Wg. Cdr. Man Mohan Bir Singh Talwar, 4573 F(P), MVC.
1971 Indo Pakistan War.
No.5 Squadron

Wg. Cdr. Talwar was the Commanding Officer of No.5 "Tuskers" Squadron flying the Canberra Bomber. Wg. Cdr Talwar led five day and night bombing missions against very heavily defended enemy targets within the first 10 days of operations.

On one of these missions, he inflicted very severe damage to the Pakistani Air Force installations at Sargodha. In a daylight mission in the Chhamb area, in support of the army, he attacked four enemy gun positions near the Munawar Tawi river and effectively silenced three of them, thereby facilitating the advance of our troops in a difficult terrain. Both these targets were heavily defended ; the latter was close to an enemy fighter base from where interception was also likely. Despite this, the officer pressed home his attacks with great determination and much success.

His conduct was an inspiration to the crews of the other aircraft which he was leading. The bold leadership, tenacity of purpose, flying skill and bravery displayed by Wing Com- mander Talwar were largely responsible for the many success's of his squadron.

Wg. Cdr. A, A. D'Costa, was the Commanding Officer of No. 222 Squadron, flying the Russian Sukhoi - 7  Fighter Bomber. Wg. Cdr D'Costa had brought his squadron up to the highest pitch of operational preparedness. His foresight and leadership paid excellent dividends during the war, as he and the Squadron achieved outstanding results. During the war,the officer led no fewer than 15 missions deep into the enemy territory against heavily defended targets, thus setting a fine example to his pilots.

On 4th December he was the first to strike at the enemy's Risalwala airfield. On the same. day, he followed up by attacking Chander airfield. On the next day, he led a mission, to Chistian Mandi, where he personally accounted for three enemy tanks, as confirmed by films brought back by him.

On 6th December, he led an attack on a concentration of tanks at Dera Baba Nanak. ;n the face of the most intense anti-aircraft fire. Although his No. 2 was shot down by this ground fire, he pressed home the attack, with utter disregard for his own safety, destroying a number of tanks and damaging others. On 7th December, he carried out a low level photographic reconnaissance mission, in the Sulemanki area and followed this up by leading an attack on the same day, on the railway station at Narowal, where he personally destroyed and damaged many railway wagons, as well as some installations. From 8th to 12th December, he flow a number of reconnaissance missions, bringing back a large volume of intelligence, based on which, air and ground operations were conducted. Thereafter, up to the end of the fighting, he led missions mainly against Railway targets, including the marshalling yards at,Raiwind, the Kasur-Lahore railway track, destroying a large number of wagons and causing devastation at each target.

All these missions were flown in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire, and in some cases against Pakistani. air opposition. His constant example of bravery, determination and skill were an inspiration to the pilots of his squadron. Wg. Cdr D' Costa was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for the conspicuous bravery, outstanding leadership, and coolness in the face of heavy opposition, showed by him which were in the highest traditions of the Air Force.

Wg. Cdr. C V Parker was commissioned in the Indian Air Force on 30th August 1952. Wg. Cdr. Parker had the distinction of raising the first Hunter OCU in the country.

During the Indo Pakistan War, Wg. Cdr Parker was the Officer Commanding of a No.20 "Lightnings" Squadron based at Pathankot airfield flying the Hawker Hunter Mk 56a Fighter. He led many deep penetration missions into enemy held territory attacking strongly defended targets.

On 4th December, He led a daylight raid on Peshwar airfield, destroying two Sabre aircraft on the ground. While returning from the mission, his formation was attacked by enemy Sabre aircraft. In the ensuing fight, Wing Commander Parker shot down one Sabre.  In another mission, on December 6th, he attacked the enemy oil refinery at Attock, in the face of the most intense anti-aircraft and small arms fire, seriously damaging the refinery. On 8th December, He led another devastating raid on Murid airfield destroying more enemy aircraft.

In all his missions, the actions of Wing Commander Parker were marked by great courage and determination. His Squadron displayed outstanding readiness and dealt damaging blows to the enemy airfields., and he was a shining example to the other pilots under his command. His leadership, both in pace and war, was outstanding. Wg. Cdr Parker was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his devotion to duty, bravery in the face of heavy enemy opposition and courage in leading many missions, day after day. Wg. Cdr. Parker retired as an Air Vice Marshal.

 
Wg. Cdr Harcharan Singh Manget was commanding the No.32 "Tiger Sharks" Squadron based at Amritsar, flying the Sukhoi-7 fighter bomber. He flew a number of interdiction and close support missions and also many photographic reconnaissance sorties, without fighter escort, deep into enemy territory. The information brought by him from the reconnaissance sorties was of great value to the Army, and the Air Force in their operational planning.

Wg. Cdr. Manget, led the first strike raid on Sargodha airfield on December 4th. While on a similar strike mission, his Sukhoi aircraft was hit and severely damaged by an Air to Air Missile launched by an enemy aircraft. But he pressed forward until he found that the other aircraft in his formation had also suffered serious damage. Despite this, he extricated his formation from the hazardous situation and led it safely back to base. On landing, it was found that his aircraft was extensively damaged and major portions of the control surface completely shot away. Only superb flying skill and courage of the highest order could have brought such a badly damaged aircraft back to a safe landing.

His leadership of the mission in these circumstances was outstanding. He displayed gallantry, determination and professional skill of the highest order which was recogised with an award of the Maha Vir Chakra.

Wg. Cdr R S Benegal was commissioned in the Air Force in 1950. He was the Officer Commanding of No. 106 Operational Reconnaissance Squadron flying the Canberra aircraft and was based at Barielly.

Wg Cdr Benegal, carried out a very large number of missions over enemy territory and obtained vital information about enemy Air Force and other installations. These missions entailed flying unarmed and unescorted very deep into enemy territory and to heavily defended targets. He flew missions covering the East Pakistani locations, The Gilgit area and even the Guadar bay in and around Karachi.

The information brought back from these missions. facilitated the planning of Army, Air Force and Naval operations and thus directly contributed to the destruction of the Pakistani war machine.

It was further to the credit of Wg Cdr Benegal that he never returned from any of these innumerable missions without having achieved his object in full measure. While flying repeatedly, deep into enemy territory, in an unarmed aircraft, he displayed gallantry, devotion to duty and professional skill of the highest order.