BRITISH PLANES SHOT DOWN BY JEWISH CRAFT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 76, 10 January 1949, Page 3

BRITISH PLANES SHOT DOWN BY JEWISH CRAFT

ON EGYPTIAN SIDE OF PALESTINE BORDER

The Israeli delegation released the text of a Note which. Mr Lourie had sent to the British delegation, in which he said: “I had assumed that you were calling on me in my capacity as acting-representative of the Provisional Government of Israel at the United Nations Security Council, and it was on that understanding that I had undertaken to transmit the contents of the document to my Govern r ment.”

‘Jewish fighters yesterday morning shot down four Royal Air Force Spitfires which were on a reconnaissance mission inside the Egyptian frontier,” says a British Air Ministry communique. ?

“When the Spitfires failed to return to their base, a reconnaissance force of a single Mosquito and four Tempests was dispatched to obtain information of their fate. The Jewish aircraft attacked them and one Tempest is missing.” The communique added: “The Spitfires had- strict orders not. to cross the frontier into Palestine. During the last few days Royal Air Force aircraft from the Canal Zone have been carrying out reconnaissanuces to ascertain the depth and scale of the Jewish incursion into Egyptian territory. These reconnaissances have been strictly confined to Egyptian side of the frontier.

“The leader of the Spitfires reported that Jewish fighters attacked him 15 miles inside Egyptian territory. He baled out, wounded, and a Bedouin picked him up near Birgarbamir, about 15 miles west of Rafah, an Egyptian town just over the border.”

A British spokesman said that four of the Royal Air Force aeroplanes were shot down by Jewish fighters and the fifth was brought down by Jewish anti-aircraft fire east of Rafah) One British flying officer who baled out was taken prisoner, and the charred remains of another was found in the ruins of his Spitfire.

Israeli Charges Against R.A.F

An Israeli official spokesman said that the Royal Air Force aeroplanes were on “armed reconnaissance raids.” The name of the captured British airman was Timothy John McElhaw, and the Israeli spokesman claimed that his Spitfire had loaded guns. The spokesman said that MeElhaw had stated that he and three other pilots had been ordered to photograph the area and investigate fighting near Rafah. McElhaw claimed that his guns had not been fired. The Israeli spokesman further alleged that the 12 Royal' Air Force aeroplanes engaged yesterday afternoon had bombs under their wings and had loaded guns. Reuter’s Tel-Aviv correspondent says that the Israeli authorities announced that they were holding prisoners two Royal Air Force men shot down in Southern Palestine. One was slightly wounded. The Cairo correspondent of the British United Press says: “The Jewish major who captured McElhaw said: ‘A flight of four Spitfires came in from the west and zoomed overhead at less than 500 feet, causing Jewish soldiers to dive for cover. I do not-, think they were strafed. As one aeroplane pulled out of a dive smoke poured from its tail and a few seconds later a parachute opened up. We jeeped across the desert 0 and found an Englishman bundling up a parachute. He did not offer resistance.” The Associated Press correspondent in Tel-Aviv says: “The Israeli Foreign Office has challenged the British Air Ministry statement that the aircraft shot down by the Jews were over Egyptian territory. The spokesman said: £ I deny that. At least three of the five aeroplanes were shot down in fights that began and ended over Israel. Of the other two, the possibility of a fight over border territory exists, but there too it could not have taken the aeroplanes deep into Egyptian territory.’ ”

Britain “Reserves Rights”

The British Foreign Office announced that the Government had instructed the British representatives at the Security Council to present immediately a memorandum to the Jewish representative at the United Nations, strongly protesting against attacks by Jewish aircraft over Egyptian territory on Royal Air Force reconnaissance aeroplanes from the Suez Cana Zone. The memorandum said that t lie British Government reserved its rights both for compensation claims and tor all possible further action. A copy of the memorandum is being sent to hr. Ralph Bundle, the acting-Lnitecl Nations mediator in Palestine. The United Press says: "the Jewish representative’s attitude anses from the unusual channels by winch Britain chose to lodge her protest. Britain has refused to recognise Israel, and by a direct protest through the United Nations delegation had presumably intended to avoid an approach'that might lie interpreted as dealing with Israel as a legal entity.

