Alon-Kalibanski, Mordechai (Modi)

Mordechai (Modi), son of Naomi and Jacob Ushpiz Alon (Klibanski), was born on 17.1.1921 in Safed. As a young man, Mordechai joined the Haganah and was active in the years 1936-1939. At the end of 1940 he accepted the call of the Jewish Agency and joined the British army and was transferred to Egypt, where he was trained in the radio-telegraph profession and reached the highest level in this profession.
He tried to be admitted to the British School of Flight in Rhodesia and, after severe physical and spiritual tests was accepted to the school, where he reached the rank of Sergeant Aviation. He flew on fighter planes and was sent to the battlefield in Italy. Mordechai was the only Jew in the squadron emphasized his Jewishness at every opportunity. He was one of the first pilots in the Air Service and for a period of time served as commander of Squadron A and was active in reconnaissance flights and maintaining contact with isolated settlements.
With the formation of the first combat squadron, the 101st Squadron, on May 29, 1948, Mordechai was appointed commander, and on the same day participated in the attack on the Egyptian column near Ashdod. In September 1948 he took part in the “Velveta 1” operation, the flight of Spitfires from Czechoslovakia to Israel. He was forced to land in Rhodes, where he was arrested by the Greeks. Mordechai was released a few days later and came to take part in aerial activities in the “Yoav” operation to break into the Negev. He was called the champion of pilots in Israel. Quiet and smiling, he spoke little. On the 13th of Tishrei, 5709 (16.10.1948), when Mordechai returned from an attack in Ashdod, his plane was apparently hit and crashed when landing. Mordechai Alon was laid to rest in the Nahalat Yitzhak Military Cemetery. He left behind a wife, his daughter was born a few months after his fall. Am Oved published a book in his memory, “Man of Wings in Israel”