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Israeli Beaufighter?

Posted by Steve Young on Fri Oct 19, 2001 02:13:08 PM

Tony, you mentioned in the Israeli Air Force Museum thread something about the IAF still having a Mosquito and Beaufighter. I can't speak with any authority on the Mossie (or much on the Beau for that matter!), but I always thought the Israeli Beau's only lasted a few weeks. I heard about the Israeli Beaufighter story a couple of years ago, and it's a fascinating account of an attempt to overcome adversity by surreptitious means - some would say typical of the then fledgling state of Israel.

The story I heard was that the Israelis purchased five surplus Beaufighter TF10's here in the UK and placed them onto the British civil register, saying they were to be used for 'film work'. The five were then flown to an airfield in England by British pilots sympathetic to the Israeli cause (Haddenham rings a bell, but I can't be sure), who then managed to slip four of them out of the UK before anyone realised what was happening. Presumably the fifth either went u/s or was stopped from departing somehow.

The story I heard says they flew out in company with a four engined aircraft (possibly a Halifax?), and eventually made it to Israel where they were immediately pressed into service. I can't for the life of me remember where I read this story though. Hopefully someone else on here has read it and can confirm that I'm NOT entirely mad!

Anyway, by 1948 the Beaufighter was obsolete as a fighting aircraft, and apparently all four were destroyed within weeks of arriving in Israel, so if any have survived I'd be amazed! I'm also very intrigued to see a Beaufighter IIF shown on the list of aircraft used by Israel, that's the first time I've ever heard that one!

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