When Israeli forces finally gained control of the crash site, only Fitchett's body was recovered.
Crew:
?? Len FITCHETT (IDAF) - killed after capture Egyptian ground fire.
?? Dov SUGERMAN (IDAF) - killed after capture Egyptian ground fire.
?? Stan ANDREWS (IDAF) - killed after capture Egyptian ground fire.
The reported crash location of Iraq al-Suwaydan (Arabic: عراق سويدان, Hebrew: עיראק סווידאן) was a Palestinian Arab village located 27 km (17 mi) northeast of Gaza City. It was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav against the defending Egyptian Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The village infrastructure, with the exception of the police station built by the British Mandate authorities, was destroyed.
Sources:
1. http://www.haddenhamairfieldhistory.co.uk/beaufighters.htm
2. http://www.machal.org.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413&Itemid=708&lang=en
3. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bristol-beaufighter
4. http://www.machal.org.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=278&Itemid=382&lang=en
5. http://home.comcast.net/~anneled/IAFinventory.html
6. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-mideast/israel/af/types/misc1.htm#beaufighter
7. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AJMC.pdf
8. https://segulamag.com/en/articles/sky-heist/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Suwaydan#Israel
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Yoav
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Oct-2019 19:36 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Oct-2019 19:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Oct-2019 22:09 | Anon. | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 05-Mar-2020 10:26 | Nepa | Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 05-Mar-2020 10:29 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 05-Mar-2020 10:50 | Nepa | Updated [Registration, Operator] |
| 09-Jun-2021 19:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Jul-2023 11:06 | Nepa | Updated [[Location, Source, Narrative]] |
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