The Indian Air Force

Early Years: WW I

Compared to the modern Indian Army and the Indian Navy whose legacies stretch back in history to Shivaji's hardy Maratha warriors, the Indian Air Force seemed to be a young upstart considering that military aviation came of age only in the second decade of the twentieth century. As WW I gathered momentum and the aerial war over Europe took its toll on Allied pilots, five Indians applied for a commission into the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) between November 1916 and April 1917. Of these, Lieutenants Srikrishna Welinkar, Eroll Chunder Sen, Indra Lal Roy and Hardit Singh Malik saw action as front-line combat pilots on the western front. Welinkar and Indra Lal Roy perished in aerial combat, while Sen was shot down behind enemy lines and captured by the Germans – he was repatriated after the war. Hardit Malik served till the end of the war before voluntarily opting for a discharge after the armistice to pursue a civilian career.2Somnath Sapru, Armed Pegasus: The Early Years (New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2011), p. 66–69. Malik went on to join the Indian Civil Service in 1919–20, and after a distinguished career as a civil servant, he was appointed as India's first high commissioner to Canada after Independence. This was followed by a stint as India's ambassador to France, where he successfully negotiated the transfer of the French colony of Pondicherry (now Puducherry) to India.

The image of the WW I combat pilot was often romanticized and unrealistic. The average life expectancy of a pilot was just eleven days as pilot safety was not the first concern and pilots were not allowed to carry parachutes.3http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/the-perils-of-being-a-first-world-war-flying-ace/7227.html (accessed 18 March, 2013). Excerpts from listings in the National Archives in the UK about the first Indian ace fighter pilot, Lieutenant Indra Lal Roy, Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), are highlighted below:

Roy's life in combat was above the average – just over a month! Roy was not just a fighter ace; he loved sketching and has left behind a small collection of exquisite drawings of British and German fighters of his era, including some that depicted dogfights. The collection is placed at the entrance to the main gallery of the Air Force Museum at Palam, New Delhi.

Tribal Control

Another interesting feature of the early years of air power in India saw it being first employed during 1916–19 against belligerent tribal armies of the Emir of Afghanistan, who had called for a 'jihad' against 'British infidels' and started harassing British garrisons located on the border in the North-West Frontier Province. Slow-moving and obsolete aircraft like BE2C executed diverse roles that are very similar to the roles that are being performed today in Af-Pak by US-led coalition and Pakistani air power. These mainly comprised armed reconnaissance missions and offensive strikes in support of ground operations. Called 'air policing' in those days, this attempt to retain control on the periphery of British colonies like Ireland, Palestine, India, South-West Arabia and Africa saw aerial bombing being used as a psychological and propagandist means of maintaining imperial peace.5David E. Ommissi, Air Power and Colonial Control (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1990), p. viii. Though the Indian Air Force had not yet come into being, 1916 saw a flight of BE2C aircraft initially deployed at Nowshera and later at Risalpur6Somnath Sapru, Armed Pegasus: The Early Years (New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2011), p. 100–02. as a whole squadron (31 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps) in what is now north-west Pakistan. Its task was to monitor the movement of tribal lashkars (large body of warriors) and allow some lead time for the vastly outnumbered British garrisons in the region to plan their operations.7Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Roe, 'Good God Sir, Are you Hurt? The Realities and Perils of Operating in India's Troubled North-West Frontier,' Air Power Review, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn/Winter 2011), p. 61–82. The role of accurate direction of artillery fire was also taken on by 31 Squadron, as was direct bombing of tribal positions in what could be called close air support and interdiction operations.8Somnath Sapru, Armed Pegasus: The Early Years (New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2011), p. 102–05. At its peak during the 1920s, the Royal Flying Corps had a complement of eight squadrons in the region made up of four army cooperation squadrons and two bomber squadrons.9S.C. Gupta, History of the Indian Air Force: 1933–45 (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1961), p. xviii. Though the book is one of the few authentic and rigorously researched official accounts of the early years of the IAF, it was extremely surprising to see that not a single senior RAF or IAF officer, serving or retired, was on the advisory committee of the book. It included eminent army generals like Lieutenant Generals K.S. Thimayya, S.P. Thorat and Dudley Russell.

