PAF journey to excellence

[Muradk]

enlighten me?

Simple fact is that on 4th of Dec we shot 9 IAF fighter with loss of 3 sabers, And the 3rd was shot but only left wing damaged he could have landed was out of fuel ejected ,Picked up by if my memory is right Chopper flown by Wing commander Sultan 2 got who got shot were out numbered
6 to 1

 

[Muradk]

On Dec 4th 1971, in the wee hours of the day, IAF Su-7s rolled in to attack Tejgaon airfield while Tail Choppers waited outside the
Gun Defended Area (GDA) to take on the enemy during their exit. Indian Su-7s roared right overhead the airfield and the ack-ack guns stareted to fire. Suddenly one of them, a dirty brown coloured Su-7 somersaulted as if it were a wooden toy and turned into a ball of flames. The aircraft went down and the next moment a parachute occupied the space. The ack-ack gunner stood up in their nests and shouted," Nara-e-Takbeer, Allah-o Akbar.

The pilot who had bailed out was now in PAF custody, I rushed to 14 Squadron and found that the Indian pilot, whose identity by that time had become known was S/L SV Bhutani of IAF's No 221 Su-7 Squadron. Our POW was being transfered from the Guard Room to the van waiting just outside No 14 SQD. I followed him with a cameraman, The van stopped near a red brick building, A posh 2 storied building for visiting VIPs. S/L Bhutani was taken upstairs, and he relaxed in a rather large room. He was one of our first IAF prisoners of war and seeing the enemy at close quaters. Although he was our enemy yet on entering the room I saluted Bhutani and said "Sir our photographer would like to take your photo its only a formality and at once he relaxed and said."I am impressed you are very kind, very kind", and then he stopped tremblimg. Earlier a crowed had mobbed Bhutani when he landed after his ejection, PAF rescued him just in time to save him from the onslaught of the Civilian BDs. The very next day his photos were in all newspapers and decca TV.

After their first kill of Bhutani's Su-7, the ack-ack gunner shot down 3 more IAF aircrafts the same day. Out of these , 2 Hunters of IAF,s No7 SQD were shot down at Lalmunirhat, Whereas F/L Andre Rudolf Dacosta got killed , S/L SK Gupta ejected in own territory. Their last kill of the day was a Hunter, the badly hit hunter managed to proceed back home the Hunter crashed on landing, the pilot survived the crash.

 

[Wingman]

December 3 and 4 were really good days for East pakistan defence

 

[Muradk]

December 3 and 4 were really good days for East pakistan defence

In PAF its known as The Longest day. Yes we did good the odds were against us but we managed to inflict enough damage to tell the IAF number wount scare us. God Bless PAF.
I will continue with the other days missions and kills in a while.
with photos.

 

[shr_bwp]

On Dec 4th 1971, in the wee hours of the day, IAF Su-7s rolled in to attack Tejgaon airfield while Tail Choppers waited outside the
Gun Defended Area (GDA) to take on the enemy during their exit. Indian Su-7s roared right overhead the airfield and the ack-ack guns stareted to fire. Suddenly one of them, a dirty brown coloured Su-7 somersaulted as if it were a wooden toy and turned into a ball of flames. The aircraft went down and the next moment a parachute occupied the space. The ack-ack gunner stood up in their nests and shouted," Nara-e-Takbeer, Allah-o Akbar.

The pilot who had bailed out was now in PAF custody, I rushed to 14 Squadron and found that the Indian pilot, whose identity by that time had become known was S/L SV Bhutani of IAF's No 221 Su-7 Squadron. Our POW was being transfered from the Guard Room to the van waiting just outside No 14 SQD. I followed him with a cameraman, The van stopped near a red brick building, A posh 2 storied building for visiting VIPs. S/L Bhutani was taken upstairs, and he relaxed in a rather large room. He was one of our first IAF prisoners of war and seeing the enemy at close quaters. Although he was our enemy yet on entering the room I saluted Bhutani and said "Sir our photographer would like to take your photo its only a formality and at once he relaxed and said."I am impressed you are very kind, very kind", and then he stopped tremblimg. Earlier a crowed had mobbed Bhutani when he landed after his ejection, PAF rescued him just in time to save him from the onslaught of the Civilian BDs. The very next day his photos were in all newspapers and decca TV.

