1948 War of Independence

Wouldn't call it the War of Independence. Britain surrendered the mandate and the Arabs piled on, much to their regret. ;)

Grizz
 
Dunkelman served with my Uncle with the QOR. My Uncle was with Ben at Carpiquet airport in Caen. My uncle was killed July 9th 1944 and Ben was with him. My Grandmother always spoke well on Dunkelman.



Dunkelman, Benjamin


Brigadier Benjamin (Ben) Dunkelman, DSO (1913 – 1997) was a Canadian who served in The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada during the Second World War.

His father was David Dunkelman, the founder of the Canadian men’s retailers, Tip Top Tailors.

Educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto, Dunkelman enlisted with The Queen’s Own Rifles and saw action at Caen, Falaise, and the Battle of the Scheldt.

After the war, Dunkelman returned to Canada, but again decided to travel to war, this time to fight for Israel in the spring of 1948. He arrived there at a time when the Israeli army was short of officers with combat experience, and he became the commander of the 7th Brigade, the country’s best-known armoured brigade.

There is a bridge on the Lebanese border called Gesher Ben in Dunkelman’s honour. His story is told in the film Ben Dunkelman: The Reluctant Warrior.
 
amber2010 said:
At around 3:10.........what? JU-87 Stuka's attacking? C'mon now. Any proof any side used them?
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1948? I have no idea but it seems like a good fit for the era and locale.

Aircraft seen:

Supermarine Spitfire, Douglas DC3, Dehavilland Dragon Rapide, Junkers JU87,Miles Mentor(wrong, this is tricycle geared & has a v tail?). If anyone knows what type of liason aircraft that really is, I would like to know. :)

Edit: ####! Is it a Beechcraft Bonanza? :ninja:
 
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Beech B35 Bonanza first flew in 1945 and sold in 1947.

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They also show the Little David mortar briefly. This is one case in which the corresponding wikipedia article is garbage.

The Little David appeared to have been a heavy spigot mortar. People just get confused as there is no conventional tube with a yawning bore. Spigot mortars were very common and quite devastating weapons in the WWI timeframe & were still in limited use in WWII. Thirty years after their WWI debut would not change that fact much.
 
fat tony said:
They also show the Little David mortar briefly. This is one case in which the corresponding wikipedia article is garbage.

The Little David appeared to have been a heavy spigot mortar. People just get confused as there is no conventional tube with a yawning bore. Spigot mortars were very common and quite devastating weapons in the WWI timeframe & were still in limited use in WWII. Thirty years after their WWI debut would not change that fact much.
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Always thought I'd like to build one of these.:)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davidka


Grizz
 
I must correct myself, this is a 'toffee apple mortar' like the British 2" medium mortar of WWI. The following are the parts of the wikipedia article I have trouble with:

Its bombs were reported to be extremely loud, but very inaccurate and otherwise of little value beyond terrifying opponents; they proved particularly useful in scaring away both Arab soldiers and civilians.
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The Davidka's tail tube is the only part of the shell which fit inside the launch tube. This contributed to the weapon's notorious inaccuracy, as the shell lacked adequate guidance during the launch phase to acquire aerodynamic stability in the intended direction.
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It is therefore an oversized conventional mortar, where most of the bomb, and especially its center of gravity, remain outside the barrel—an aerodynamically unstable design, which only worked at all because the center of pressure was still within the barrel. The head of the bomb was essentially a large can filled with nails, rocks, or any other material which could be used for shrapnel. This meant that the blast effects of the weapon were completely random and of dubious efficacy as an anti-personnel weapon. It was of no practical value for siege combat or other light artillery purposes,[citation needed] but it made a loud bang.
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^opinion disguised as fact, imo.

And yet, this useless firecracker was used thusly:

The mortar was designed at the Mikveh Israel agricultural school in Holon in the winter of 1947–1948. It was first used in combat on March 13, 1948, in the attack on the Abu Kabir neighborhood of Jaffa. The greatest victory attributed to the Davidka was the liberation of the Citadel, a strongpoint in the center of Safed, on the night of May 9–10 1948.
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The Davidka was used in the battles for Haifa, Ein Zeitun, Safed and Biddu. According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the Davidka carried a bomb that weighed 60 lb. and caused fear and panic when used in built-up areas
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FSA thought enough of this useless noisemaker to make their own version, in some numbers, and they are obviously effective.

Syrian rebels' copy

In a May 2013 AlJazeera video, the first still photo on the title page shows a concept copy of the DAVIDKA made by the Syrian rebels, but with larger wings and an LP tank added to enhance the effect of the high explosive payload
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This wiki needs a serious cleanup! :p
 
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Years ago I had 1000 rd mixture of 8mm ball ..some AP.......most with the Star of David 1948 stamp as well as Arab marked battlefield pickup I presume? Harold
 
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mbogo3 said:
Years ago I had 1000 rd mixture of 8mm ball ..some AP.......most with the Star of David 1948 stamp as well as Arab marked battlefield pickup I presume? Harold
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Somewhere in vid land there is a film taken during a guided tour of a Stern Gang, or Haganah secret ammunition factory. What stood out to me was their chronograph. It was a mechanical type, with a large paper drum affixed to an armature. A calibrated(?) electric motor drove the armature & drum.

This is how I imagined it working:

After firing their test shot, they measured along the circumference & measured the chord the bullet made through the rotating paper drum, & knowing the rpm and physical dimensions of the drum, worked out the velocity of the projectile.

I would imagine they would do this every so often, not sure of the frequency of the test.

Pretty cool analog method of doing things. :)
 
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