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Our Heroes need their identity back

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27th February 2019 Operation Commander
Air Marshal Haseeb Paracha



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Air Commodore Kaiser Tufail (R) as a cadet trainee on Harvard, Risalpur 1974
 
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Sqn Ldr Arif Manzoor, SJ, TBt.
(15th Oct 1940-12th June 1974).
PAF’s Shaheen of International Fame.

Arif Manzoor, Pak No 4226, S/O Manzoor Ahmad Khan Born in Banaras, India and commissioned in PAF on 15th Sep 1961 in 32 GD (P).

Arif Manzoor was born in a respected family of Banaras, India where his father Manzoor Ahmad Khan was a District and Session judge of high repute. At the time of creation of Pakistan, his family migrated to Karachi, Pakistan. Tall, lean and handsome Arif joined Lawrence College Murree and attained his Senior Cambridge Certificate in 1958. Arif Manzoor was a gifted athlete, winning several medals for high jumps, pole vault, hockey and cross country races. With a dream of become a fighter pilot, Arif joined PAF Academy Risalpur in 1959.

He was one of the top cadets of his course and was selected for Advances Flying Training Course at USA. On return he joined the elite No 17 Sqn and flew Sabres for a couple of years. With the induction of F-104 Star Fighter in PAF, Arif was among the pioneering few to join the elite club of Mach Busters. He served PAF’s one of the oldest No 9 Sqn for four long years at a stretch and fought the 1965 war from the same unit.

1965 War:

Flt Lt Arif Manzoor was serving the elite No 9 Sqn when the war broke out in 1965. He flew numerous CAP missions on supersonic Star Fighter and close support missions in Wagah, Chamb and Philora Sector.

Arrival of Mirages:

Flt Lt Arif Manzoor was the member of this proud group which was tasked to ferry the first batch of Mirage-III strike interceptors from France. The first batch of six aircraft under the leadership of MM Alam arrived on 8th March 1968; Arif Manzoor flew as No 5 in the formation.

1971 War:

Arif Manzoor was deployed with the lone No 5 Mirage Sqn of PAF. The Bulk of the Sqn was deployed at its parent Base, Sargodha. A detachment of six aircraft, led by Sqn Ldr Farooq F Khan, was moved to the deep located satellite Base of Mianwali for providing night interceptions. Arif Manzoor remained at Sargodha and participated in variety of strike and reconnaissance mission during the War. Sqn Ldr Arif Manzoor being the senior member of the Sqn led number of strike mission against targets like Pathankot and Avantipura. He flew consecutive strike missions in the opening round of the War of 3, 4 and 5 of Dec 1971. He continued with the airfield strikes, flying for five more days.

Syrian War 1973:

Sqn Ldr Arif Manzoor went to Syria in the last week of Oct 1973 in the capacity of the Head of the Air Force Group and he continued to shine in Syria as well. He was posted to No 67 Sqn, ‘Alpha’ Detachment (all PAF) when the Arab-Israel War broke out in Dec 1973. He was the leader of the formation which destroyed an Israeli Air Craft on 19 Dec 1973 . It was a rare feat, which shot him to international fame. Government of Syria in recognition of his services to their country awarded him with the highest gallantry award.

The Great Warrior, the veteran of two Wars attained shahadat on 12th June 1974, while training a young Syrian Fighter pilot. He was given the heroes farewell at his service funeral.



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Polish World War II fighter pilot became a national hero in Pakistan, Pakistan’s Polish Patriot Air Commodore Władysław Turowicz

Air Commodore Wladyslaw Turowicz (Second from right), Mrs Zofia Turowicz (Third from left) with other officers and cadets (1954, Chaklala)


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Air Commodore Władysław Józef Marian Turowicz (23 April 1908 – 8 January 1980), usually referred to as W. J. M. Turowicz, was a Polish-Pakistani aviator, military scientist and aeronautical engineer.

Turowicz was the administrator of Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) from 1967 to 1970. He was one of forty five Polish officers and airmen who joined RPAF on contract in the early fifties. After completion of his initial contract, Turowicz opted to stay on in Pakistan and continued to serve in PAF and later, SUPARCO.

