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The
last battle of the war
In the mid afternoon on the 7th of January 1949 (ceasefire had to be declared on this day by 2pm,the last day of the fighting) a flight of 19 R.A.F planes from the Fayid Air Base took off in search of 4 Spitfires Mk.PR18 from squadron 208 that were on a reconnaissance patrol over Al Auja-Rafa Road. Earlier, in the morning, 3 of the Spitfires were shot down by 2 Israeli Spitfires Mk.9 and the other was shot down by Anti-Aircraft fire.
By the time the R.A.F planes appeared over the patrol area, 4 Israeli Spitfires (piloted by Ezer Weitzman, Sandy Jacobs, Casaer Dangot and Bill Shroeder) were in
the area and a dog-fight developed between the two sides. One British plane, a Tempest MkVI, was
shot down, and other 3 R.A.F planes suffered minimal damages. From the Israeli side only one plane was slightly damaged in the tail alerones.
The following painting is an illustration of the encounter between Spitfire Mk9 (nr 2013/18 from Squadron 101,piloted by Ezer Weitzman) and a R.A.F Tempest MkVI (nr NX134/T*JV from Squadron 6, piloted by Douglas Liquorish) the Tempest was hit in the tail and the root of the left wing but Liquorish made a successful emergency landing at the Fayid Air Base. the ceasefire was officialy declared 20mins after this encounter. This air battle was the last that was fought by the Israeli Airforce in the War Of Independence.
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Ryno Cilliers an Aviation artist from South Africa has been commissioned
to paint this vivid and dramatic scene. On the 5th of December 1996
the original oil painting was presented to Mr Ezer Weitzman (at
that time the President of the state of Israel) in an official ceremony
in the presidential residence in Jerusalem.
A limited edition of 300 prints were printed, all prints are serial
numbered and printed on 260gr art paper. Measurement of the printed
image is 64cm X 41.5cm (25.5in X 16.5in). The overall size of the
print itself is 66cm X 48.5cm (26.5in X 19.5in).
The print price is 34.99(US)+shipping,to place your order and payment
information, please contact me at
E-mail.
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