New heavens : my life as a fighter pilot and a founder of the Israel Air Force / Boris Senior ; foreword by Peter B. Mersky ; foreword to the first edition by Ezer Weizman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Senior, Boris.

Standardized Title:

Shamayim ḥadashim. English

Language:

English

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Senior, Boris.

Israel. Ḥel ha-aṿir--History.

Israel.

Israel. Ḥel ha-aṿir.

History.

Israel--History, Military.

History, Military.

Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949--Aerial operations.

Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949.

Physical Description:

xvi, 256 pages, 14 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 19 cm

Edition:

lst edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Potomac Books, 2005.

Summary:

Boris Senior may not be well known outside Israel, but this transplanted South African played important, even vital, roles in the formation of the Israel Air Force (IAF) and in Israel's successful War of Independence in 1948. The first English-language edition of Senior's stirring memoir tells a personal story of Israel's difficult rebirth.

After World War II, during which he nearly died when shot down on a mission in 1945 for Britain's Royal Air Force, Senior dedicated himself to the establishment of a Jewish state by joining the Irgun to fight British control of Palestine. He undertook surreptitious operations to undermine the governing authority in Palestine until the onset of the 1948 War of Independence, when he returned to combat. One of the first nine Israeli pilots, he flew combat sorties against Israel's Arab neighbors in such disparate aircraft as the British-built Spitfire fighter and, oddly, a Beechcraft Bonanza, a civil aviation type. Senior used his own money to buy supplies and aircraft, personally undertaking many dangerous missions to fly new acquisitions to Israel. His tireless work to form an air defense system laid the groundwork for the modern Israel Air Force and earned him the deep respect and appreciation of his colleagues and Israel's early leaders.

Through all his experiences, Senior maintained a deep understanding of the predicament that bedevils the Middle East, particularly Israel and its neighbors. His fondest wish was to see the resolution of the age-old problems that result in so many Israelis and Arabs dying in attacks and counterattacks, more than fifty years after he helped launch the IAF.

Contents:

Chapter 1 A Yellow Stain in the Water 1

Chapter 2 Heritage 28

Chapter 3 War 48

Chapter 4 Zion 77

Chapter 5 First Missions 118

Chapter 6 Airplanes and Volunteers 133

Chapter 7 Independence 163.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

1574886797

OCLC:

53162745