Turowicz made significant contributions to Pakistan's missile/rocket program as a chief aeronautical engineer. In Pakistan, he remains highly respected as a scientist and noted aeronautical engineer.

Turowicz was born to an aristocratic family in the village of Wadziejewsko in Siberia (Russia) in 1908, where he graduated from high school. The Polish name of the village may suggest it was inhabited by Poles who were exiled or imprisoned by the Tsar, as it was unusual for Polish aristocrats to live in Siberia for non-political reasons. From an early age on, Turowicz was fascinated by aviation technology and had collected different models of aircraft. Due to this passion, he moved to Warsaw where he attended the most prestigious engineering institute, the Warsaw University of Technology(WTU) in 1930, majoring in aeronautical engineering; upon graduation, he received his PhD with honours in 1936. While at Warsaw University of Technology, Turowicz joined and became a pioneering member of a Aeroklub Polski (better known as Polish Aero Club) where he had previliged to study and work with noted Polish engineers to the field of aerospace engineering.

A distinguished member of Polski Club, he had an opportunity to study and work with Ryszard Bartel, Jerzy Drzewiecki, Henry Millicer, to name a few. It was here at the Aero Club that Turowicz met his future wife, Zofia Turowicz[4] with whom he would have 4 children. In addition, he completed an MSc in astrodynamics in 1937 from the same institution.[3] He joined the Polish Air Force as an aeronautical engineer and fighter pilot, but later emigrated to United Kingdom where he joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 as a reservist Polish pilot.

Though initially joining the Polish Air Force, Turowicz enlisted as a Royal Air Force reservist during World War II. He was immediately sent to Great Britain where he flew the British-built Handley Page Halifax during the war. Later, he was transferred into the Royal Air Force Aeronautics division where he served as Technical Inspector, and was put in charge of aircraft electrical and system information, organising, testing, and evaluating aircraft. After World War II, Turowicz did not return to Communist Poland due to the official negative attitude towards those who had served with the Allied Forces during the war.

As the political situation in Poland got worse, many Polish Air Force officers began to move to United States, Australia, Norway and Canada. Turowicz and 45 of his colleagues opted to move to Pakistan in 1948 on a three-year contract.

Turowicz set up technical institutes in Karachi. He taught and revitalised Pakistan Air Force Academy, where he worked as a chief scientist. He initially led the technical training in the airbase and a part of the Polish specialists in the technical section in Karachi.

In 1952, Turowicz was promoted to the rank of wing commander. In 1959, Turowicz was promoted in the rank of group captain. In 1960, he became an air commodore and an assistant chief of air staff, in charge of PAF's Maintenance Branch.

In 1966, the Government of Pakistan transferred him to SUPARCO, Pakistan's national space agency, where he worked there as a chief scientist and an aeronautical engineer. He, along with noted Pakistani theoretical physicist, Dr. Abdus Salam, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, met with President Khan where he successfully convinced him of the importance of a space program for a developing country like Pakistan after Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik.

He along with Dr. Salam travelled through to the United States to reach a space-co-operation agreement. He successfully convinced the United States Government to invest and train Pakistan's scientists in the field of rocket technology.

Turowicz was appointed head of SUPARCO in 1967 by the Government of Pakistan. As the administrator, he revitalised and initiated the space program as quickly as possible. As a noted aeronautical engineer, Air. Cdre. Władysław Turowicz upgraded Sonmiani Satellite Launch Centre in which he was responsible for installing Flight-Test Control Command, Launch Pad Control System and System Engineering Division.
Turowicz started a project for the fabrication and launch of a Pakistani satellite. As a result, Pakistan mastered the field of rocket technology by the end of the 1970s. He also set up the educational engineering institute at the SUPARCO.