After their first kill of Bhutani's Su-7, the ack-ack gunner shot down 3 more IAF aircrafts the same day. Out of these , 2 Hunters of IAF,s No7 SQD were shot down at Lalmunirhat, Whereas F/L Andre Rudolf Dacosta got killed , S/L SK Gupta ejected in own territory. Their last kill of the day was a Hunter, the badly hit hunter managed to proceed back home the Hunter crashed on landing, the pilot survived the crash.

...I obviously missed something: is this part of a book that is being written or already written? Would appreciate the details. Where are these photos available?

I presume, Mr. Murad you were based in Dacca in 1971 as part of the 14 Sqn. and took part in the air action? Forgive my ignorance because as you know I am new to this forum.......

 

[shr_bwp]

Simple fact is that on 4th of Dec we shot 9 IAF fighter with loss of 3 sabers, And the 3rd was shot but only left wing damaged he could have landed was out of fuel ejected ,Picked up by if my memory is right Chopper flown by Wing commander Sultan 2 got who got shot were out numbered
6 to 1

India concedes six here:

News Article in Depth


This is just this website's artwork representation of the action on that day from IAF perspective - this NOT a real newspaper

and seven here:

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/East_Pakistan_Air_Operations,_1971

very detailed presentation.

Detailed presentation on Pervez Mehdi Qureshi and Khaleel Ahmad shootdown

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Battle_of_Boyra

The gun camera film has been posted elsewhere already

 

[Muradk]

...I obviously missed something: is this part of a book that is being written or already written? Would appreciate the details. Where are these photos available?

I presume, Mr. Murad you were based in Dacca in 1971 as part of the 14 Sqn. and took part in the air action? Forgive my ignorance because as you know I am new to this forum.......

Yes everything is documented but its hard for an ex-cadets to get it.

 

[shr_bwp]

Yes everything is documented but its hard for an ex-cadets to get it.

I am sorry I do not understand: is it available or is it in the process of being published?

Secondly, you did not reply to the question of your base of operations being Dacca in 1971....

 

[Muradk]

I am sorry I do not understand: is it available or is it in the process of being published?

Secondly, you did not reply to the question of your base of operations being Dacca in 1971....

Everything is Documented but not available for everyone. And yes I served 14SQD in decca for 3 years.
That was a weird question if you look at my post I have mentioned it a 100 times that I was in Decca.
About the documentation some is written down and some was not during war you don't write articles all the info is gathered through our Log Books or personal communications after the war. If you call my SQD Commander of 14SQD at this time and ask him what did you do for living he might yes I was taxi driver most of us didn't age well.

 

[Muradk]