During the period March–May 1925, these squadrons flew more than 2,000 hours and dropped more than 150 tons of bombs on the Afridi and Mahsud tribes10David E. Ommissi, Air Power and Colonial Control (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1990), p. 48. as part of the punitive military action against them. This aerial campaign turned out to be the first of its kind against non-state actors – the United States would embark on a similar punitive aerial campaign in almost the same area against the Al Qaeda nearly seventy-six years later. In the final analysis, the first deployment of combat air power in the subcontinent ensured a psychological edge, which proved critical for the ultimate success of the British Indian Army in its battles in the NWFP, and though Indian pilots were not part of the initial deployment in NWFP, the success and experience of this concept in the inter-war years sparked a renewed interest in air power as an effective coercive tool of the Raj. Summing up the experience of early aviators over the NWFP is a paragraph from an article in Air Power Review by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Roe, a British Army officer with a PhD from Kings College:

Few stationed on the frontier rarely met, or even saw, the aircrew that supported them so valiantly on a daily basis. Except for an occasional glimpse of a gauntleted arm, most only recall aircraft slowly circling overhead or diving head-on towards a tribal target with a rattle of machine-gun fire followed by the 'crumph' of a bomb as the explosion echoed off the surrounding hills. Hardly any stopped to think of the hardships and dangers faced by the aircrew on a daily basis, which were often comparable to those operating on the ground. For many airmen, the frontier was a highlight of their careers and lives, never to be repeated, but never to be forgotten.11Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Roe, 'Good God Sir, Are you Hurt? The Realities and Perils of Operating in India's Troubled North-West Frontier,' Air Power Review, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn/Winter 2011), p. 63.

Despite five Indian officers having served with the RFC during WW I, resistance from the RAF to have Indian commissioned officers in the Royal Air Force, or allow the formation of an Indian Air Force on the lines of the Indian Army continued for long. Despite the Skeen Committee having recommended the formation of an Indian Air Force as early as April 1927, it was not until 1932 that the Indian Air Force became a separate air force under a legislative Act.12http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1930s/1084-Pioneers.html (accessed 18 March 2013). In the meantime, however, flying training of the first batch of six Indian officers commenced at the RAF College at Cranwell from September 1930 – five of them qualified to be pilots, while one became a logistics officer. Sensibly, the British also trained twenty-two technicians, also called 'Hawai Sepoys'.13Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal, My Years with the IAF (New Delhi: Lancer, 1986), p. 12. These pilots and technicians can rightly claim to be the founding pioneers of independent India's air force. Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh, one of the first batch of hawai sepoys, recalls the reaction of the British adjutant of Air Force Station Lahore when he expressed a desire to join the RAF:

You are not even allowed to go near those aeroplanes, leave aside fly them. To be a pilot in the RAF, you must have English blood flowing in your veins.14B.K. Nigam, Challenge in the Sky (New Delhi: R.K. Books, 1985), p. 5.

Though the Indian Air Force was formally raised on 8 October 1932, its first squadron, No. 1 Squadron, was formed on 1 April 1933 at Drigh Road, Karachi15S.C. Gupta, History of the Indian Air Force: 1933–45 (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1961), p. xix. with just one flight of four Wapiti aircraft. However it was deployed in the NWFP only in 1936. After adding on a single aircraft and a flight of manpower it moved to Peshawar in April the same year. By then the RAF had gained sufficient experience in counter-insurgency operations in mountainous terrain against belligerent Pathan tribesmen. Operating alongside 20 Squadron of the RAF, the first IAF squadron was initially commanded by a British officer seconded from the RAF. It soon got into the thick of action moving to Kohat in June 1937, which was closer to the tribal areas. For almost five long years, the squadron cut its teeth in Waziristan and operated in close coordination with other RAF squadrons and the Bannu Brigade.16The Bannu Brigade was formed as part of the Northern Army of the Indian Army in the first decade of the twentieth century and was deployed in the North Western Province. It continued there till WW II and gained significant operational experience in the Third Afghan War and the ensuing war against tribals in Waziristan. The brigade was one of the first units of the Indian Army to operate closely with units of the RAF and the newly formed IAF during operations against the Faqir of Ipi between 1936 and 1941. 'C' Flight of No. 1 Squadron was formed in 1938 and commanded by none other than Flight Lieutenant Jumbo Majumdar, the IAF's most accomplished pilot of the time. It soon broke all records by consistently flying over 400 hours a month.17B.K. Nigam, Challenge in the Sky (New Delhi: R.K. Books, 1985), p. 11. Operating with the Tochi Scouts, a regiment comprising hardy Pathans who carried out ground reconnaissance and then returned to brief pilots on likely target locations, this period also heralded the birth of air–land operations in the IAF. Also in the flight was the fearless Mehar Singh, who later won accolades for his exploits in Burma and Kashmir. On reaching its full strength only in 1939,18Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, 'The Indian Air Force in Wars,' Air Power Review, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn/Winter 2011), p. 84. Squadron Leader Subroto Mukherji was the first Indian to command the squadron in March 1939 with a largely Indian complement of pilots and technicians.19Literally translated Hawai Sepoys as Air Warriors; almost seventy years later, all personnel of the IAF irrespective of rank or branch were called air warriors.