Zofia, Turowicz's wife, and his two daughters joined him in Karachi in 1949, where a third daughter was born. Between 1950 and 1954, Zofia taught gliding to the Shaheen Air Cadets in Karachi and Rawalpindi. Two of his daughters married Pakistanis while the third daughter married a Bangladeshi. His widow, Zofia Turowicz, who died in 2012, was awarded the Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz, and taught applied mathematics and particle physics at the Karachi University. Turowicz's son is currently working at the SUPARCO as an aerospace engineer and chief scientist.[5]Turowicz's grandson has completed a PHD in quantum physics from Brown University and is currently running the AI statistical modelling division at JP Morgan.

Air. Cdre. Turowicz was involved in a car accident on 8 January 1980 along with his driver. He was quickly taken to the military hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was buried in the Christian Cemetery in Karachi with full military honours. Both Polish, including the Consul-General of Poland in Karachi Mr. Kazimierz Maurer, and Pakistani military and civilian personnel attended his funeral in Karachi. The Government of Pakistan issued a condolence letter to his family, stating that Turowicz was not only an outstanding Air Force officer, but also a scientist, and had served in the country's space program.

Awards

Sitara-e-Pakistan (1965)
Tamgha-i-Pakistan (1967)
Sitara-i-Khidmat (1967)
Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam (1971)
Sitara-e-Imtiaz, (Mil) (1972)
Abdus Salam Award in Aeronautical Engineering (1978)
ICTP Award in Space Physics (1979)
 
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Air Chief Marshal retired Farooq Feroze Khan at the start of his career
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Air Cdre (Retd) Abdus Sattar Alvi S/O Maj (Retd) Muhammad Sharif Alvi. Gallantry Awards:SJ,


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Born in a family of military tradition, Sattar was a young inquisitive, boy since early days. His father an officer, of Royal Indian Army, was a War veteran of World War Second, who fought against Nazis at Iraq. His towering personality was a continuous source of inspiration for young Sattar. Amidst massive killing and bloodshed, the family migrated to Pakistan on the eve of 14 August 1947 and got settled in a small village near Gujranwala and later in Thal.

Qualifying the ISSB with ease promising Sattar joined 40th GD (P) course at PAF Academy Risalpur in 1963. At the College of Flying Training, his was the second lucky course that received basic flying training on the newly inducted T-37 aircraft. After spending two exciting year at Academy, he earned his wings in 1965. As Plt off Sattar landed in No 2 Sqn, Mauripur for fighter conversion, Indo-Pak War broke out in Sep 1965.

As the Ramadan War broke out between arch rivals Syria and Israel in Dec 1973, post-haste request for volunteers found an eager band of sixteen PAF fighter pilots on their way to the Middle East. After a grueling Peshawar-Karachi-Baghdad-H3 flight on a PAF Fokker and C-130, they were whisked off to Damascus by road in Syrian cars at night. Upon arrival, half the batch was told to stay back in Syria while the rest were earmarked for Egypt. Flt Lt Sattar Alvi was among the once who stayed back at Syria. Now they were back in familiar surroundings as well as familiar aircraft, the venerable MiG-21.

They were posted to No 67 Sqn, ‘Alpha’ Detachment (all PAF). Hasty checkouts were immediately followed by serious business of Air Defense Alert scrambles and Combat Air Patrols from the Air Base at Dumayr. Syria had not agreed to a ceasefire, since Israeli Air Force missions included interdiction under top cover, well supported by intense radio and radar jamming as the PAF pilots discovered.

Flt Lt Abdus Sattar was flying as a NO 8 in the formation of eight aircraft on an offensive CAP mission against Israeli Air Force on the afternoon of 19 Apr 1974. He sighted a pair of Mirages zooming up fast from behind the attack formation. Simultaneously the enemy jammed the radio so he could not warn the rest of information, which continued ahead.

He decided to single-handedly engage the enemy, thus preventing the attack on the main formation. In spite the advantage of surprise, position, speed and number held by enemy, he in a cool and calculating manner fought on. He capitalized on the first mistake by the enemy and employing his superior skills and shot one down.

The other findings the situation getting dangerous, abandoned his attack and excited to safer areas. In spite of heavy odds Flt Lt Sattar accomplished a rare feat. For his personal skill and gallantry, in the face of overwhelming odds and in the best tradition of the PAF, Flt Sattar was awarded with SJ.
 
