Documenting the fledgling country’s first battles

PETER FELDMAN

This film – produced by Nancy Spielberg – will be screened to commemorate Yom Yerushalayim, this coming Sunday at the Victory Theatre in Johannesburg.

Directed by Roberta Grossman, this award-winning film tells with engaging clarity the struggle Israel and its people faced in 1948. It details how a rag-tag group of American volunteer pilots left their homeland to help launch an air force.

A handful of South African pilots also joined up. They were Eddie Cohen, who was killed in 1948 on his first mission, and Smoky Simon, from Bultfontein in the Free State. He joined the SA Air Force in the 40s and served in 21 Squadron during the Desert campaign, before he finally linked up with Israeli.

Told through black and white newsreel footage and countless interviews with the survivors, “Above and Beyond” is not only a history lesson, but a story of heart, heroism and high-flying chutzpah. In the process, these brave men undertook personal journeys of discovery, sacrifice and a renewal in Jewish pride.

The production taps into the psyche of the heroes who left America and who, together with those from other countries, pooled their talents and ingenuity, to start a nascent military air force.

The first aircraft were bought from the massive US government surplus stocks and were former USAF Curtiss C-46 Commando transports which were used in shipping war material back to Israel.

The first volunteers faced restrictions from their home country, but found ingenious ways of working around US government regulations. Al Schwimmer, an American citizen, who was later charged with violating US neutrality, handled the transport operation.

He registered the C-46 transports in Panama as Lineas Aereas de Panama Aircraft and flew them to Israel via a circuitous route that included South Africa, Brazil, Casablanca, Morocco and Rome, which became the headquarters of the volunteer fighter pilots. Chief among the group was Canadian George “Buzz” Beurling, who died in a mysterious crash while testing a light transport plane.

Officials in Czechoslovakia helped the pilots acquire a number of fighter aircraft, including a variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 109.

The viewer gets to meet some of the real life characters such as Lou Lenart, Leon Frankel, Harold Livingston, Milton Rubenfeld, George Lichter, Coleman Goldstein and Gideon Lichtman. These were true heroes and the harrowing stories some of them recount will set your hair on end. A South African pilot, Eddie Cohen, is killed during his first mission in the War of Independence

The film recounts how the first four fighter aircraft to arrive in Israel, were soon deployed to attack an Egyptian armoured column moving on Tel Aviv. The attack took the enemy completely by surprise and the Egyptians retreated. Other air attacks helped to bring about a truce between the combatants. During the truce, Israeli volunteers in the United States, managed to purchase and smuggle two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Bombers out of country – a true cloak-and-dagger operation.

When war was declared again, the B-17s were in the air, overflying the Middle East and attacking Cairo for the first time, sending a strong message to the Egyptians. Aerial prowess proved to be a deciding factor in the coming battles with new aircraft, including the formidable Supermarine Spitfire, deployed.

The film highlights many personalities; Israeli heroes such as Modi Alon, Ezer Weizman, and Dani Shapira, who shaped the Israeli Air Force.

For a student of history “Above and Beyond” is a must because it provides a telling narrative from all perspectives.

*Tickets for the screening at the Victory Theatre, Louis Botha Avenue, Orange Grove on Sunday, are R50. Bookings: (011) 645-2601.