Operation Velvetta
Operation Velvetta (; also known as Operation Alabama) was a 1948 Israeli Air Force operation to ferry Supermarine Spitfires purchased in Czechoslovakia to Israel. The fighter planes were purchased from Czechoslovakia at $23,000 per plane. Arrangements were also made with the Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito to use the city of Nikšić (an abandoned Luftwaffe airbase) as a waystation for 60 purchased Spitfires (codenamed "Yoram"). The commander of the Israelis at Nikšić airfield was Gideon (Geda) Shochat, son of Manya Shochat and former RAF officer. The first of the two legs of the journey was from Kunovice, Czechoslovakia to Nikšić (codenamed "Alabama"). The second leg was more difficult, crossing 2,250 km of open water from Nikšić to Israel. Secrecy This operation was of high secrecy, as it was opposed by both Britain and the USSR. To preserve secrecy, the Israelis were not allowed to talk with Yugoslavian soldiers or citizens. They were given permission to us ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hatzerim 310313 Spitfire
Hatzerim ( he, חֲצֵרִים, ''lit.'' Farmyards) is a kibbutz located 8 kilometers west of Beersheba in the Negev desert in Israel. It is named after the Bible (Deuteronomy 2:23), mentioning a site nearby: "the Avvites who lived in farmyards as far as Gaza". It belongs to the Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The community was established in October 1946 by a young group of scouts who were then later joined by Polish-Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union; they reached Israel via Iran with the Polish Army, referred to as "The Children of Tehran" ("Dzieci Andersa" in Polish). They then learned agriculture and military training becoming part of the Haganah ground forces. In the 1960s, the Hatzerim Airbase was built nearby. Hatzerim is now a well developed kibbutz (one of Israel's richest) due to the profits from Netafim. The kibbutz has amenities such as a library, swimming pool, dentist and a zoo. Netafim Hatzerim was one of the first k ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roundel
A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours. Other symbols also often use round shapes. Heraldry In heraldry, a ''roundel'' is a circular charge. ''Roundels'' are among the oldest charges used in coats of arms, dating from at least the twelfth century. Roundels in British heraldry have different names depending on their tincture. Thus, while a roundel may be blazoned by its tincture, e.g., ''a roundel vert'' (literally "a roundel green"), it is more often described by a single word, in this case ''pomme'' (literally "apple", from the French) or, from the same origins, ''pomeis''—as in "Vert; on a cross Or five pomeis". One special example of a named roundel is the fountain, depicted as ''a roundel barry wavy argent and azure'', that is, containing alternating horizo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battles And Operations Of The 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Following is a list of battles and operations in the 1948 Palestine war. Operations in the 1947–1948 inter-communal war in Palestine Arms acquisitions Following is a list of operations undertaken by the Yishuv and later Israel to acquire munitions abroad. First stage Following is a list of operations between May 15, 1948—the Arab invasion of Palestine—and June 11, 1948—the first truce of the war. Battles of the Ten Days and second truce Following is a list of battles and operations between the first and second truces of the war—July 8, 1948—July 18, 1948. This period was named "Battles of the Ten Days" in Israel. Also listed are Israeli operations during the second truce. Final stage Following is a list of battles and operations from the second truce of the war up to the 1949 Armistice Agreements. See also * 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine * 1948 Arab–Israeli War * Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War Killings and massacr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arms Shipments From Czechoslovakia To Israel 1947–49
Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons * Armaments or weapons ** Firearm ** Small arms *Coat of arms **In this sense, "arms" is a common element in pub names Enterprises * Amherst Regional Middle School *Arms Corporation, originally named Dandelion, a defunct Japanese animation studio who operated from 1996 to 2020 *TRIN (finance) The TRIN, or Arms index, developed by Richard Arms in the 1970s, is a short-term technical analysis stock market trading indicator based on the Advance-Decline Data. The name is short for TRading INdex. The index is calculated as follows: :TRIN = ... or Arms Index, a short-term stock trading index *Australian Relief & Mercy Services, a part of Youth With A Mission Arts and entertainment * ARMS (band), an American indie rock band formed in 2004 * ''Arms'' (album), a 2016 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mordechai Hod
Aluf (Maj. Gen.) Mordechai (Motti) Hod (Hebrew: מרדכי הוד; 28 September 1926 – 29 June 2003) was the Commander of the Israeli Air Force during the 1967 Six-Day War. Biography Hod was born in the British Mandate of Palestine in Kibbutz Degania in 1926. Hod originally had the surname Fine which he changed later on to Hod, keeping with the prevalent custom that period of taking a Hebrew surname when joining the armed forces. Hod studied at a local Agriculture College before enlisting in the British Army in 1944, where he served as a driver. With the end of the Second World War Hod joined the Haganah's Palmach groundforce. In this capacity he assisted Aliyah Bet, illegal Jewish immigration from Europe to Palestine. He was arrested and jailed for two weeks in Rome for taking part in such actions. Hod began his flight training career in Italy but was soon sent to Czechoslovakia. The newly created IAF was in need of modern military aircraft, and had purchased several S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Modi Alon