Even though the early history of the IAF is synonymous with that of No. 1 Squadron, its exploits in NWFP finds no mention in the well-researched piece on air operations in the north-west frontier that I have quoted earlier, which was published by the highly respected RAF Air Power Review in its autumn/winter issue in 2011. An objective look at the state of the IAF prior to commencement of WW II reveals that the British were in no hurry to give wings to the fledgling IAF – just one squadron of obsolete Wapiti aircraft and a handful of pilots. It is the dark war clouds in Europe which provided the necessary impetus for further growth of this force.

On the eve of the WW II, the air forces (RAF plus the fledgling IAF) in India were only suited to the limited role of tribal operations on India's frontiers in operations that were interestingly termed as 'watch and ward' with roles that were deterrent rather than damaging. Apart from Kohat, there were only two flying bases with runways of barely 1,100 yards on the frontier – Miranshah and Peshawar – with Lahore and Ambala in the hinterland.20Air Commodore G.H. Vasse, deputy SASO, Air Command, SE Asia, from a paper entitled 'The Modernisation of the Air Forces in India,' September 1939, taken from the Historical Division of the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi. In a wonderful piece written in the IAF journal of August 1944, Flight Lieutenant Arthur Hughes succinctly highlights the roles of the two IAF squadrons in the NWFP:

Work on the frontier by the I.A.F. comes under two headings – first, air action, against tribesmen, such as proscription bombing, and secondly, cooperation with scouts and other armed forces. The first is done only on the instruction of the political authorities and is sanctioned by the Governor of the N.W.F. Province. The second includes reconnaissance (tactical, artillery and photographic), supply dropping and communication.21Rana Chhina, The Eagle Strikes: The Royal Indian Air Force, 1932–1950 (New Delhi: Ambi Knowledge Resources), p. 49–54.

Very early on in its fledgling existence of barely a few decades, air power, it seems, had become a tool for both political signalling and war fighting. Hughes goes on to highlight the extraordinarily responsive liaison and coordination between the Tochi Scouts and the IAF whenever close air support was asked for – it took an average of three-and-a-half minutes for an aircraft to get airborne after a demand for air support came in from ground forces.22Ibid., p. 51. Remarkable indeed! Operations in the NWFP also got Squadron Leader A.M. Engineer a DFC, along with four others being recognized with Mention-in-Despatches. Recounting his experiences in the NWFP during the eightieth anniversary celebrations of No. 1 Squadron in February 2014, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh spoke of bombing with discrimination and 'hard intelligence' from the Tochi Scouts so that collateral damage was minimized. The squadron's experience of close air support and cooperation with troops on the ground would stand it in good stead in the years ahead in the Burma campaign.23During an impromptu dinner speech on 14 February 2014 at the Air Force Officers Mess, Gwalior.

World War II

By December 1939, twenty-three more pilots had enrolled for flying training at RAF, Cranwell.24http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1930s/1021-Training-Days.html (accessed 18 March 2013). Of these, sixteen remained in service at the start of WW II along with 144 airmen25Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal, My Years with the IAF (New Delhi: Lancer, 1986), p. 13. and one squadron (No. 1 Squadron) of Wapiti aircraft. While three from the lot of pre-WW II pilots, Subroto Mukerjee, Aspy Merwan Engineer and Arjan Singh, served with distinction through WW II and made it to the post of chief of the air staff, the top slot in the IAF, K.K. Majumdar (affectionately called Jumbo) was undoubtedly the star of the initial lot of pilots. History, they say, has an uncanny knack of repeating itself and so it was in the case of pilot shortages in the RAF at the beginning of WW II – similar to the situation faced by the RFC during WW I. This led to the recruitment of Indians holding a civil pilot's licence as part of the Indian Air Force Volunteer Reserve (IAFVR) force. Air Chief Marshal P. C. Lal was amongst the initial lot of navigators and pilots and writes with great humour on the circumstances that led to his volunteering for this reserve force:

The psychology of my response to the invitation to join the Air Force was 'the prospect of being paid to do that for which my poor father spent money on me' – another version of 'I do what I like and like what I do'.26Ibid., p. 16.

