Army from behind the lens – part 1

Aryeh Yaakobi was born in New York and planned to immigrate to Israel. WWII turned him into a military photographer, a profession which he continued in the Israel Air Force. A new series of articles displays his collections

Reuters | Published: 11.16.08, 09:44

Aryeh Yaakobi was born in New York in 1919. As a youth he joined the Hashomer Hatzair movement in New York and took part in agricultural training with his peers at the Hightstown farm ahead of joining Kibbutz Hatzor in the Land of Israel.

His plans were changed during World War II, when the United States joined the Allies in 1941.

Aryeh was drafted to the US Air Force as an aerial photographer and traveled with his unit to England, where the aircraft departed to bomb occupied Europe.

His unit then returned to the US and was moved to the West Coast before leaving for the fighting zones against the Japanese. The two atom bombs which led to Japan's surrender changed these plans.

In 1946, after the end of the war, Aryeh immigrate to Israel. He worked as a photographer for a while, until the winds of war began blowing in Israel.

In January 1948, Aryeh joined the Israel Air Force which was just being established. He founded the IAF's photo labs, commanded the unit and served in it until his retirement.

A large collection of photos was found in Aryeh's house, documenting the chapters of his life. Alongside his work as an aerial photographer Aryeh was also very talented, and his entire life was accompanied by artistic photographs as well.

The selection of photos was so extensive that we decided to dedicate six articles to this collection. The first part features several images from Aryeh's work, on which we will elaborate in the next articles.

1. Hashomer Hatzair movement's Lag B'Omer parade in a forest near New York, 1930s

2. Hashomer Hatzair training in Liberty, United States ahead of joining Kibbutz Hatzor in the Land of Israel, 1940

3. Disinfestations during training at the Hightstown farm in the US, 1940

4. Sawing wood for the winter during training at the farm

5. Resting during training at the farm

6. In a Hashomer Hatzair training near New Jersey, early 1940s

7. Aryeh joins the Air Force and is trained to be an aerial photographer. In the photo: During the course at the Pueblo, Colorado Air Force base in the US

8. After completing the professional training in the US, Aryeh and his unit were sent to England to accompany American corps whose goal was to bomb Nazi Germany

9. Aryeh documents a bombardment from an aircraft flying over Europe

10. And the results on the ground

11. Aryeh documents the first Israel Defense Forces draft, January 1948

12. Israel Air Force bombs Fallujah, 1948

13. Stearman aircraft celebrated victory, 1949

14. Prime Minister and Defense Minister David Ben-Gurion visits an IAF base, 1951

15. David Ben-Gurion in B-17 cockpit, one of the IAF's first bombing aircraft

16. The Sinai Operation, 1956. On the right: Danny Shapira

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