30th October 2026
Lawrence Andrew “Larry” Mudgett (1917–1978) of Bangor, Maine and Miami, an American non-Jewish pilot. In 1948 he co-piloted the C-46 “Red Mogen David – Life Line to Israel No. 5” carrying plasma to Haifa, then flew Jewish Displaced Persons from Munich to Haifa via Athens. His 1978 obituary says he flew DPs to Israel in 1949–50 and was given honorary Israeli citizenship.
His grandson Lawrence A Mudgett III researched further and found that the Munich-to-Israel airlift began in August 1948 and was operated by Great Circle Airways Inc of Miami run by Eric Rath at the rest of Israel’s consult in Munich Dr. Haim Hoffmann. The planes were C-46s chartered from All- American Airways, the pilots were American and the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) paid the fares. Another Great Circle pilot was Capt Leonard R Eagles of New London, Connecticut. Lawrence discovered that the flight “Red Mogen David – Life line to Israel No 5” left Old Town, Main on August 18, 1948.
Lawrence requests for anyone with additional information on his grandfather’s activities to contact him via the contact form at the bottom of this page.
