And I would have preferred that someone point out the significance of an Egyptian airplane with RAF markings – and what it says about the credibility of British claims of neutrality. For the informed, the picture speaks for itself. For others an explanatory caption would help.

As my father (A WWII veteran of the Normandy invasion) became an aircraft and aerospace engineer after the war, I have always had a keen interest in military aircraft. Many countries mark their planes with roundels. (See link below) But as the photo in the collection is black and white, one cannot tell what colors comprise the markings. As I will explain, the fighter plane in the picture probably has Egyptian markings even though it is a British-made Spitfire. That does not necessarily affect whether Britian was neutral, because, ironically, the inventory of the Israeli Air Force at that time included many German Messerschmitt ME-109 fighters (built in Czechoslovakia) as well as other planes including British Spitfires and American P-51 Mustangs. The Czechs were a conduit for the creation of the Israeli air force and many World War II veteran pilots and mechanics (both Christians and Jews) from the US, Canada, Great Britian and other countires flew the planes and gave their lives for Israeli independence

http://israelvets.com/pictorialhist_air_force.html

Back to the markings, this link shows (in alphabetical order) markings of military aircraft used by countries around the world both present and past.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Roundel

If you check the Egyptian roundel in use in 1948 with the markings of the same era United Kingdom aircraft you will see that they both have three concentric circles (as do most other roundel markings). The only difference is the colors (Egypt green center and outside, white inside; UK red center then white and blue) . As far as I can tell from the photo, the center of the roundel and the outer circle appear to be the same shade suggesting the green, white, green Egyptian markings. If it was a British plane even in a back and while photo there may be a contrast between the red and the blue. And, as shown in the link to the Israeli Air Force page above, some British planes only had roundels comprised of a red center and one blue circle. The one in the picture has three parts.

Don Horowitz

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