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The Indian Air Force was established by the passing of
the Indian Air Force act on 8th October 1932. Accordingly, No.1 Squadron IAF came into
being on 1st April 1933 at Drigh Road, Karachi. There were five pilots commanded by an RAF
officer and the first batch of Hawai Sepoys. The complement of the squadron consisted of
four Westland Wapiti Biplanes comprising 'A' Flight of the squadron.
The first five Indian Pilots commissioned into the
Indian Air Force were H C Sircar, Subroto Mukerjee, Bhupendra Singh, A B Awan and Amarjeet
Singh. A sixth officer, S N Tandon had to revert to Ground duties as he was too short! All
of them were commissioned as Pilot Officers in 1933. Bhupendra Singh and Amarjeet Singh
died in an air accident in Sept 33. HC Sircar left the IAF after less than an year. Tandon
died during World War Two. AB Awan opted for the Pakistani Air Force and retired as a Wing
Commander. Subroto Mukerjee went on to become the first Indian Chief of Air Staff of the
IAF. We would welcom any information that is available on H C Sircar.
Subsequent batches inducted before WW2 included
stalwarts like Aspy Engineer, K K Majumdar, Narendra, R H D Singh, S N Goyal, 'Baba'
Mehar Singh, Prithpal Singh and Arjan Singh.
A complete list of Indians who were trained at RAF Cranwell between the
years 1930 to 1939 is given here:
Indians at RAF Cranwell
Related Bio Links:
Subroto Mukerjee
Jumbo Majumdar
Aspy Engineer
Arjan Singh
RHD Singh
Aircraft used by the IAF at that time included:
The Westland Wapiti |
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The first batch of Indian pilots at RAF
Cranwell in 1931. From L to R (Circled): Bhupendra Singh, Amarjeet Singh and Subroto
Mukerjee. Photo courtesy : Sentinels
of the Sky |
| Bhupendra Singh with one of the Avro
training biplanes at Cranwell in 1931. Sadly he would die in an aircrash in 1933 along
with Amarjeet Singh. Photo
courtesy : Sentinels of the Sky |
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A B Awan and Mukerjee standing in the last
row at RAF Cranwell 1931 Photo
courtesy : Sentinels of the Sky |
| The third batch of Indian Pilots in Cranwell
consisted of Narendra, R H D Singh and K K 'Jumbo' Majumdar. Seen here in the group photo
in 1933. Photo courtesy :
Sentinels of the Sky |
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Flt Lt C A Boucher, CO of 1 Squadron taking
off in a Westland Wapiti for a recce sortie at Quetta in Sept 1943. Plt Offr S Mukerjee is
his observer. Photo courtesy :
Sentinels of the Sky |
| Officers and men of No.1 Squadron at Drigh
Road near Karachi in 1937. From L to R (Circled): Mehar Singh, Aspy Engineer, Subroto
Mukerjee, Henry Runganadhan and R H D Singh. Photo courtesy : Sentinels of the Sky |
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Westland Wapiti IIa army cooperation
plane of No.1 Squadron's 'A' Flight at Drigh Road in 1933. |
| 'A' Flights parade at Drigh Road in
1933. Pilot Officer Subroto Mukerjee (Later Air Marshal, CAS) is in the front of the Rifle
contingent. Hawai Sepoy Harjinder Singh (Later Air Vice Marshal) is on the extreme
left of the picture. |
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Wapiti K-2653 with Fg Off Subroto
Mukerjee in the front. Hawai Sepoy K S Taunque (in flying gear) later became a Wing
Commander. He passed away in 1998. Taunque was the first Sepoy to be mentioned in
despatches. |
| Pilots who graduated out of RAF
Cranwell were commissioned by the 'Emperor of India' under the seal of the Governor
General and a Commission certificate issued. Seen here is the scroll of R H D Singh (Later
Air Cmde), who was the eight pilot to be trained at Cranwell and commissioned in 1935. Pic
Courtesy : Deepak Singh |
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Pilots of 'A' flight of No. 1 Squadron,
IAF. This photograph possibly taken at Drigh Road with one of the Squadron's Wapitis in
the background. Subroto Mukerjee is standing fourth from right , A B Awan is third from
right, R H D Singh second from right and right most is Aspy Merwan Engineer. Pic
Courtesy : Deepak Singh |
| Westland Wapiti IIa (K-1263) of No.1
Squadron being fitted with 112lb bombs. |
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Flight Cadet Mehar Singh stands out in
this 1936 picture of the batch passing out of RAF Cranwell. |
| This rare photograph of the pilots of No.1
Squadrons taken in the late 30s, shows Mehar Singh, R H D Singh, Narendra, H U Khan, A B
Awan, Subroto Mukerjee along with the RAF Commanding officer in front of one of the
Wapitis. Note the huge size of the propellor. Photo courtesy : Air
Force History Cell |
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 This previously unpublished photograph of the pilots of No.1
Squadrons taken in the late 30s, possibly during 1938 shows Aspy Engineer, Narendra among the Indian officers. Photo courtesy : Simon
Watson |
| Wapitis of No.1 Squadron on an exercise in Bangalore. The center
aircraft is J-9722. Photo
courtesy : Simon Watson |
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Sqn ldr Aspy Merwan Engineer receives
his DFC from the 'Auk' (Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck.). Aspy was the only DFC awardee
for service in the NWFP. |
| Indian aircrew trying to crank start a
Hawker Audax biplane. The Audax was the successor to the Wapiti with No.1 Squadron. Photo courtesy : Air Force History Cell |
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Three Wapitis (K-1290, J-9483 and J-9755) of
No.1 Squadron flying in formation over the Murree hills in November 1936. Photo courtesy : Air Force History Cell |
| One of No.1 Squadron's Wapitis (K-1280)
seen flying over the Rajpath (Then Kingsway) of Delhi |
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Ground crew working on a Wapiti at a
base. No.1 Squadron was formed from three flights each flying three of these
'What-a-pity's' |
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