Gallantry Award Winners of the IAF in the 1965 Air War

The 1965 Indo-Pak Air War saw the Indian Air Force (IAF) getting involved in the heaviest fighting since World War II. A trend in the awards too was noticeable. All fighter pilots who had air-to-air kills were awarded with the Vir Chakra. Most of the Commanding Officers of the squadrons involved in the attack too were decorated.

Of the 44 Vir Chakras that were awarded to IAF personnel, one of them was for the Kutch operations in April '65, well before the start of full fledged hostilities in September '65. Interestingly, one of the MVCs was awarded 23 years after the conflict in 1988*.

MAHA VIR CHAKRA

Sqn. No.

 Aircraft Type

Comments
1. Wg. Cdr. W.M. Goodman 31 Sqn Mystere Interdiction Sorties
2. Wg. Cdr. Prem Pal Singh 5 Sqn Canberra Counter Air Missions
3. Sqn. Ldr. Padmanabha Gautam JBCU Canberra Counter Air and Interdiction
4. Sqn. Ldr. A.B. Devayya* 1 Sqn Mystere F-104 Kill
5. Sqn. Ldr. J.M. Nath 106 SPR Sqn Canberra Reconnaissance

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VIR CHAKRA

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1. Wg. Cdr. Bharat Singh 2 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
2. Wg. Cdr. O.P. Taneja 1 Sqn Mystere Sargodha Raid
3. Wg. Cdr. S. Bhattacharya 3 Sqn Mystere ?
4. Wg. Cdr. P.M. Wilson 16 Sqn Canberra Badin Raid
5. Sqn. Ldr. Trevor Keelor 23 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
6. Sqn. Ldr. M.S. Jatar 8 Sqn Mystere Sargodha Raid
7. Sqn. Ldr. Sudharshan Handa 1 Sqn Mystere Sargodha Raid
8. Sqn. Ldr. A.S. Sandhu 23 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
9. Sqn. Ldr. Denzil Keelor 9 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
10. Sqn. Ldr. A.L. Mousinho 31 Sqn Mystere Fighter/Recce/Interdiction
11. Sqn. Ldr. S.K. Dahar 45 Sqn Vampire Chamb Raid
12. Sqn. Ldr. S.S. Malik 7 Sqn Hunter Interdiction
13. Sqn. Ldr. Ajit Singh Lamba 7 Sqn Hunter Interdiction
14. Sqn. Ldr. J.W. Greene 23 Sqn Gnat Counter Air
15. Sqn. Ldr. S.K. Singh Accounts Accounts Paratroopers Roundup
16. Sqn. Ldr. B.K. Bishnoi 20 Sqn Hunter Raiwind Train Attack
17. Sqn. Ldr. Jasbir Singh 3 Sqn Mystere Gujranwala Radar Raid
18. Sqn. Ldr. S.N. Bansal 5 Sqn Navigator Peshawar Raid
19. Sqn. Ldr. C. Mehta 5 Sqn Navigator Bombing raids
20. Sqn. Ldr. T.P.S. Gill 31 Sqn Mystere ?
21. Sqn. Ldr. I.J.S. Parmar ? ? ?
22. Flt. Lt. V.S. Pathania 23 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
23. Flt. Lt. Trilochan Singh 3 Sqn Mystere Interdiction Raids
24. Flt. Lt. D.N. Rathore 27 Sqn Hunter F-86 Kill
25. Flt. Lt. A.T. Cooke 14 Sqn Hunter F-86 Kill
26. Flt. Lt. H.S. Mangat 5 Sqn Navigator Bombing raids
27. Flt. Lt. P.S. Pingale 7 Sqn Hunter F-86 Kill
28. Flt. Lt. V. Kapila 9 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
29. Flt. Lt. A.K. Mazumdar 2 Sqn Gnat F-86 Kill
30. Flt. Lt. S.N. Deshpande 5 Sqn Navigator ?
31. Flt. Lt. C.S. Doraiswami 3 Sqn Mystere Fighter/Recce/Interdiction
32. Flt. Lt. D.M.S. Kahai 1 Sqn Mystere Sargodha Raid
33. Flt. Lt. C.K.K. Menon 20 Sqn Hunter Raiwind Train Attack
34. Flt. Lt. A.S. Khullar 20 Sqn Hunter Raiwind Train Attack
35. Flt. Lt. V.K. Bhatia 8 Sqn Mystere Interdiction
36. Flt. Lt. P.C. Chopra 8 Sqn Mystere Interdiction
37. Flt. Lt. Vinod Patney 8 Sqn Mystere Interdiction
38. Flt. Lt. G.K. Garud JBCU Navigator ?
39. Flt. Lt. G.R. Railkar JBCU Navigator ?
40. Flt. Lt. P. Dastidar 5 Sqn Navigator Bombing raids
41. Fg. Off. A.R. Gandhi 7 Sqn Hunter F-86 Kill
42. Fg. Off. V.K. Neb 27 Sqn Hunter F-86 Kill
43. Fg. Off. S.C. Mamgain 14 Sqn Hunter F-86 Kill
44. Fg. Off. U. Barbara 101 Sqn Vampire Kutch Operations
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