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Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of India's Greatest Military Victory
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Against all odds , He faced six of the enemy alone!
Fg Off Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon today took on six Sabres attacking Srinagar and made the supreme sacrifice.

Dec 14, Srinagar: Today, Six enemy F-86 Sabre aircraft attempted to attack the airfield at Srinagar. The enemy would probably have been successful in knocking the airfield out of action if not for the actions of a brave pilot who faced impossible odds and sacrificed his life to prevent the enemy aircraft from causing damage.

Early Morning , Srinagar Airfield was attacked by a wave of six enemy Sabre aircraft. Four of the enemy aircraft were attacking the ground targets, while another two were keeping top cover. Fg Off Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon of No.18 Squadron was on readiness duty at the time. He was flying a Gnat fighter.

Notified by ORP, Fg Off Sekhon's takeoff was delayed as his section leader had just then taken off and the clouds of dust raised by the Gnat had obstructed visibility.

By the time the runway was fit for take-off, the six enemy aircraft were overhead, and strafing of the airfield was in progress.

Nevertheless, inspite of the mortal danger of attempting to take off during an attack, and inspite of the odds against him, Fg Off Sekhon

Fg Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, who died a hero's death today in Srinagar

took off and immediately engaged the nearest pair of the attacking Sabres. He succeeded in damaging two of the enemy aircraft, which immediately left the scene.

Sekhon was fighting against the other two aircraft when the top two escorting Sabres joined the unequal fight.

Facing all the aircraft single handedly,In the fight that followed, at tree top height, he all but held his own, but was eventually overcome by sheer weight of numbers.

His aircraft was hit. Sekhon tried to eject, but the aircraft went out of control and crashed . A search party soon found the wreckage near srinagar. They had reported that the brave pilot had been killed.

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Pilots scramble to a Folland Gnat fighter at a forward airbase. Fg Off Sekhon was flying a similar aircraft

All the senior officers and men are in awe of the courage and bravery shown by the lone pilot in taking on an enemy six times his own strength and for making the ultimate sacrifice.

In thus, sacrificing himself for the defence of Srinagar, Flying Officer Sekhon achieved his object, for the enemy aircraft fled from the scene of the battle without pressing home their attack against the town and the airfield.

The senior officers said that the heroism, gallantry, flying skill and determination displayed by Flying Officer Sekhon in the face of certain death, has never been seen before and has set new heights to Air Force traditions. Fg Off Sekhon is the son of retired Warrant Officer Tara Singh and hails from Ludhiana.