When War broke out in 1965, East Pakistan had only a solitary squadron of 12 F-86F aircraft at Dhaka to meet its air defence requirements. Since offensive operations were not contemplated from the East, it was expected that No 14 Squadron alone would be sufficient to counter the limited threat envisaged. Bad Decision and analysis both times.
No 14 Squadron based at Tezgaon on the outskirts of Dhaka, had maintained a constant vigil of air defence alert right since the Rann of Kutch crisis in April, 1965. The limited effort available and long spells of watchfulness had taken their toll in fatigue and exhaustion. The prevailing unsafe conditions further aggravated the situation. The single airfield had inadequate dispersal. Absence of proper aircraft protective pens, sand bags, camouflage nets and operational readiness platforms, non-existence of airfield fencing and ground defence arrangements must have given the Station Commander Group Captain Ghulam Haider, nightmares. The 14 Squadron aircraft remained in the open while the pilots had to be accommodated in tents. Yet the Station Commander set about making preparations. A few aircraft decoys were placed at strategic locations. Hessain cloth was acquired and utilizing the natural camouflage of East Pakistan, some degree of concealment and deception was achieved.
Tezgaon airfield was defended by only one battery of ack ack. Little or no early warning of incoming raids was possible. There was a solitary and out-dated Marconi radar at Kurmitola 20 kilometers north of Dhaka. It was virtually useless as enemy aircraft could approach from any direction and not be detected at low level. There was no other reporting organization against low level raids.
It was in this scenario that No 14 Squadron took up its vigil to guard the aerial frontiers of East Pakistan. Prior to 1 September, there had been no formal indication of the impending operations. On 2 September, Air Headquarters ordered a special alert and issued instructions for dispersal and camouflage. From this date, two aircraft were flown twice daily on Combat Air Patrol (CAP) missions. On 4 September an aircraft was lost due to a bird hit. The pilot ejected safely but the squadron strength was reduced to 11 aircraft.
When War ultimately broke out on 6 September, No 14 Squadron was ordered to be ready for immediate strikes. CAP missions were flown over Dhaka all day. When PAF launched its airfield strike plan at dusk on 6 September, No 14 Squadron was asked to hold back because of the difficulty in synchronizing the strike timings owing to the one hour difference in local times between East and West Pakistan. Moreover, the Government wanted to wait and see. In case the situation remained quiet overnight in East Pakistan, it might prove possible to avoid an escalation of hostilities. This hope was short lived. IAF Canberras from Kalaikunda penetrated into East Pakistan-s airspace as deep as Dhaka during the night of 6/7 September, and dropped bombs at random without much effect in the way of damage of casualties.
IAF also launched a pre-dawn offensive on 7 September. Various targets in East Pakistan comprising the airfields at Chittagong, Jessore, Lalmunirhat, Shibgang, Thakurgaon and Kurmitola were attacked. Low clouds and the natural camouflage of East Pakistan caused the Indian aircraft to miss Tezgaon air field at Dhaka altogether. Instead they attacked Kurmitola, an airfield in the vicinity of Dhaka. Here, a barrack was hit with rockets resulting in two casualties-one Sergeant AR Choudhry, and a child.
Two Sabres were scrambled to intercept the enemy. They failed to catch up with them but Flight Lieutenant ATM Aziz did not return from the mission. Later the wreckage of his Sabre was discovered 25 kilometers north of Dhaka. It indicated no damage from enemy action but the cause of the accident was never established. No 14 Squadron was now down to 10 aircraft.

Strike at Kalaikunda

The night and pre-dawn raids of IAF allowed the PAF C-in-C to retaliate. PAF-s strike against Kalaikunda was a totally different story. After the mission order had been received at about 6 a.m. on 7 September, five pilots (Flight Lieutenants Haleem, Baseer, Tariq Habib Khan and Flying Officer Afzal Khan) led by their Squadron Commander, Squadron Leader Shabbir Hussain Syed were briefed for a low level mission involving a distance of nearly 300 kilometers from Dhaka. Because of the necessity to fly low all the way, the Sabres were required to carry their full load of external fuel in two 120 and two 200- gallon drop tanks per aircraft, leaving only their 0.5 inch machine-guns available for the attack.
Despite poor visibility the Sabre formation reached its target and as the No 14 Squadron pilots pulled up to commence their attack, it was obvious that complete surprise had been achieved. There was no anti-aircraft fire and no fewer than 14 Canberras were lined up wing-tip to wing-tip on the tarmac as though for peacetime review. The Indians had probably never imagined that such a small force could react with such speed and audacity against odds so heavily weighted against it, and that, too, at the very limits of its reach into Indian territory.
Each Sabre put in two passes over the airfield and by the time they exited, Kalaikunda was engulfed in smoke and flames. The mission landed back safely at 0744 a.m., claiming 10 Canberras destroyed and five damaged along with two Hunters damaged. A remarkable achievement by only five aircraft.
While the strike had been airborne, large numbers of IAF aircraft had been plotted over Jessore, heading towards Dhaka. Several of the six remaining Sabres on the airfield were scrambled for interception. No contact, however, was made with the IAF aircraft, which headed back across the Indian border. The degree of the air defence effort at Dhaka can be illustrated by the fact that one pilot alone-Flight Lieutenant Farooq F Khan- was scrambled five times in his Sabre in the first two hours after daybreak on 7 September. At no time, however, did he see an enemy aircraft.

