BOOK REVIEW: BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL, BY REGINALD TURNILL
Published in 1977 by the Macliff Publishing Company in London,
this book by R. Turnill is introduced to the reader as the "history of
MEA under siege". It gives an in depth account of Beirut International
Airport (BEY)'s closure in June 1976 following its shelling, and the destruction
of MEA's B720, OD-AGE "Golf Echo". The cover shows Beirut's sky as militias
celebrated the New Year in 1976.
The author, Reginald Turnill, is an internationally known writer
in the field of aviation. He was the BBC air and defense correspondent
between 1958 and 1976. More on the author :
Battle for Survival stands as probably the most vibrant
testimony of MEA's achievements during war in Lebanon.
The 55 pages book, roughly the size of a pamphlet, is
intense in many ways.
The author describes through these pages MEA's handling
of BEY's closure in June 1976, which lasted 4 months.
While staying neutral and vague concerning the precise
military and political events which triggered the closure, the author starts
his account with the image of BEY under shelling, and details the painful
loss of OD-AGE and of 3 members of its heroic crew on June 27th, 1976.
A short reminder on the history of MEA, and of the general
context surrounding the airline follows.
Then the author looks with details at the events which
followed the beginning of war in Lebanon in 1975, and the financial policy
MEA's management adopted then in order to anticipate the difficult period
ahead. The reader is also confronted with the events that led to BEY's
inexorable shift from a place which neutrality in the conflict was respected
by the fighters to the status of a privileged target for reprisals among
fighting militias, with the terrible consequences that followed on both,
the airport and MEA.
The author gives an interesting insight into what working
for MEA then was, especially in the "Cedarjet Hotel" chapter, when as much
as 1585 employees actually lived in the airline's headquarters, with the
closure of roads among the different regions in Lebanon. The pictures illustrating
this section are quite expressive.
An MEA executive doing his bed, in his office
MEA's hostesses try on their new uniforms at the "Cedarjet Hotel".
in the improvized dress making shop of the (Photos: MEA)airline's headquarters during BEY's closure.
Battle for Survival afterwards details two sucessive short
closures affecting BEY in January and at the beginning of June 1976, and
the adjustments MEA had to make in order to handle a situation that was
clearly getting worse everyday. Then came the events that led to the 144
days closure after the loss of OD-AGE, the dramatic event with which the
author started the book.
A detailed account is made of how a part of MEA's operating
team moved to Paris-Orly where a charter operation base was implemented
with the help of Air France. The book also gives an invaluable testimony
on how MEA's base in Beirut was safeguarded from looters during BEY's closure,
and how a communications center was established by the airline to stay
in touch with teams abroad, a technical achievement by MEA in very difficult
circumstances.
MEA's "do it yourself"communications center in Beirut. Photo:
MEA
Apart doing charter work for other carriers, MEA tried
all through this period, without success to re-establish its scheduled
operations albeit from another base, as governements proved unsensitive
to the airline's plight. BEY eventually reopened on November 19th 1976,
and the author wrote emotional lines on the arrival of MEA's first Cedarjet
to the homebase, a Boeing 720B coming from Rome.
Battle for Survival reflects MEA's successful adjustment
to an incredible challenge: the closure of its homebase during 4 months.
During this period, its staff and management were the heroes of probably
the most beautiful story of civil aviation in the Middle East.
The narrative talents of the author, and the noteworthy
effort he made for a precise and objective documentation of the topics
covered, make this book a little masterpiece.
Battle for Survival was sent to me by George Gayuski
in one of his last letters. I write these pages in his memory.
THE CEDARJET PAGES
