I saw this title on one of the mailings I get from Casemate Publishing and was immediately intrigued. The book covers two subjects that I find fascinating; MiGs and their operation by the Arab nations of North Africa and the Near East. This particular volume covers the June 1967 war between what was then the United Arab Republic and Israel as well as a bit beyond that event.

The 1967 war was one that was started by Israel as a preemptive strike against Egypt, Jordan and Syria as Israeli intelligence had indicated that the UAR was getting ready to do the same. The result was that the air arms of both Jordan and Egypt were virtually eliminated from the rest of the war. This was accomplished on the first day as it caught the UAR completely by surprise. Though all the signs were there that Israel was getting ready to attack, it is an often told story of the recipients of the attack not reading what was going on properly or ignoring what was provided to them. Add to it inept leadership throughout the chain of command and a 'deer in the headlights' response to what was going on, and you have the perfect recipe for a disaster.

The book is divided into sections that cover the activities of the four nations directly involved in the fighting; Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. This is a book about the response and missions of the air arms of these nations so the ground battles are only included as part of the overall picture. As is often the case, the victors write history and like many histories where one only looks at one side of things, a somewhat skewed picture is provided.

There is no doubt that Israel dealt a crippling blow to both the air forces of Egypt and Jordan, however, they were not wiped out entirely and were able to perform some offensive operations during the conflict. In Egypt specifically, there are tales of bravery and the Herculean struggles of ground crews to repair damaged aircraft  so they could be returned to service.

While Jordan's air force, small though it was, sustained very heavy losses, its pilots went on to fly for Iraq and were able to be relatively successful in their efforts. Iraq, thanks to having little in range of Israeli air power, was able to play a rather major role in events and did not suffer the sort of losses that Egypt and Jordan experienced. Syria was a bit 'late' into the war as they did not fully embrace the UAR, but once involved was also a lot more successful than most would believe. Not surprisingly, when the IDF/AF reported losses to aircraft, they generally accounted to those losses as 'being hit by ground fire'. This was as much an attempt to negate the skills of UAR pilots as to let the home front think that Arab countries had poor pilots. Not surprisingly, when the authors compared Israeli claims lists against Arab records of planes lost there was a rather large discrepancy. Seems like pilots world over are prone to overclaiming.

Eventually there was a ceasefire brokered by the UN, though on the day of the ceasefire, the IDF went on the offensive in the Golan Heights and took over large areas of territory, an invasion that was barely contested by Syria as they thought they would get the land back. The result of Israel's offensive operations was taking over the entire Sinai Peninsula, which they eventually returned to Egypt, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

The authors have done a superlative job of researching this volume. They have talked to those who fought in the war, have poured over available documents in all the nations involved, and were able to piece together a very interesting picture of what occurred nearly fifty years ago. Any and all conclusions drawn are based on the facts they were able to obtain and where the information is not clear, it is presented as such. It was very much a debacle for Israel's neighbors and we are given a look at what was and was not done during those days. It helped to form the opinion of Arab nations for decades and also encouraged the nations involved to be better prepared. Training and equipment was upgraded to the extent that the next conflict was not so one-sided. The volume also busts a few myths and enlightens. It is not a quick read, but it is one that I highly recommend to those interested in the topic and with open minds. There are a lot of great photos, charts and maps included as well as some color profiles that will be very useful to modelers and enthusiasts alike.

January 2015

Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishing, where you can order your copy at this link.

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