A Second Attack on Kalaikunda

To complete the destruction of Kalaikunda, a second raid was ordered at 10:30 a.m. This time Flight Lieutenant Haleem led a formation of four Sabres. Visibility was still very bad when they reached the target but now the enemy was prepared. A barrage of anti-aircraft fire greeted them and nine Hunters pounced on them. The Sabres split in two pairs. One continued the attack while the others turned to engage the Hunters. Flight Lieutenant Tariq Habib, leading the second pair asked his No 2 Flying Officer Afzal Khan to jettison his fuel tanks to prepare for battle but he was shot down before he could do so. Flight Lieutenant Tariq Habib in the meantime jettisoned three of his tanks, but the fourth hung up and with this handicap he was cornered by 3 Hunters for a good ten minutes. With remarkable coolness and presence of mind, he twisted and turned at low level and though his aircraft got badly damaged, he managed to shake them off and returned safely to Dhaka. For his courage and skill in fighting his way clear of the larger and better equipped enemy force, Tariq Habib was awarded a well-deserved Sitara-e-Jurat. His Squadron Commander, Squadron Leader Shabbir Hussain Syed was also decorated with Sitara-e-Jurat for his outstanding leadership. No 14 Squadron earned the nickname of Tail Choppers, alluding to the swath of bullets they used at Kalaikunda to cut through the tails of IAF-s neatly lined up Canberras. In West Pakistan, PAF had cut off the head of the Indian Air Force, and in their two sorties on 7 September, the pilots of No 14 Squadron did an equally good job with the tail.
In its second raid, No 14 Squadron claimed 4 to 6 Canberras destroyed but lost one pilot and one Sabre. Flight Lieutenant Tariq Habib-s aircraft also could not be recovered for want of spares. The squadron strength was now reduced to 8 but not their zeal to attack the enemy. It was only bad weather and some political considerations that brought a lull in their operations.

Other Raids

On 10 September, No 14 Squadron struck IAF Base Baghdogra with 4 Sabres. On 14 September it attacked Barrackpore and Agartala. Due to enemy-s retreat to deeper bases, the squadron-s score in these strikes was limited to 5 transport aircraft, 2 fighters, 1 Canberra and a helicopter.
These were its last strike missions as it was considered prudent to conserve the depleted strength of No 14 Squadron specially since the enemy never showed its face again on the eastern front for the rest of the war.

Cumulative Effect

No 14 Squadron-s offensive on 7 September was a crucial blow to IAF morale. The fearless and timely action of this plucky squadron caused the enemy to withdraw the bulk of its aircraft to bases in the rear, thus ensuring by default, the comparative security of East Pakistan. This stirring tale of valour and stoic defiance by 14 Squadron was to have a second, even more glorious chapter- to be written by the blood and grit of its men, in another far grimmer war-in December, 1971.

 

[Muradk]

The faces and the names of the men in blue
shall be ever-changing,
With each generation that will prevail in its time,
and then pass on into history.
But the courage and the honour
of the Pakistan Air Force
shall endure forever,
for they are its very heart and soul.

 

[Muradk]

muradk sir,
when did your squadron close decca operations and how did you retreat to pakistan. My knowledge is that the area was surrounded. So how did you manage to come out of that.
Also what happened to the sabers? were they shipped to pak or given to bangaldesh.

Most people don't know this. but it is documented.
Dec 7th 1971 IAF after destroying the runway decided to kill everyone in the squadron with the help of MODC guards, They came that night mostly East Pakistani luckily their attempt failed by the timely detection by the SQD Commander who was himself on guard duty, a gun battle took place and we managed to kill most of them and rest ran away. Long story short all the crew members were evacuated on PIA Fokkers to Burma.
We burned 11 sabers 2 T-33s because of time issues they left 1 which the IAF has it as a trophy.
We kept a Beaver spray aircraft took seats out put SQD stuff in it and took off in the night. The Beaver had Dilawar, Schames-ul-Haq and Atta in it as they took off in the night they passed a Mig21 but the Beaver was so small the Mig didn't see it.

