Operation Magic Carpet - Definition and Overview

Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II effort by the United States Navy to bring troops home from Europe and the Pacific. Hundreds of Navy ships were involved; everything from aircraft carriers and battleships down to tenders and auxiliaries were outfitted with thousands of extra bunks, and made multiple round trips during 1945 and 1946.

Operation Magic Carpet

Most of Yemenite Jews had never seen an airplane before, but they believed in the Biblical prophecy: according to the Book of Isaiah (40:31), God promised to return the children of Israel to Zion "with wings".

Just a few years later, between June 1949 and September 1950, another Operation Magic Carpet brought 45,000 Jews from Yemen to the new state of Israel. British and American transport planes made some 380 flights from Aden, in a secret operation that was not made public until several months after it was over.

Operation Magic Carpet is the name of a television play by British playwright Brian Clark.

See also

• magic carpet