The blog about Flight Officer Gordon Steinberg, a fighter pilot in Number 213 Squadron of the Royal Air Force whose personal Hawker Hurricane fighter was emblazoned with a Magen David (a Star of David) on its fuselage, appeared in June of 2017. The post has attracted a bit of notice (well, going by WordPress statistics!), by far most significantly from Alan G. Walton, whose father, John (Jack) Walton served as an armourer in Number 213 Squadron, of the Western Desert Air Force, from 1941 through 1943.
I would like to share Alan’s communication with me, which sheds insight into F/O Steinberg’s service as a fighter pilot, and, the experiences and his father, Leading Aircraftsman John G. (Jack) Walton, who serviced the weaponry of F/O Steinberg’s Hurricane.
Dear Michael,
I read with great interest your web based article on F/O Gordon Steinberg RAF 213 Squadron, Western Desert Air Force.
I had known about F/O Steinberg since my childhood. As my father the late John (Jack) Walton, formerly Leading Air Craftsman J.G. Walton, RAF 213 Squadron, was an armourer in the Western Desert Airforce 1941/2 – 1943. As such he serviced the weaponry systems on F/O Steinberg’s Hurricane.
Albeit illegal my father kept a diary of his desert war experience and this has been subsequently published.
F/O Steinberg features in the book. Along with his picture with the Shield of David on his fuselage. My father often recalled F/O Steinberg’s bravery for flying with this significant symbol on his aircraft, as the senior intel officer in the squadron continually advised F/O Steinberg not to fly with it on his Hurricane. This was due to his own safety in case he was ever shot down, or landed in enemy territory and captured by the enemy.
I had the opportunity some years ago to visit F/O Steinberg’s memorial in the Commonwealth’s War Grave cemetery at El Alamein. Along with other comrades of my fathers from 213 Squadron.
I was delighted to be able to read more about F/O Steinberg from your article, as my father held F/O Steinberg in high regard amongst the pilots that he knew from his Flight of 213 (WDEF).
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Here are four of Alan’s photographs from his visit to the El Alamein War Cemetery.
Notably, this image shows Alan pointing to F/O Steinberg’s name, engraved upon Column 281 of the Air Force panels, which, “…commemorate more than 3,000 airmen of the Commonwealth who died in the campaigns in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Greece, Crete and the Aegean, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Somalilands, the Sudan, East Africa, Aden and Madagascar, who have no known grave.”
You can read more about the El Alamein War Cemetery at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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Alan has authored a monograph about his father’s wartime service, which is based on his dad’s (officially, illegally kept!) wartime diary: Desert War Diary: 213 Squadron 1941/43. The 146 page illustrated book can be directly obtained through Woodfield Publishing, Limited. The history of military aviation, even since the century-old “Great War”, has perhaps inevitably focused upon the experiences of air crew members, particularly pilots. Alan’s book provides a perspective on a central aspect of military aviation – that of ground personnel such as armorers and mechanics; cooks and carpenters – without whose dedication and efforts no air force could function, let alone achieve victory.
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A biography of Alan’s father Jack (August 15, 1919 – January 30, 2008) , can be found at the Number 213 Squadron Website.