Sqn Ldr: M M Alam.....Sitara e Jurat
The day was 7th of September, 1965 and the location was Sargodha. Squadron Leader M. M. Alam along
with his wingman got airborne in his F 86E to challenge the intruding aircraft of the Indian Air Force. While he was hovering over Sargodha, Alam saw four Hunters appearing from the south-east direction. Hunter is a much faster aircraft than F 86E.
At that time, there was another formation of the PAF aircraft also in the air that was being led by Flt Lt. Bhatti. Both the PAF formations started chasing the Indian Hunters.
When the PAF pilots tried to close on to the Hunters, they started jettisoning their fuel tanks so as to acquire the required speed and fire at them. At this time, as luck would have it, the aircraft being piloted by Bhatti, couldn’t detach its fuel tank due to some technical fault and as a result he had to abandon this mission.
Now, Alam and his wingman had to face four Indian Hunters all by themselves. Seeing the offensive intentions of the PAF pilots, the Indian Hunters adopted a defensive mode and were trying to run. Alam and his wingman kept chasing them and started coming close to them.
Alam and his wingman were being provided cover by M Arif Iqbal (now retired Wing Commander) who was monitoring the whole affair in his F 104 hovering above. He was ready to chase any of the Hunters if it decided to escape from Alam.
When Alam was ready to engage the first Hunter on his extreme right out of the four, he spotted a fifth one further to the right. At the last moment, Alam decided to go after this fifth one.
Within 2 seconds, Alam had shot down the first out of the five Hunters of the Indian Air Force, an air force that was five times the Pakistan Air Force. The Hunter hit the ground and caught fire.
After killing the first one, Alam went after the next Hunter. Within a few seconds, the second Hunter was also shot down and that also caught fire.
Now, the remaining three Hunters, instead of challenging Alam, adopted a defensive posture. Alam chased the third one and fired and destroyed the third one as well!
Now, only two aircraft were left which were to be tackled by Alam. He took aim and shot both of these aircraft too. The entire operation came to its successful conclusion within a time of less than a minute!
After accomplishing this unusual feat, Alam landed as a War Hero of the Pakistan Air Force. He had written history in military aviation. He had shot down five Indian aircraft with one in a record time of less than a minute which remains a record till today! He was awarded a gallantry award of Sitara-i-Jurrat (The Star of Courage) for his exceptional flying aptitude and courage.