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53rd Flying Instructors' Course at PAF Academy Risalpur - 1976


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Air Marshal Malik Nur Khan (22 February 1924 to 15 December 2011). He was not only the best person in his field but also a real man of action and a brave hero. Following is an incident of his bravery during his tenure in the civilian outfit of PIA.

January 20th 1978

Time 10:00 HRS

Flight No. F-27, PK-543 took off from Sukkur air port towards Karachi. Flight was on its routine when a middle aged man rose up from the middle seats, raising his hands and showing a 0.32 bore revolver shouted, “This flight has been hijacked, if any one of you even tried to move, I shall blow his head”. All the passengers and cabin crew were stunned at the moment.

Hijacker then opened the cockpit door and entered the cockpit. “Don’t move, the hijacker shouted at the pilots.”

The flight In-charge Captain Khaldoon Ghani understood the situation with in seconds that the plane has been hijacked.

”Don’t worry, we are not going to do anything”, replied the Captain.

”Land the plane on the Karachi Air Port and don’t even think to be clever”, The Hijacker warned to cockpit crew.

Meanwhile the Security Assistant attempted to overpower the Hijacker, but missed. Hijacker fired a shot, which nearly missed the eye of Captain and breached the sealing of plane. Now the situation was really tough.

Pilot established contact with ATC and told that the Flight No. PK-543 has been hijacked. The Situation was really tense among the concerned authorities.

”What’s your demand?” asked the ATC.

”My name is Nazeer Ahmed, I want Ten Million Pakistani Rupees, One Million US Dollar and a safe access to India, where I can be treated, I am a cancer Patient. Hijacker demanded.

”This is me, M.D PIA talking to you, release the passengers and surrender, I offer you a safe exit from here”, a voice appeared on the cockpit speaker.

”I am never going to do that”, the Hijacker replied. “Fulfill my demands or I am going to kill a hostage after every one hour”.

The negotiation longed for hours. The discussion continued for hours. On the demand of the Hijacker, M.D had to come to the cockpit to negotiate with the Hijacker. M.D told Hijacker that his demands can not be furnished as the banks were closed because of Friday and it was also the night time. But the helicopter can be arranged for him.

“If it is necessary for you, take me as hostage and release the passengers”, M.D said and tried to step towards cabin door.

Stop and come back immediately, Hijacker shouted at the M.D.

Ok I am coming back, M.D said to the Hijacker. When he turned back, suddenly he grabbed the armed hand of Hijacker and tried to catch the pistol.

Suddenly, there was a bang in the small cockpit and everything seemed to be shaking. M.D had been shot and blood was oozing profusely from his chest but the Hijacker was lying on the floor and M.D had still had his one hand on the revolver and the other on the throat of Hijacker. The Pilot and the flight engineer ran towards them and controlled the situation.

Hijacker was immediately bonded and an ambulance was called for M.D. When ambulance reached the spot, the medics tried to put him on the stretcher, but he refused, stepped down the ladder on foot and went to ambulance. Later it was found that the 0.32 shot had just passed an inch from his spine. He kept fighting his wound and instead of taking rest of months, the M.D defeated his injury just in a few weeks.

Today, the world knows this Brave M.D as Air Marshal Noor Khan (A.K.A General Khan)

Hilal-e-Jurrat
Hilal-e-Shujaat
Hilal-e-Quaid e Azam
Sitara-e-Pakistan



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Sir G definitely he was one of the men of finest hours of Pakistan; people usually argue about appointment of armed forces persons in admin role in civil organisations.
PAF is another story, wherever he appointed he proved his mettle - Squash, Hockey, PIA all took to height under his administration.
May ALLAH SWT bless his soul with 'Rahma'.
It is a time that ALLAH SWT bless Pakistan with more such true selfless patriotic souls - Ameen
 
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Flight Lieutenant Farooq Umar, a Starfighter pilot from the "Griffins", standing by for a scramble at Sargodha's ADA Hut, in '65. a 'Top Gun', he graduated from Risalpur; bagging the Sword of Honour, Best Pilot Trophy, and Academics Trophy. in '71, he flew the Mirage III



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