Since volunteers with civil licences were hard to find after the initial lot were recruited, the IAFVR force was opened to youth between the ages of eighteen to twenty-two with a high school certificate called matriculation in those days.27S.C. Gupta, History of the Indian Air Force: 1933–45 (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1961), p. 36. Over 100 such aircrew from the IAFVR joined the force and initially served in units called Coastal Defence Flights. Six such flights were formed at Karachi, Bombay, Cochin, Madras, Calcutta and Vizag.28Ibid., p. 4. As the war progressed, all these flights would form the nucleus of the remaining eight front-line combat squadrons of the IAF in the NWFP and Burma. By the end of the war, more than 1,000 pilots and 25,000 men would be trained and 600 pilots posted to the nine IAF squadrons, which saw action on the Burma front.29http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/Chapter1.html (accessed 15 October 2013). Though the exact number of IAFVR pilots who stayed on to serve the Indian Air Force in the years after WW II is sketchy, many of them like Air Chief Marshal Lal, Air Marshal Rajaram, Air Chief Marshal Moolgavkar and Air Chief Marshal Latif went on to occupy higher posts with distinction in the years that followed.

One of the veterans of the Indian Air Force with lucid memories of his training days as an IAF Volunteer Reserve pilot was Air Chief Marshal Moolgavkar. When I met him at his Pune residence over a cup of tea in February 2013, we ruminated over his early days as an aviator in 1940 – he was commissioned on 30 November 1940 and pitchforked into battle with No. 1 Squadron at Peshawar.30Interview with Air Chief Marshal Moolgavkar on 14 January 2013. Also see, Jyoti Rai, Leading from the Cockpit (New Delhi: The Society for Aerospace Studies, 2010), p. 16–20. Also see, 'IAF in the First Burma Campaign,' IAF Historical and Warrior Studies Cell, College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad (2005): p. 20–21. He was also among the first lot of pilots from No. 1 Squadron to move along with Jumbo Majumdar when the squadron was first inducted into the Burma theatre in early 1942. (Air Chief Marshal Moolgavkar passed away after a prolonged illness on 10 April 2015.)31For a well-written obituary, see Shoumit Banerjee, 'Former IAF Chief Moolgavkar Dead,' The Hindu, 11 April 2015, available at http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/former-iaf-chief-moolgavkar-dead/article7090057.ece (accessed 7 June 2015).

Over Burma and Europe

Like the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force truly came of age during the Burma campaign. It was involved right through the campaign; from the gloomy days of early 1942, to the time when Assam was being threatened in 1943 by the Japanese advance across the Chindwin River, and finally to the stirring campaign of Slim's 14th Army that turned 'defeat into victory' for the Allies in 1944. The stirring exploits of the IAF in the defence of Kohima and Imphal have gone down in aviation history as amongst the most effective counter-attacking aerial campaigns in siege conditions.

After almost six years in the NWFP, No. 1 Squadron, re-equipped with the slow-moving Lysander aircraft. Modified to carry 500 lb bombs, it moved to the Burma theatre in February 1942 with twelve aircraft to counter the rapidly advancing Japanese. Operating from a forward airfield called Toungoo and carrying out daring missions under their young squadron commander, 'Jumbo' Majumdar, it was at the time the only IAF squadron in the area. A daredevil aviator with stirring leadership qualities, Jumbo led a series of successful offensive strikes against numerous Japanese airfields with and without any fighter escorts against the vastly superior Japanese Zero fighters. However, as the Allies wilted against the Japanese onslaught, Jumbo's squadron first moved to north Burma (Lashio) to carry out aerial reconnaissance of the critical logistics link between Burma and China in support of Chiang-Kai shek's Chinese 5th Army, before finally withdrawing back to India in mid-1942 and converting on to Hurricane fighter bombers.32B.K. Nigam, Challenge in the Sky (New Delhi: R.K. Books, 1985), p. 15. For a most comprehensive description of the contribution of the IAF during the early days of the Burma campaign, see Rana Chhina, The Eagle Strikes: The Royal Indian Air Force, 1932–1950 (New Delhi: Ambi Knowledge Resources), p. 56–72. Also, for a consolidated squadron-wise breakdown of flying in the Burma campaign, see Appendix D, p. 315–16. For his exploits in Burma, 'Jumbo' was complimented by Lord Wavell when he visited the squadron in Lashio and soon after was the first Indian pilot to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in WW II for his leadership and daring individual prowess.33I am grateful to No. 1 Squadron for allowing me full access to their wonderfully preserved museum; it remains the best squadron museum in the IAF. Speaking during his visit to the squadron on 26 February 1942, Wavell remarked:

I have come to Lashio to personally congratulate No 1 Squadron of the IAF. You have made history within this short time. I need not tell you that the RAF has acknowledged your bravery and skill with respect and the AOC-in-C Burma has nothing but praise for you. I am also aware of your ambition to expand your air force to ten squadrons. I promise you all help to fulfill this ambition.34'IAF in the First Burma Campaign,' IAF Historical and Warrior Studies Cell, College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad (2005): p. 33.

