Background
Adel Hafez was born in Cairo, Egypt, on March 1, 1919, to parents Amin (a police officer) and Shafiqa Abd el Wahed.
Adel Hafez was born in Cairo, Egypt, on March 1, 1919, to parents Amin (a police officer) and Shafiqa Abd el Wahed.
In September 1949 he became the first Egyptian aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an Egyptian aircraft. The sisters were Amina and Fatma. Adel Hafez joined the Egyptian Military Academy in 1937 and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor’s degree in Aviation Science.
He earned a training certificate on fighter planes while serving in the British Royal Air Force during World World War II, in 1945 and 1946.
He volunteered to participate in the 1948 Palestine war as part of the Royal squadron, to undertake night raids and to transport troops. After the Egyptian revolution of 1952, he was appointed commander of the transport fleet at Almaza Airport, and in 1953 he was appointed commander of the Heliopolis Air Force Base.
In 1954, he was appointed commander of Almaza Air Force Base. During the 1956 Suez crisis, Adel Hafez and some of the officers and servicemen of Almaza Air Force Base refused orders to vacate the base which was being subjected to fierce raids.
They continued fighting in spite of the orders.
He earned the Combined Advanced Studies Degree from the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow in 1957, and graduated from the Higher War College at Nasser Academy in 1965 while continuing serving his duties. In 1967, he volunteered during the Six-Day War as an ordinary serviceman, assisting in removing bombs from the runways, which allowed some air force fighters to engage with Israeli jets.