Flying Officer Amichai Honig, DFM was an Australian airman of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died during the Second World War.
He was born in 1919, in Perth, the son of Mordechai and Hannah Honig,[1] who were both originally from Ottoman Palestine. His father composed the lyrics for the Hebrew songs 'Hora Hadera' and 'Magic on the Sea of Galilee'. He had emigrated to Australia at the behest of his father, who feared Mordechai would be sent to the Balkans with the Ottoman Army.[2]
The family returned to Palestine, now under British control, in 1931. Honig attended Kadoorie Agricultural High School and enlisted in 1940. After completing his pilot training in Egypt and Iraq, he began operations over the Western Desert.[1] While serving with the Bristol Blenheim-equipped 14 Squadron, Honig was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. His citation, which was published on 26 December 1941, read:
In December 1941, this airman was detailed to participate in an attack on concentrations of armed fighting vehicles and enemy transports. Despite adverse weather conditions, Sergeant Honig displayed the greatest determination to complete his task and finally carried out a most successful attack from a very low altitude. By his keenness and tenacity, this airman has been able to cause considerable damage and destruction to the enemy's armed fighting forces.[3]
Honig later became an instructor in Kenya, but returned to frontline service with 603 Squadron.[1] On 30 August 1943, he piloted one of four Beaufighters in an attack on shipping near Preveza. His Beaufighter (serial EL523) struck one ship, but subsequently came down into the water, killing Honig and the navigator, Sergeant Finlay.[4]
He is commemorated by the Alamein Memorial for those with no known grave; however, in 1950, a body was identified by his parents who had travelled to Greece in search of their son. They spent three weeks in the country and were about to leave when they were approached by a local who recalled witnessing the burial of a British pilot. The Honig family had the remains buried on 31 May 1950, in Hadera.[1]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Australia’s lost Jewish war hero, web.archive.org: Australian Jewish News (24 April 2008). Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ↑ Gouttmann, Rodney (2015), In Their Merit: Australian Jewry and WWI.
- ↑ The London Gazette (35392), p. 7298. 26 December 1941. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ↑ Storr, Alan (2006), RAAF Personnel Serving on Attachment in Royal Air Force Squadrons and Support Units in World War 2 and Missing with No Known Grave, p. 9, awm.gov.au. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
References[]
- Honig, Amighai, cwgc.org. Retrieved 4 July 2015.