Mordechai "Modi" Alon (17 January 1921 – 16 October 1948) was an Israeli fighter pilot who with the formation of the Israeli Air Force in May 1948, assumed command of its first fighter squadron. Flying the Avia S-199, Alon participated in the IAF's first combat sortie on 29 May 1948, and on 3 June scored the IAF's very first aerial victories, downing a pair of Royal Egyptian Air Force C-47s over Tel Aviv. Biography Mordechai Alon was born in Safed on 17 January 1921, to Yaacov and Naomi Kalibansky, pioneers of the Second Aliyah. The family moved around several times before finally settling in Tel Aviv, where Alon attended the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium while secretly enlisting in the Haganah. After graduating Alon went off to serve in Kibbutz Degania Alef and in 1938 was among the founding members of Hanita. RAF service In 1940 Alon enlisted in the Royal Air Force, heeding calls by the Jewish Agency for Israel for the Jews of Palestine to support the British war effort. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Douglas C-54 Skymaster
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner, the Douglas DC-4. Besides transport of cargo, the C-54 also carried presidents, prime ministers, and military staff. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research, and missile tracking and recovery. During the Berlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin. After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries. It was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States, the first being President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. Design and development With the looming entry of the United States into World War II, in June 1941 the War Department t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ramat David
Ramat David ( he, רָמַת דָּוִד, ''lit.'' David Heights) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Ramat David Airbase, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was established in 1926, and was named after David Lloyd George, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom when the Balfour Declaration was made. The German-Jewish architect Richard Kauffmann drew up plans for the design of Ramat David in 1931. The British author Roald Dahl landed his RAF Hurricane at the British Mandate airstrip at Ramat David early in 1941. He describes the German Jewish refugee children living there at that time in his autobiography ''Going Solo''. On 22 May 1948 Egyptian planes attacked the airbase, damaging and destroying a number of British Royal Air Force planes. Notable people * Ze'ev Herring (1910–1988), politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Alignment between ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes. The city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. In 2022 the island has population of 124,851 people. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens. Rhodes has several nicknames, such as "Island of the Sun" due to its patron sun god Helios, "The Pearl Island", and "The Island of the Knights", named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who ruled the island from 1310 to 1522. Historically, Rhodes was famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1947–1949 Palestine War
The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and in Arabic as a central component of the Nakba (). It is the first war of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the broader Arab–Israeli conflict. During the war, the British terminated the Mandate and withdrew, ending a period of rule which began in 1917, during the First World War. Beforehand, the area had been part of the Ottoman Empire. In May 1948, the State of Israel was established by the Jewish Yishuv, its creation having been declared on the last day of the Mandate. During the war, around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs were displaced.— Benny Morris, 2004''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'' pp. 602–604. Cambridge University Press; . "It is impossible to arrive at a definite persuasive estimate. My predilec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the Geography of Greece, mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring List of islands of Greece, thousands of islands. The country consists of nine Geographic regions of Greece, traditional geographic regions, and has a population of approximately 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras. Greece is considered the cradle of Western culture, Western civilization, being the birthplace of Athenian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. Albania displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, defined in an area of . It possesses significant diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean Sea. Albania has been inhabited by different civilisations over time, such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, and Ot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |