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Jewish Aces of the Air by Avi Heiligman
Forgotten Her es Jewish Aces of the Air
By Avi Heiligman
Yakov Ilyich Vernikov Lieutenant Colonel Murray Shubin George Ernest Goodman
During aerial combat, a “kill” is the termed used for downing an enemy aircraft whether it is a fighter, bomber, cargo, observation plane or any other type of manned vehicle that flies (drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles are a different story). Five “kills” to a pilot’s record gives him or her the coveted status of an ace pilot. During World War II, many pilots were needed to fill roles on the expanding air forces, and thousands of Jewish airmen and women answered the call. Jewish pilots have served on aircraft since its adaption for military usage over a century ago, with dozens achieving the title of an ace pilot.
Yakov Ilyich Vernikov was a Jewish pilot from the Soviet Union during World War II. As a child, he was fascinated with model airplanes and flight in general and learned to fly when he was just 17 years old. Upon completion of his original flying course, he became an instructor and in 1938 was drafted into the Red Army. The army sent him to an aviation school for military pilots in Odessa, and when the Germans invaded Russia in 1941, he was a member of the 234th Aviation Regiment. His first victory was a Heinkel He 111 bomber that he shot down over Kursk.
The types of aircraft he flew varied, and throughout his career he piloted 140 different types of planes. Most of his victories came in a LaGG33 or Yak-7 during the years 1942 and 1943. By the end of the war, Vernikov accumulated 15 kills in 68 air battles while flying an extraordinary 424 sorties. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his actions during the air battles.
Several Jewish double aces (with at least ten kills) flew for the Allies during World War II. Lieutenant Colonel Murray Shubin from Pittsburg had the distinction of becoming an ace in a day on his way to recording a left alone to fight off five more Zeros. His shooting was accurate enough to hit one in the cockpit and scored a deflection shot on another Zero. Two others were soon out of the sky, while the remaining Zero was able to escape. Even though he couldn’t confirm four of the planes as actual kills, American ground troops observed the aerial dogfight and confirmed that he shot down six enemy planes in just 45 minutes. Shubin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as
total of eleven air-to-air victories. He flew a P-38 Lightning fighter for the 330th Fighter Squadron and recorded his first kill while flying on a bomber escort mission over Bougainville. While flying near Guadalcanal on June 16, 1943, Shubin led three other P-38 fighters in an attack on a larger group of Japanese Zeros. The four Americans each shot down an enemy fighter, and Shubin recorded another kill when a Zero pulled up in front of his plane. The three other Americans had to return to base, and Shubin was a host of other medals, including the Silver Star, for his heroics in the air.
Pilots from around the world joined the RAF during the war and flew British planes in their fight against the Nazis. Pilots from Poland and Czechoslovakia, in particular, were known for their heroics in the air. Flyers from parts of the British Empire also came to fly for the RAF, including George Ernest Goodman from Haifa, which was then part of the British Mandate. He joined the RAF in 1939 and flew a Hawker Hurricane during the Battle of France in 1940. On May 13, he shot down a bomber and a Bf-110 fighter-bomber and shared a kill the next day. Before leaving France, he knocked another He-111 bomber out of the sky. During the Battle of Britain, Goodman shot down at least four more planes before crashing in the British countryside. Goodman quickly recovered from the crash and was in new Hurricane and was involved in the downing of two more German planes. He was awarded Distinguished Flying Cross for his aerial actions during the Battle of Britain which read, in part, “He assisted in the destruction of an enemy bomber which was attacking an aerodrome in the failing light at dusk. His courage and resourcefulness have enabled him to destroy at least six enemy aircraft.”
Experienced fighter pilots were needed in North Africa, and Goodman was sent to the 73rd Squadron fighting in Libya. He was credited with shooting down a Fiat CR.42 flown by a top Italian pilot. On April 9, 1941, Goodman was shot down again, but as before, he survived the crash and continued flying. Five days later, he shot down a Ju-87 Stuka and shared two more kills. On June 14, he was shot down by flak over Gazala Airfield in Libya, and this time unfortunately he was killed.
Goodman was Jewish (some records have him listed as a Christian
Lydia Litvyak Lieutenant Harold Segal
but those are incorrect) and had ten individual victories to his record along with six more shared kills.
There were other Jewish ace pilots that were discussed in previous articles. Lydia Litvyak was a Jewish airwoman from Moscow during World War II. Before she was killed after an aerial dogfight in 1943, she had recorded twelve kills. American Marine Lieutenant Harold Segal is also credited with twelve victories while flying a Corsair F4U fighter in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Emil Fechtner was a Jewish Czechoslovakian pilot who flew for France and then England and had at least five kills against Nazi pilots to his record. British RAF pilot Cyril “Bam” Bamberger fought during the Battle of Britain, the defense of Malta, and later in the Korean War. He has five confirmed kills, including downing two Ju-87 dive bombers over Malta and another over Sicily.
Changes in the way aerial combat is fought today is making it more unlikely that a pilot will become an ace by traditional standards, Drones, faster jets and better weapon technology have taken over from the days of aircraft chasing each other with guns blazing.
The ace pilots of the past, while not always getting their names and stories on headline news, are heroes who deserved to be remembered.
Avi Heiligman is a weekly contributor to The Jewish Home. He welcomes your comments and suggestions for future columns and can be reached at aviheiligman@gmail.com.