From 1942 to 1945, nine squadrons of the Indian Air Force (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 Squadrons) flying a variety of aircraft including Lysanders, Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers, Hurricanes and Spitfires flew over 16,000 sorties and 24,000 hours in support of various battles of the Burma campaign.35Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal, My Years with the IAF (New Delhi: Lancer, 1986), p. 45. Also see Rana Chhina, The Indian Air Force Memorial Book (New Delhi: Air Headquarters Press, 1996), p. 104. As IAF pilots proved themselves in battle, a number of these squadrons were equipped with the latest Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. Some squadrons like No. 8 Squadron had one flight of Indian pilots with another flight manned by pilots from Britain and other Commonwealth countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Amongst the various missions that were flown were daring counter-air missions against Japanese airfields in Burma by innovatively strapping on 500 lb and 250 lb bombs on the most unlikely of aircraft,36Jasjit Singh, The Icon: An Authorised Biography (New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2009), p. 36–45. the slow-moving Lysander; interdiction missions against Japanese logistic lines and visual reconnaissance by the faster Hurricanes and Spitfires; and close air support missions by Hurricanes and Vultee Vengeance fighter-bombers against advancing Japanese columns.

In what is arguably one of the best narratives of the IAF's exploits in the Burma campaign, Air Chief Marshal Lal in his book My Years with the IAF is very generous in his praise for his contemporaries. He wrote about Arjan Singh, who preceded him as chief of the air staff and later became the first marshal of the IAF:

The first person to actually see the Japanese in the northern part of Imphal was Sqn Ldr Arjan Singh. He had been out on a sortie attacking the Japanese elsewhere and he was coming back to base … he saw on a hill top overlooking his airfield a number of men in a strange uniform … So he went close to have a look and he recognized them as Japanese troops. They were on the top to have a look … He immediately called out his entire squadron on his own initiative … He was the first to attack the Japanese who had actually arrived on the outskirts of Imphal. He and his boys were the heroes of Imphal.37Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal, My Years with the IAF (New Delhi: Lancer, 1986), p. 33–36.

Lal himself, though, was no bystander in Burma, flying the Vultee Vengeance dive-bomber with No. 7 Squadron for a year before going on to command it in 1944. He converted the squadron to the Hurricane in early 1945 with the aircraft being specially modified for the fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles.38Ibid., p. 38. His squadron stayed in Burma till victory was achieved with the fall of Rangoon in May 1945. Both Arjan Singh and Lal were awarded DFCs for their inspiring leadership of their respective squadrons. Another IAF squadron that operated in the shadow of No. 1 Squadron during the Burma campaign, but performed equally brilliantly, was No. 6 Squadron led by the indomitable Squadron Leader Mehar Singh. Equipped with Hurricane fighters and comprising a bunch of free-spirited pilots and an elephant as its mascot for much of its time in Burma, the squadron carried out reconnaissance, strafing and bombing missions on the Arakan front. Moving from Trichinopoly in Tamil Nadu where he raised the squadron to Cox's Bazaar on the East Bengal coast on 1 November 1943, Mehar Singh and his boys flew over 1,500 hours till the end of the war supporting the 5th and 7th Indian Divisions in their offensive and defensive operations. Mehar Singh was the only Indian pilot to be awarded a Distinguished Service Order (DSO) during WW II for his leadership of No. 6 Squadron in the Burma campaign. Viscount William Slim of Burma in his inspirational memoirs of the Burma campaign, Defeat into Victory, fondly recalls the performance of No. 6 Squadron led by Mehar Singh. The squadron, flying Hurricanes in the reconnaissance and interdiction roles, were employed in the Arakan region as the Eyes of the 14th Army. He writes:

I was impressed by the conduct of a reconnaissance squadron of the Indian Air Force (it was none other than No. 6 Squadron commanded by Squadron Leader Mehar Singh). Flying in pairs, the Indian pilots in outmoded Hurricanes went out, time and again, in the face of overwhelming fighter superiority.39Field Marshal Viscount Slim, Defeat into Victory (Dehradun: Natraj Publishers, 2014), p. 232.

