Bir Gifgafa Airfield
| Bir Gifgafa | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,056 ft / 322 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 30°24′26″N 33°9′15″E / 30.40722°N 33.15417°ECoordinates: 30°24′26″N 33°9′15″E / 30.40722°N 33.15417°E | ||||||||||
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Bir Gifgafa (also Bir-Jifjafah, Meliz or Rephidim) is an airfield in the Sinai, 90 km east of the Suez Canal. During the 1960s and 1970s it played a significant role in Arab-Israeli wars, at different times serving both Egypt and Israel.
Bir Gifgafa was constructed by the Egyptian Air Force in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis of 1956. Assigned base number 244, it was responsible for providing air cover and close support for Egyptian Army units in the Sinai.
On May 22, 1967, as Israel and its Arab neighbours were drawing closer to war, president Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt visited Bir Gifgafa, meeting with Egyptian Air Force (EAF) pilots and commanders. In a much publicized press conference Nasser announced his intention to close the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and declared that 'We are now on the verge of a confrontation with Israel', adding that 'If the Jews threaten us war? I say to them "Welcome, we are ready for war!"'
As the most important Egyptian air base in the Sinai, housing units that could pose a major threat to Israeli aerial supremacy, Bir Gifgafa figured prominently in the Israeli Air Force's planning for a pre-emptive strike. On the eve of the war the air base contained elements of the EAF's 15th fighter regiment, including part of the 45th fighter squadron flying MiG-21F-13s or MiG-21PFs. A number of transports and Mil Mi-6 helicopters were stationed there as well. No less than six IAF formations were therefore assigned to attack the base: four Dassault Ouragan formations from 113 Squadron at Hatzor and two 109 Squadron Dassault Mystere formations from Ramat David.
When Israel finally launched Operation Focus on June 5, Bir Gifgafa was the target of the very first formation to take off from Hatzor at 07:14. The four Ouragans, led by Captain Ran Alon, struck the field at 07:45, hitting the runway and destroying several aircraft, including one MiG-21 which had just taken off. The MiG was downed by Captain David Yariv, who was himself subsequently hit by anti-aircraft fire and killed. The fierce anti-aircraft fire took its toll on the other aircraft as well, with a second Ouragan forced to perform a belly landing upon returning to Ramat David, while Captain Mordechai Lavon became a prisoner of war after ejecting his stricken aircraft over the Mediterranean and swimming ashore at Gaza. By 09:05, when the first wave of operation Focus was concluded, Bir Gifgafa had been hit by three more 113 Squadron formations and by four 109 Squadron Dassault Mysteres.
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Wikipedia