Desert Hawks: An American Volunteer Fighter Pilot's Story of Israel's War of Independence, 1948

I happened across this book in a used bookstore (what hidden treasures are just waiting to be found on the shelves of used bookstores), and was I ever glad I did. This book is very well written, on a topic I had not much background in. Desert Hawks refers to the tempermental Avia S-199s (Czech Messerschmitt BF-109s) flown by the volunteer Israeli pilots against their Arab neighbors. Of quite a collection of aviation warfare books (mainly WWII), this ranks as one of my favorites.

Leo Nomis was one of the many non-Jewish volunteer pilots that flocked to Israel to fight off the combined might of five Arab nations in the air during the 1948 War for Israeli Independence. Many of those pilots were W.W.II aces and came from many different countries and parts of the world. These pilots and other non-Israeli volunteers are now known as Mahalniks and are highly honored in Israel. This is the courageous story of one such Mahalnik.Brian Cull, a well-known military aviation author, coauthored "The Desert Hawks" using Leo Nomis' journal as well as many oral interviews and consultation with Mr. Nomis. With most of the material being from Mr. Nomis' journal, the book reads like a diary from the times, a sort of snapshot in time of the craziness and desperation that went on in 1948 Israel. The majority of the text flows very well, but for the less patient, some of the details may be a bit much. I enjoyed the details and, even more so, because this book is a primary research source. Many of the other histories of the 1948 Israeli Air Force have many less details (and in some cases much less accuracy) than "The Desert Hawks." In particular this book highly benefits from Brian Cull's editing who has filled in many of the blanks that were unknown at the time Mr. Nomis wrote his journal (such as the identity of the Italian-built fighter planes that Egypt used in the war's later stages). Perhaps, one of my greatest delights came from the photo insert, which has all of the photos fully labeled (many of which have appeared in other histories of the Israel Air Force). I have seen some of the photos in many other books about the Israel Air Force, but never with the men named in the photos. The book is also adorned with several useful maps, quite a few charts researching the early IDF/AF aircraft, and some other interesting appendices. The book's full title is: "The Desert Hawks - An American Volunteer Fighter Pilot's Story of Israel's War of Independence, 1948." The title of the book comes from the name that Arab ground forces had for the early Messerschmitt 109G (called the Avia S199 by the Czechs) fighters that Israel first operated. Out of fear and awe, they called these early fighters "The Desert Hawks." I highly recommend this wonderful primary resource about the history of the 1948 Israel Air Force.I also recommend several of Brian Cull's other titles including "Spitfires Over Israel" and "Wings Over Suez."Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan