London born Gordon Levett was a former Royal Air Force pilot in World War II.
Although not Jewish, when he learned about events in the Middle East and attempts to found an Israeli state, he joined the Israeli Machal Unit, a group of overseas volunteers.
Machal was established to assist a largely underground Zionist force after an appeal by future Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, to help defend the newborn state.
Some 5000 volunteers from 58 countries answered the call, including pilots, soldiers, doctors and engineers, bringing with them a wealth of military and professional experience.
One of the most notable contributions made by Machal was in the air.
Machal pilots with WW2 experience flew in an assortment of planes, including aging trainers and transport aircraft all facing superior air forces of the Arab states.
Following two meetings with Jewish agents in London, Levett was supplied with a ticket to Paris.
From there he was sent to Czechoslovakia joining a group of American Jewish volunteers assembling a fleet of transport aircraft.
Then to Ekron airbase in Israel to participate in Operation Balak, a smuggling operation that purchased arms in Europe, notably Czechoslovakian-made fighters, a post-war version of the German Luftwaffe Messerschmitt.
Deep Suspicion
Gordon Levett was recruited in 1948 in Europe by emissaries of the Haganah.
At the time, British Mandate Palestine was decidedly pro-Arab and the British Government policy was seen as anti-Zionist.
“In my last interview I was told they were quite convinced I was a British spy and viewed with deep suspicion, but they we’re going to take me to see what I was up to.”
The Balak airlift operating under the command of Israel’s Transport Command lasted three months.
Levett’s role as a primary pilot in the airlift proved pivotal.
After the fighters were dismantled and flown in pieces from the Czech base to Israel, they were reassembled and painted in new colours.
But their bombing runs from the Sinai Peninsula to Damascus in Syria were both difficult and dangerous.
The modified bombers had no bomb racks, and the few bombs carried were pushed out by a human ‘bomb chucker’ tied to the aircraft’s frame with a rope.
Ultimately they became the backbone of Israel’s first air force.
Enthusiasm for Israel
Following the Declaration of the State of Israel in 1948, Gordon Levett joined the first squadron of the newly created Israeli Air Force.
He was the only English gentile pilot in the Israeli Air Force and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Writing in his memoirs decades later he recalled his enthusiasm for the Israeli cause.
“I shall leave the world a better place than when I entered it because I helped found the State of Israel.”
He felt more at home walking along Ben-Gurion street in Tel Aviv than strolling down Piccadilly.
In May 1998, Levett and several hundred Machal volunteers were invited by Israel to be honored for their service at celebrations of the country’s 50th anniversary.
“Their expertise was critical,” noted the New York Times, “in helping what was previously an underground Zionist force win the war against the Arab armies.”
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