Wing Commander Hemango Nath Chaudhuri one of the most colourful and unique men to see service with IAF. Suave, intelligent and erudite Hem Chaudhuri made a lasting impression on his colleagues. He was the son of a famous criminal lawyer Mr. K C Chaudhuri of Calcutta and the brother of General JN Chaudhuri, the erstwhile chief of Army staff. Born on 1st November 1909 he was educated in Highgate School London and later joined the Trinity Hall of Cambridge University from where he graduated with a Tripos. He became a full fledged Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln's Inn in 1931 but joined Messers Andrew Yule as Merchantile assistant. Passionately fond of flying he qualified as a civil pilot and when IAF volunteer reserve was formed in 1939 was one of the first from Calcutta to join. On completion of training he became the Commanding Officer of No. 3 IAFVR Flight at Calcutta. In 1942 he took over as the Officer Commanding of the No. 7 Squadron which was actively engaged in carrying out cooperation exercise with the ground forces that were being trained for Gen. Wingate’s second expedition. He rose to be a Wing Commander but unfortunately for the IAF asked for his release at the end of the war. He returned to Andrew Yule but ironically met his death in the skies while out on a routine flight at his flying club |