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Wing Commander Reginald Azariah Rufus

Service No & Branch 3319 GD(P)
Date of Birth: 21 Sep 1924 Commissioned: 25 Feb 1946 Course: 38 Course
Service End: Retired on 01 Dec 1966 Released to Air India Died on 01 Mar 2013 (89 Years age) Nick Name :
Qualifications Held :
Remarks :
Promotions Gazetted
Plt Offr : 25 Aug 1946Fg Offr : 25 Feb 1947Flt Lt : 25 Mar 1951Sqn Ldr : 11 May 1957
Wg Cdr : 01 Apr 1965
Training and Other Courses Attended
14 DSSC (Sqn Ldr) - 19 Aug 1961
Badges Qualified
  
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Sqn Ldr
Notes:1)Branch is at retirement and may not match with branch at Commission 2)Notional seniority is reflected in dates of substantive rank.

Appointments, Postings & Other Service Particulars

DatesRankUnitLocationAppointmentPhoto
01 May 1949 - 15 Sep 1949Fg OffrAirHQ Communications SquadronPalam Squadron Pilot
16 Sep 1949 - Fg OffrNo.12 SquadronAgra Squadron Pilot
01 Feb 1955 - 15 Jan 1958Flt LtAirHQ Communications SquadronPalam Squadron Pilot Fm C&T Sqn to Begumpet
- Wg CdrNo.42 SquadronPalam Commanding Officer
28 May 1963 - 30 Nov 1965Wg CdrNo.25 SquadronChandigarh Commanding Officer
01 Dec 1965 - 01 Dec 1966Wg CdrAir India Pilot
 
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Awards and Decorations


Number of Awards: 1
 
Kirti Chakra
Sqn LdrReginald Azariah Rufus3319 GD(P)Award Date 26 Feb 1957Announced 26 Jan 1959
Details :

On 26th February 1957, the Prime Minister and his party were travelling from Mangalore to Raipur in a twin-engined I.A.F. plane piloted by Sqn. Ldr. Rufus. About an hour and a quarter after taking off, fire and considerable vibration in the port engine were noticed. Immediate steps were taken to put out the fire. With one of the two engines out of action, Sqn. Ldr. Rufus decided to land at a disused kutcha landing strip at Raichur 25 miles away-the nearest regularly used airfield being more than 80 miles. By exceptionally accurate judgment and flying skill he made a perfect landing thus ensuring complete safety of the Prime Minister and his party.

Throughout this incident, Sqn. Ldr. Rufus handled the plane with cool courage and skill in the best traditions of Indian Air Force.

Unit : Air HQ and Comm
Reference : Notification No. 37-Pres/59 dated 17th July, 1959 published in Part 1, Section 1, Gazette of India dated 1st August, 1959.
The data in the header section of this page comes from the Gazette of India - Click here to see the source
The URL for this page is http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/3319
Note: All the data available here is publicly available in the Gazette of India, published by the Indian Government, or from public domain sources, press releases about Awards and Right-To-Information (RTI) Requests. Additionally data shared by veterans is added to the page with permission. No data with respect to serving officers below the rank of AVM is displayed. Information in Gazette of India and Award citations and photographs as released by the Indian Air Force are the only details displayed.