An interesting fact about air operations in the Indian region during WW II that has not found much mention in the existing historical discourse is the concept of Maritime Air Operations, which the RAF executed from the Arakan Sea off the coast of Burma to the Car Nicobar islands right in the middle of the Andaman Sea. Mainly comprising reconnaissance missions by Catalina flying boats and Liberator bomber aircraft, these operations in early 1943 were necessitated by the aggressive interest shown by the Japanese, which resulted in their subsequent capture of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.40Air Commodore G.H. Vasse, deputy SASO, Air Command, SE Asia, from a paper entitled 'The Modernisation of the Air Forces in India,' September 1939, p. 31, taken from the Historical Division of the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.

While the main contribution of the IAF in WW II was in the Burma campaign, the exploits of a few Indian pilots and navigators who flew with the RAF in Europe and Africa cannot be forgotten. Twenty-four young Indian pilots went to England in 1940 to fly with the RAF; most of them would take part in air operations after the Battle of Britain in Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Command.41'IAFVR Pilots in UK', available at http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Galleries/History/WW2/RAF24/ (accessed 28 December 2014). Also see B.K. Nigam, Challenge in the Sky (New Delhi: R.K. Books, 1985), p. 17. Amongst them was a Sikh officer, Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji. Flying Hurricanes, he shot down two Luftwaffe fighters and damaged three others in aerial battles over Europe and North Africa, before going on to join No. 6 Squadron of the IAF in the Burma theatre under Mehar Singh. Pujji was probably among the very few Indian pilots, if not the only one, to have fought in three theatres – Europe, Africa and Burma. He survived the war along with fifteen others despite having been shot down twice, and remained one of the oldest surviving Indian pilots who had served with the RAF in WW II till he passed away in 2010 at the ripe age of ninety-two in the picturesque English county of Kent.42See 'Gravesend unveils statue of fighter pilot Mahender Singh Puji,' 28 November 2014, available at http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-30251269 (accessed 30 November 2014). Also see, Manimugdha Sharma, 'WW II pilot honoured with a statue in UK,' The Times of India, Pune, 30 November 2014, p. 13.

Not satisfied with his exploits in Burma and bored with a staff assignment after his hectic Burma tenure, Jumbo Majumdar bulldozed his way past the leadership in India and got himself posted to No. 28 RAF Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron on the eve of the Normandy landings in June 1944. Staying with the squadron in France till September 1944, he flew more than sixty-five operational missions in about 100 days on Mustang and Typhoon aircraft, winning the respect of his squadron mates and the gratitude of the RAF in the form of a Bar to DFC.43B.K. Nigam, Challenge in the Sky (New Delhi: R.K. Books, 1985), p. 18–19. Of particular significance was his high-speed reconnaissance mission across the Falaise Gap in July 1944, which provided key photographs that helped Field Marshal Montgomery plan the crucial Battle of Falaise where Field Marshal Von Kluge's Normandy Army was comprehensively defeated by a combined Allied assault.44'An Asian Hero,' http://asianaffairs.in/december2014/an-asian-hero.html. For an overview of the Battle of Falaise, see http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/falaise_pocket.htm (both sites accessed on 31 January 2015).

Unfortunately, this daredevil aviator would perish doing what he loved best – pushing the flying envelope in a Hurricane IIC. In a flying display at No. 1 RTC Walton, Lahore, on 17 February 1945, Majumdar would try one slow roll too many in his Hurricane fighter at a height of 500 feet, and spun into the ground attempting a third roll in front of an awe-struck crowd that included a few Chinese officers.45'Air Forces in India,' Air HQ, India, File no. GOI/10975/H/Air HQ (I) 017554/Air, Ministry of Defence, Historical Division, New Delhi. Majumdar and Mehar Singh emerged from WW II as the IAF's 'daredevil aviators', while Arjan Singh and Lal would hone their leadership skills over the skies of Burma and emerge as military leaders of high pedigree in the years that followed. In March 1945, apart from personally pinning the DFC on Arjan Singh in Imphal, Lord Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Asia, added on the title 'Royal' to the Indian Air Force on the decree of King George VI. The IAF thereon came to be known as the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) till India was declared a Republic on 26 January 1950.46Jasjit Singh, The Icon: An Authorised Biography (New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2009), p. 84.

