The REAF’s large fleet of Douglas C-47 Dakotas always saw intensive service, but there is no evidence that this example was ever equipped with bomb-racks. Nevertheless, the serial number 808 was sighted at Almaza and al-Arish in mid-1948, and saw intensive service during the Palestine War, especially during UN-negotiated truces. It had an overall bare metal finish and a black anti-dazzle panel in front of the cockpit, normal REAF national markings and the serial number on the rear fuselage. Other REAF Dakotas – especially bombers – might have been overpainted in light brown overall and had no black panels. The number 808 also appears in Pilot Officer Mustafa Wagdi Fadil’s logbook, who flew in it – probably as passenger – on 30 September 1948. (Artwork by Luca Canossa)