Negotiating an Armistice

Unmapped Roman Road

(N.Z.P.A.—-Copyright.) LONDON, January 8. Four Royal Air Force Spitfires were shot down by Jewish fighters, and a Royal Air Force Tempest by Jewish anti-aircraft fire on the Egyptian side of the Southern Palestine border, according to a British Air Ministry compiunique. The Air Ministry has instructed Royal Air Force aircraft to regard as hostile any Jewish aircraft met oyer Egyptian territory. In Tel-Aviv, the Israeli Foreign Office claimed that at least three of the fights began and ended over Israel, and that in the other two cases a possible fight over the border could not have gone far into Egyptian territory. Israel also claimed that the Royal Air Force fighters had loaded guns and carried bombs. In New York the Israeli delegation to the United Nations charged Britain to-day with violating the United Nations truce by sending planes across the Palestine-Egyptian frontier. An Israeli spokesman, said: “By flying planes over a frontier at a time when Egypt and Israel have agreed to cease fire and begin armistice negotiations they open themselves up to the grave charge that they are prejudicing the prospects of peace, which have become 4 promising within the last 48 hours. It is amazing that the British persist in pushing their way into the Palestine conflict.” The British representative at the Security Council to-day handed to the Israeli representative (Mr Arthur Lourie) a strong protest against the shooting down of the five planes. Later, the Israeli delegation announced that it was refusing to transmit the British protest to Tel-Aviv, because it was addressed to “ the Jewish, delegation,” and not to the Provisional Government of Israel (which Britain does not recognise).

BRITISH MEMORANDUM

Grave View of Events (Rec. 10.35 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 9. The British memorandum handed to Jewish representatives at United Nations stated that the British Government took a grave view of events which resulted'in the loss of five British aircraft “as a result of unprovoked attacks by Jewish aircraft over Egyptian territory.” The memorandum stated that the British Government had informed Dr. Bunche and wished to make a strong protest to the Jewish authorities at Tel-Aviv. The Government reserved its rights, both with claims for compensation and in of all possible subsequent action. Reuter says that the memorandum protesting against the shooting down of five planes and the Air Ministry communique on the matter were presented to a representative of the Jewish Foreign Office in Haifa by the British consul (Mr Cyril Marriott): An Israeli spokesman at Tel-Aviv later announced that Britain’s protest Note had been handed hack to the British consul in Haifa because the Note was addressed to “the Jewish authorities in Palestine,” a term which Jews did not recognise. Dr. Bunche said in New York to-day that he had ordered an inquiry on the spot into the shooting down of British planes. Dr. Bunche said “now that we have ceased fire in effect there is not supposed to be any military activity* on either side and that includes the British.”

Dr. Bunche announced the investigation when he left New York to-day by air for Rhodes, where an attempt will be made to negotiate an armistice between Egypt and Israel. British officials at United Nations said that so far they had not received orders to follow up yesterdays formal protest to the Israeli representatives on the air crash incident with a formal complaint to the Security Council.

The British United Press correspondent in Td-Aviv said that Pavel Ivanovitch Yershow (Russian Ambassador in Tel-Aviv has visited the Isreali Government’s offices to ask for particulars of the incident, and the United States’ representative there (Mr Janies Macdonald) has also asked for details. ‘ Reuter’s correspondent at lelAviv says that the second British airman held prisoner by the Jews after the shooting down of the planes is Sergeant-Pilot Frank Harvey Close, of London.- The dead pilot .has been identified as Pilot-Officer David Crossley Tattersfield, of Birmingham. The Air Ministry announced that the missing pilot is Pilot-Officer R. Sayers (Spitfire), and the ’pilot who made his way back to the base was Flying-Officer G. S. Cooker.

An Israeli military spokesman said the British pilots taken prisoner m Israel territory, J. T. McElhaw and F. H. Close, said that when being briefed they had been told not to cross the Jewish frontier. McElhaw and Close, according to the spokesman, stated that when they were spotted by the Israeli planes they were not sure where they were. It seemed to them that they had lost their bearings because of the unmapped “Roman road.”

The spokesman said that interrogation of the pilots showed that the operation in which their planes were shot down was the squadron’s fourth in that area. The pilots said they had been specifically briefed not to fire, though their guns were loaded. The pilots were quoted as having said they were told that if hit they must bale out and take the main road. They were not to attempt crashlanding on emergency landing strips as they would he “in danger of being murdered by Egyptians.”

AN IRAQI REPORT “DECISIVE VICTORY” GAINED (Rec. 12.5 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 9. Iraqi Defence Ministry in a communique reports that the battle of the Qalqiliyah area of Palestine ended in “a decisive victory for our troops,” says the Associated Press correspondent at Baghdad. The communique says that the Jews tied the battle-, leaving 74 dead and suffering over 200 wounded. The Iraqi troops losses were four wounded and one killed.