The IAF lost a total of sixty pilots and won a total of three DSOs,47Two of the DSOs were won by British officers who were commanding No. 4 and No. 10 Squadrons of the IAF in Burma, while Squadron Leader Mehar Singh was the lone Indian among the three. twenty-three Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC), one Bar to a DFC48http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Awards/awards.php?qaward=AFC (accessed 19 March 2013). S.C. Gupta puts the figure at twenty-one DFCs and one Bar to DFC, p. 190. Also see Rana Chinna, Appendix B, p. 310–11. The figures as available with the Historical Studies Cell at the IAF's College of Air Warfare are marginally at variance and indicate one DSO, twenty-one DFCs, one Bar to DFC, two OBEs, two Air Force Crosses (AFC), seven MBEs and forty-five Mention-in-Despatches (M-in-Ds). These anomalies are insignificant and can be ignored as long as one keeps in mind the overall brilliant performance by Indian aviators in WW II. and three Air Force Crosses, with all but one being won in the Burma theatre. The gallantry displayed by Indian pilots like Jumbo Majumdar, Arjan Singh, Lal and Mehar Singh ensured that by the end of the war Indian fighter pilots were considered as good as aviators from the other Allied air forces including the Americans, Englishmen and a sprinkling of Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans and Canadians. Such was the legacy left behind by the pioneers of the IAF.

An analysis of the air–land battle fought in the Burma campaign with stellar performances by squadrons of the Indian Air Force cannot but be compared with the exploits of Air Marshal Tedder's Royal Desert Air Force and its contribution to the victory of Montgomery's 8th Army over Rommel's Afrika Korps. Both air campaigns were 'in the nick of time' campaigns that blunted the enemy's advantage by exploiting the critical characteristics of air power like reach, surprise, offensive action and psychological shock. Both campaigns exploited the entire range of what was called tactical air operations, driving home the importance of reconnaissance, deep interdiction and close air support in influencing the course of the land battle. While Tedder's air–land battle campaign of WW II would be used as a standard template for the development of Western air–land doctrines in the years ahead, the IAF's air-land battle campaign in the jungles of Burma and their experiences of mountain and valley warfare in NWFP were never built on as doctrinal development and have remained as historical narratives. None of the stalwarts with years of experience in Burma or Waziristan wrote SOPs on air operations in jungle and mountainous terrain, or even if they did, they were never archived for future use. Not analysing campaigns and building on experiences gained has remained a weak area with both the IA and IAF over the last eight decades.

The Burma campaign also highlighted a fact that bombers and fighters are not necessarily the only primary weapons that an air force can wield. The movement of large bodies of troops and their maintenance by air opened a new technique of war in regions where the difficulties of transport by conventional means precludes the deployment of such forces in satisfactory numbers.49Air Commodore G.H. Vasse, deputy SASO, Air Command, SE Asia, from a paper entitled 'The Modernisation of the Air Forces in India,' September 1939, p. 3, taken from the Historical Division of the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi. Though there were very few Indian pilots in the RAF and USAF (US Air Force) transport squadrons that operated from airfields in eastern India in support of the Burma and China operations, seeing the impact of these operations had a significant influence on future IAF commanders like Arjan Singh, Lal and Mehar Singh who were operating in that theatre. Many illustrious fighter pilots like Mehar Singh and K.L. Bhatia would go on to spearhead the IAF's transport fleet in the years after Independence. Apart from expanding in thirteen years from a force of four aircraft to 160 aircraft and gaining vital battle experience in joint operations, the development of airfields, infrastructure, maintenance philosophy, communications and air defence systems in the north-eastern region of India to support allied operations gave Indian officers the much needed exposure to build a modern air force. Air Chief Marshal Lal in particular would draw on his experience in WW II to shape the contours of the modern IAF prior to the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Run-Up to Independence

The end of the war saw a number of officers from the IAFVR rejoining civil life as civil pilots, while a few opted for permanent commission. Many of these pilots would later be involved in independent India's first airlift operation as civilian pilots during the initial days of the first India–Pakistan conflict of 1947–48. In the run-up to Independence, all RAF squadrons left India and the RIAF resembled a garrison air force. The basic structure of the RIAF was decided by the Armed Forces Nationalization Committee in which Wing Commander Mehar Singh was the air force member. Also discussed during the deliberations of the committee was the fact that unlike the Royal Indian Navy and the Indian Army, the RIAF was a nationalized service from the day of its creation. RAF personnel had, during their normal overseas tour, served in units of the RIAF but no non-Indian has ever been commissioned or recruited into the service.50Annexure IV-A of Recommendations of Armed Forces Nationalization Committee, 'Thimayya Papers,' File No. 1, NMML, New Delhi. As the sun set on the British Empire in the subcontinent, the Royal Indian Air Force was not immune to the wind of freedom that was blowing across the country. Following on the naval revolt, there were reports of unrest at air force stations in Pune, Madras, Karachi, Allahabad and Delhi.51Narendra Singh Sarila, The Shadow of the Great Game (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2009), p. 173.