 

[shr_bwp]

Most people don't know this. but it is documented.
Dec 7th 1971 IAF after destroying the runway decided to kill everyone in the squadron with the help of MODC guards, They came that night mostly East Pakistani luckily their attempt failed by the timely detection by the SQD Commander who was himself on guard duty, a gun battle took place and we managed to kill most of them and rest ran away. Long story short all the crew members were evacuated on PIA Fokkers to Burma.
We burned 11 sabers 2 T-33s because of time issues they left 1 which the IAF has it as a trophy.
We kept a Beaver spray aircraft took seats out put SQD stuff in it and took off in the night. The Beaver had Dilawar, Schames-ul-Haq and Atta in it as they took off in the night they passed a Mig21 but the Beaver was so small the Mig didn't see it.

I am very emotional right now, so please forgive me for what I am about write.

Murad Khan Sahib - all the respect to you in the world.

WE are the taxi drivers, not you.

I disagree with your reluctance to decipher the kills out of Dacca (the whole Schames vs Shams thing - and I am glad you can converse with one of them in Edmund, Oklahoma) but FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, I as a Pakistani who was 9 years old at the time, HONOUR you, honour Dilawar, Afzaal, Shamshad, Gul, Schames, Shams, Sajjad Noor, P M Qureshi, and the rest of your squadron mates. It is useless for me to imagine the circumstances of 14 Sqdn.'s operations out of Dacca in 1971 - fighting and enemy form within and without.

I yearn to hear from the likes of you - I am TIRED of reading accounts of other peoples' air wars (WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, West Pakistan) but none of them had the circumstance 14 Sqdn had -if anyone can, please do tell me of any other squadron that operated against a large enemy, from WITHIN hostile territory - because that is what East Pakistan was at the time.


You witnessed the martyrdom of F/L Saeed Afzal Khan (what a movie-star looking guy!!!- "Sohna Mundaa" as he would be in punjaabi) and Wng Cmdr Muhammad Ahmad - I do not NEED to honour them, for only God does martyrs justice - us human beings are useless when it comes to martyrs.

I beseech to consider publishing what you have compiled - perhaps you can share the reason for your reluctance.

The fighting was a GREAT story, the flight out to Burma and repatriation to Pakistan is a GREAT story, and the after-lives are a GREAT story. It needs to be told but that is your choice.

Let me ask you: who has your squadron's gun camera films? I assume all of you had them with you - the Indians have released the Boyra shootdown film - I do not understand the PAF's reluctance to release your or West Pakistan gun camera film -not for a tit for tat - but only because they may great images....

Once again, kudos to you and your brothers-in-arms.....

Tu Shaheen hai , pervaz hai kaam tera
Tere samney aasmaan aur bhi hai

Tu Shaheen hai , basera ker ,
Paharon ki chitano per

 

[shr_bwp]

Murad Sahib:

Please tell me what you think about this story told by a East Pakistan Works Department engineer (I do not recall where, but for some reason it is in my memory).

Soon after the IAF disabled the Dacca runway on whatever date in December, the Base did NOT have resources to repair the strip, this engineer claims he showed up with enough PWD (Public Workd\s Department)material and equipment to repair the strip but was turned away by the Base Commander (who as we all know is a different person from the operational squadron commander) because he did not want to rely on outside help - he may have been motivated for a number of reasons but the engineer was told that the air force would use it's own resources to fix the strip.

How true is this claim?

 

[shr_bwp]

One more question:

Who is AVM Salimuddin?? June 2009 article from Aeroplane magazine

Great article.

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/545/747/5197/3/22/0/pakistan%20air force salimuddin

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/545/747/5197/3/23/0/

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/545/747/5197/3/24/0/

other MM Alam who else is in this photograph here:

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/545/747/5197/3/25/0/

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/545/747/5197/3/26/0/