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'The Chinese fired at my aircraft': Brave former pilots gather to remember more than half a century of heroism in the IAF
Between the insulting defeat in 1962 at the hands of the Chinese and attaining the glorious heights with the victory in 1971 leading to the creation of Bangladesh, the Indian armed forces had a mixed-bag experience in the 22-day war with Pakistan in 1965.
In the run up to the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war, dissection of the conflict has begun with the Indian Air Force (IAF) veterans gathering in New Delhi on Friday to dissect what was the first full-blown air battle between the arch-rivals.
It was the test of the IAF's combat worthiness against the Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) formidable fleet of F-86F Sabres and superior air defence capabilities.
The 1965 war was the test of the IAF's combat worthiness against the Pakistan Air Force's formidable fleet of F-86F Sabres and superior air defence capabilities
One of the first strikes saw the IAF lose more than 10 aircraft on ground.
The subsequent PAF strikes, however, on Adampur and Halwara were repulsed.
The war broke out when the IAF's modernisation plan was still taking off and the Pakistan Air Force had already stolen the march after signing the Baghdad pact and becoming a US ally.
The Americans had armed Pakistan with F- 104s, F-86 Sabres, B-57 bombers and advanced air defence radars.
The Indian Air Force was still struggling with obsolete fleet of Vampires, Toofanis and Mystere fighters.
It had added a modest second generation aircraft fleet of the Gnats and Hawker Hunters and the Canberra bombers.
Indian Air Force jawans arming a Hawker Hunter aircraft in Halwara in September 1965
Gnats getting ready to go out on another mission at the forward base in September 1965
Wreckage of a Pakistani aircraft Sabre that was shot down over Halwara
Even Hunters and Gnats faced problems of gun stoppages.
The PAF's air raid on the Kalaikunda base in the eastern sector destroying 10 Indian aircraft on the ground was left unchallenged.
The IAF was numerically much stronger in the east, but the front remained dormant.
At a seminar on the 1965 war, IAF chief Arup Raha talked about the four elements of the Pakistan's operations.
The first came in the form of probing encounter on April 8 in the Rann of Kutch in Operation Desert Hawk.
It was followed by Operation Gibraltar to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir in August.
A full-scale assault followed through Operation Grand Slam in the Chhamb sector and an armoured attack on Amritsar.
The IAF veterans said the 1965 war was a preparatory exercise for the subsequent 1971 war.
Air Marshal Manjit Singh Sekhon said the experiences of the 1965 war proved useful in 1971 in nailing down the PAF.
Despite the rivalry, the veterans also credited their PAF counterparts for their professionalism.
Flying officer V. Dutta recalled how the precise bombing by a Pakistan flight commander had destroyed the Jamnagar base.
The PAF aircraft was shot down but not before it had crippled the airfield, he recalled.
Dutta had carried the diary recovered from the Pakistani pilot to New Delhi as it contained key information.
One of the major problems for the IAF which still persists is the intelligence failure.
It was the hallmark of the 1965 operations as the Indians were completely surprised by the offensive from Pakistan.
'THE CHINESE FIRED AT MY AIRCRAFT': VETERAN SHARES TALES OF HEROISM IN THE 1962 DEBACLE THAT PRECEDED THE INDIA-PAKISTAN WAR
For Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath (retd.), who holds the rare distinction of being awarded two Maha Vir Chakras, the narrative of 1965 war begins with the 1962 debacle on the China border
For Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath (retd.), who holds the rare distinction of being awarded two Maha Vir Chakras, the narrative of 1965 war begins with the 1962 debacle on the China border
For Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath (retd.), who holds the rare distinction of being awarded two Maha Vir Chakras, the narrative of 1965 war begins with the 1962 debacle on the China border. Nath said that the main problem during those days was the reluctance to fully exploit the potential of the air power.
Speaking to Mail Today, Nath, who was in New Delhi to attend a seminar on the 1965 war, recalled how he had photographed Chinese build up in Aksai Chin in his Canberra.
The photographs were shown to the PM and the then defence minister but New Delhi developed cold feet as it feared backlash from China.
"I was falling slow at almost stall speed. The Chinese could see me clearly and even fired at my aircraft," he said adding that if they really had air power they could have scrambled fighters to intercept his craft. But nothing happened. "They did not even have anti-aircraft gun to take down," he said.
"I was fired upon only by the small arms. It is impossible to down an aircraft like that," he said. Nath had closed similar reconnaissance sorties in the North East Frontier Agency.
His effort of flying in hazardous conditions earned him Maha Vir Chakra for 1962 operations.
He repeated the feat in 1965 and received bar to Maha Vir Chakra. He holds unique distinction of flying the aircraft for 11 years.
Nath carried out several reconnaissance missions deep inside Pakistan picking up targets for the IAF fighter jets.
The Canberras would fly high to escape radar detection. Mail Today/New Delhi
Source:- 'The Chinese fired at my aircraft': Brave veteran pilots gather in Delhi to remember 50 years of heroism in the Indian Air Force | Mail Online
