The Canadian 'Falcon of Malta' who died for Israel
'Top Guns': The little-known
story of the decorated Canadian WWII pilot who died mysteriously in 1948
after joining the Israeli Air Force.
One of the most successful and decorated Canadian
World War II "Top Guns," George Frederic' Buzz' Beurling, was born in
Montreal one hundred years ago on December 6, 1921. After the war, he
joined the nascent Israeli Air Force to fight in the War of Independence
and was killed mysteriously in 1948: It was a lamentable end to a
dazzling dream.
This is his story.
'Buzz' was, without a shadow of a doubt, among
the most accomplished fighter pilots in military aviation. He was
considered a "lone wolf" who spent more time mathematically calculating
optimal shots from various angles and distances to maximize Spitfire
ammunition than having a pint with his mates. For example, Beurling
found that by shooting cannon on the approximated flight path of an
enemy plane, one could attack the aircraft without straightening one's
tail, utilizing a side angle. Pilots who flew with Beurling said that he
would notice approaching planes before anyone else and count them. As
others were unable to see what he was talking about, they thought that
he was nervous or tense, but in the end, he was always accurate.
Known as "The Falcon of Malta," he and other ‘Top
Guns’ played a significant role in preventing Hitler and Mussolini from
occupying the island and turning the western Mediterranean into an Axis
lake, thus securing the vital lines of communication for their North
African campaigns. Accordingly, the dictators blockaded the
strategically located island, intercepted supplies to the besieged
British forces, and bombed the small island incessantly. The Germans and
Italians flew over 3000 bombing raids, dropping 6,700 tons of bombs on
the Grand Harbor area alone: the archipelago was largely reduced to
rubble. In May 1941, Erwin Rommel warned that "Without Malta, the Axis
will end by losing control of North Africa." In Churchill and Malta's War, 1939-1945, Douglas
Austin argues that the Prime Minister understood that without Malta's
ability to attack ships resupplying German forces in North Africa,
victory in Europe would be delayed by up to a year. Victory on the
shores of the burning island enabled the Allies to use it as an
unsinkable carries in the subsequent invasion of Italy leading to the
collapse of the Berlin-Rome Axis.
With
little or no food, shortage of spare parts and fuel, Buzz and his
fellow pilots fought bravely against all odds. They launched sorties
after sorties, with little rest, as waves of enemy warplanes tried to
force Malta into submission. Each Nazi assault was confronted and
repulsed with the defiant roar of Spitfires resulting in the decimation
of the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica Italiana. Those who fought
the Axis were often reminded by Admiral of the Fleet, Andrew Browne
Cunningham of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire
was defeated by the Knights Hospitaller who fought valiantly against
Suleiman the Magnificent’s superior forces. 'Buzz' shot 27 Axis
warplanes in two weeks in 1942 and earned another sobriquet:”Knight of
the Sky.”
Churchill's commendation issued after the Battle of Britain in 1940 "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" found
new resonance as the Pact of Steel's Maltese dreams were shattered on
the shores of a blood-drenched island thanks mainly to Beurling and his
band of brothers.
After the war, as Israel's War of Independence was
about to start, 'Buzz' deeply felt that Arab threats to destroy the
fledgling Jewish State would amount to granting Hitler a posthumous
victory. Without hesitation, Beurling decided to take to the skies yet
again and help Israel survive. The fledgling Israel Air Force was forged
in battle, but most pilots and aircrew were overseas volunteers. The
reason for this disastrous situation was that Britain, in charge of the
Palestine Mandate before May 15, 1948, had refused to accept Palestinian
Jews who wanted serve in the RAF until 1943 - almost four years into
the war. When the 1948 War broke out, there were only 25 Jewish pilots:
the rest came from abroad, including my boss at Israel Aerospace
Industries, the late Al Shwimmer, an American, who organized the
smuggling of jets into Israel.
'Buzz's' decision to join the fray did not come as a surprise to George's brother Rick who told Itay Itamar, writing for the Israel Air Force Journal that the family had been brought up on Holy Scriptures and that both he and 'Buzz' shared a Judeo-Christian world view.
"We very much identified with the history of the
people of Israel. Our father always said that one day Israel would
become an independent state, and we always waited for it to happen,"
remembered Rick. "I think that after George's experience in World War
II, together with the fact that Israel was about to become a nation, he
ran to help. Even though he wasn't Jewish, he had a Jewish heart “said
Rick Beurling.
‘Buzz’ contacted Sydney Solomon, a Montreal Jewish
community leader who was deeply involved in Jewish and Israeli affairs.
It was not easy: Solomon was suspicious and questioned Buerling's
motives. "Sydney sat with us in the kitchen and told us that it was
challenging for them to believe my brother because he thought that it
was a trick or a type of bait," recalled Rick during Itamar’s interview.
But, 'Buzz' convinced him as he answered each question with a quote
from the Bible. He wanted to be part of the epic struggle about to
unfold and burned with the desire to defend the Jewish State. Beurling, a
religious man versed in the Holy Books, could not imagine that a few
years after the liberation of concentration camps, another holocaust
might be inflicted on the Jewish people.
According to Itamar, as soon as Beurling received
the green light at the outbreak of the War of Independence, he joined
Leonard Yehuda Cohen, a British ace who had also fought in Malta. Both
pilots volunteered in the nascent Israeli air force. 'Buzz's' first
operation was to bring a Norseman plane from Italy to Israel on May 20,
1948. But, the aircraft exploded and crashed in mysterious circumstances
in Rome as many believe that the plane was sabotaged before it took
off. He was twenty-seven years old when he died.
His charred remains were unclaimed and kept in a
warehouse in the Verano Monumental Cemetery for five months. Eventually,
Beurling, the romantic war hero, was interred in Rome's Protestant
Memorial Garden, appropriately enough, between the graves of Percy
Bysshe Shelly and John Keats.
Although we don't have access to all the relevant
documents, the suspicious circumstances concerning the crash have been
discussed in many books, including Brian Nolan's The Buzz Beurling Story.
Suffice to note that the World War II ace had many powerful foes: Pro-
Arab western secret services were fiercely opposed to his activities;
Rome was full of Nazis signing up to fight with the Arabs; remnants of
the SS were sworn to settle scores with the "Maltese Falcon"; and Arab
intelligence services were determined to prevent incipient Israel from
attaining air superiority, especially as Beurling was about to fly the
P-51 Mustang. But the possibility of an accident, however, cannot be
discounted.
At
the suggestion of the State of Israel and with the approval of the
Beurling family, on November 9, 1950, George's remains were brought from
Italy to Israel. He was laid to eternal rest with full military honors
in the Christian cemetery in Haifa.
On the 60th Anniversary of his internment, it was
decided, based on the family's request, to grant George a full Jewish
commemorative service in Haifa. The memorial service was attended by the
crew of the "Flying Camel" squadron, the commander of the squadron, and
the head of the Department of Fallen Soldiers, Lt. Col. Danny
Shneidman, who accompanied the Beurling family during their first visit
to Israel. The Canadian Ambassador to Israel, Jon Allen, and the
Canadian Defense Attaché to Israel Col. Geordie Elms, too, were present.
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