Partition in 1947 saw the Royal Indian Air Force left with six squadrons of fighter aircraft and half a squadron of transport aircraft,52Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, 'The Indian Air Force in Wars,' Air Power Review, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Autumn/Winter 2011), p. 84. Air Chief Marshal Lal's figures are marginally different. He has mentioned in his book that of the ten squadrons, India was left with seven. comprising Tempest and Spitfire fighters, Harvard trainers and half a squadron of DC-3 Dakotas, with Pakistan getting all the main bases and training establishments of Kohat, Risalpur, Peshawar, Miranshah and Lahore.

The Royal Indian Air Force became the Indian Air Force on 26 January 1950 when India became a republic. Unlike the Indian Army, which saw an Indian general take over as chief of the army staff in 1949, the IAF continued with a British chief of the air staff (CAS) till 1954. It is to the credit of Air Marshal Thomas Elmhirst, the IAF's first C-in-C, that he impressed upon Prime Minister Nehru that the IAF must be an independent service.53Somnath Sapru, Armed Pegasus: The Early Years (New Delhi: KW Publishers, 2011), p. xviii. He is also vehemently said to have pushed the narrative that the IAF must not be seen 'merely as an adjunct of the Army'.54Air Chief Marshal P.C. Lal, My Years with the IAF (New Delhi: Lancer, 1986), p. 555. In 2011, I steered a project titled Air House – 23 Akbar Road, a historical narrative on the occupants of the official residence of the CAS. During the period of research, my team and I managed to get glimpses of the life and times of the three British C-in-Cs and their commitment to the IAF. While Air Marshal Thomas Elmhirst was a highly respected professional who laid the foundations of the modern IAF, Air Marshal Ronald Ivelaw Chapman, a dashing fighter pilot, endeared himself to the rank and file of the IAF by moving around on his inspection visits in a Spitfire.55Directorate of Public Relations, Air Headquarters, Air House, New Delhi, 2011. Air Marshal Gibbs, a dour and professional airman, finally passed on the baton to Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, free India's first C-in-C of the Indian Air Force, on 1 April 1954. An era had ended and the IAF forged into the blue Indian skies on its own. The growth of the IAF in the 1950s was, however, adversely affected by the recommendations of a British operations research expert, Prof. Blackett, who was seconded to the Indian government by the British and heavily influenced Nehru's approach to developing air power capability. Blackett reckoned that India primarily needed only a tactical air force with air defence capability to ward off enemy attacks and not any significant bombing or offensive capability.56Air Vice Marshal A.K. Tiwary, Indian Air Force in Wars (New Delhi: Lancer, 2012), p. 4–5. The effect of this was a limited fighter acquisition policy that stunted the growth of the IAF till the nation was jolted into action after the military defeat at the hands of the Chinese in 1962.

Attitudes

Unlike the Indian Army, whose DNA was shaped by multiple regional catalysts, an indelible British imprint and a historical legacy that stretched over almost 250 years, the IAF had no such burden to carry and traditions to uphold. Unlike the RIN, which was dominated by British officers, the RIAF was a small force mainly comprising Indian pilots and technicians who, though trained by the British, retained the typically independent and irreverent streak that is a global characteristic of aviators in general, and pilots in particular. Pilots like Mehar Singh made it a point to retain their rustic 'Indianness' and yet surpass their British colleagues with their daring and flying skill. There was a fierce desire to prove that Indian pilots and technicians were second to none; a desire to attain social and professional equality and to reject colonial snobbery and racism, and to be fiercely secular, progressive and modern in their outlook. There were British pilots on attachment in the RIAF squadrons, but command of most of the RIAF squadrons at the time of Independence was with Indians. Arguably, this trait more than anything else allowed the IAF to grow out of the shadow of the RAF at a pace faster than the Indian Army managed to throw off the legacy of the British Army. Had there been a larger number of senior Indian officers of the IAF at the time of Independence, it is highly likely that the baton of C-in-C would have been passed on earlier to an Indian officer. Nothing exemplifies the spirit of freedom more than this entry by a young flying officer who recorded events in the Operational Record Book of No. 8 Squadron in August 1947:

However, that is not to take anything away from the sound foundation that was laid by the RAF – a base that ensured steady growth and progress in the years that followed. History keeping, though, still remains a weak area despite a cautionary note from the departing British director of the Combined Inter-Services Historical Cell. In a reply to one of the sketchy squadron histories that was sent to him, he wrote:

Unit Histories do much to raise and sustain 'espirit de corps' and morale. They have their part in the larger history of the armed forces and in the case of Indian squadrons, they should form a worthy background to India's future national forces.58GOI/10975/H, Historical Division, Archives, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.