Preface & Acknowledgements

PREFACE, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & UPDATES

In 1989, I first came across a copy of the book, My Years with the Indian Air Force by Air Chief Marshal (retd.) P.C. Lal. I read with fascination a blow-by-blow account of the Indian Air Force's contribution in the 1971 War and how it shaped the history of the subcontinent.

Since then I waited in vain for an authoritative account of the 1965 conflict. There were numerous accounts of the 1965 conflict, none in specific to the air war and most of them either too vague or contradictory to each other. Something had to be done to fill the void. Thus, this story on the 1965 Indo-Pak Air War basically started off as a venture to satisfy my own curiousity.

After writing out the initial chapters of the book, I realised certain things missing. Brigadier (retd.) A.S. Apte gave me several tips on contacting ex-servicemen and personnel and also gave me contacts to approach the Officers of the College of Air Warfare, who have been most helpful in providing me access to their library of books and photographs.

It was when I saw Rupak Chattopadhyay's Indian Air Force site, that I actually felt about putting the information on the web. Rupak, helped me out in this matter, offering valuable advice and support. Rupak's co-webmasters at the Bharat-Rakshak site, L.N. Subramanian and Rakesh Koshy too extended their support and shared much information. Little would I know I would end up joining this great team of defence enthusiasts in the upkeep of the Bharat-Rakshak Site.

In fact Rakesh Koshy has also contributed his article, "Thirty Seconds over Sargodha: The Making of a Myth" which delves into the psyche of the Pakistani war time publicity campaign. I feel that this chapter has become an indispensable section of the account.

Chapter 7 was the first venture I took out in interviewing Air Force officers in their roles in the war. This chapter took a long time in the making. Quite long. I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. Shivshankar Sastry, more popularly known as Shiv or the Cyber Surgeon.

Shiv interviewed Air Marshal (Retd.) M.S.D. Wollen, PVSM then Commander of the No.28 Sqn., which flew the MiG-21s in 1965 was now retired and living in Bangalore. Shiv, even though he was a surgeon with a very tight schedule managed to wriggle out some time and met the Air Marshal on a couple of days and had long & revealing discussions on the conflict.

Gus Sheridan from UK, sent in the account of his father-in-law, Air Commodore (Retd.) P.M. Wilson, PVSM, VrC, who was the Commanding Officer of No.16 Squadron during 1965 and it was he who personally led the raid on the Badin Signal Unit.

Gus and his wife, Linda Sheridan, the Air Commodore's daughter were instrumental in convincing Air Commodore Wilson to share his experiences. And Gus went a long way in supplying the photograph from the Air Commodore's personal collection via Seetal Ramesh Patel.

It is Gus Sheridan's dedication to record history that saw this chapter through. Simply put, without him or the Air Commodore's co-operation, the chapter on the Canberra would not be there. Gus Sheridan also put me in touch with Wg. Cdr. (retd.) Jag Mohan Nath, MVC and Bar, who helped me out fill in the role of the PR Squadron.

Anandeep Pannu needs no introduction as a Guru on IAF matters on the web. Pannu helped in filling in information regarding the other Canberra squadrons. Anandeep is a treasure trove of information on the IAF. He also helped get the account from his father, Group Captain (Retd.) Pannu and and his uncle, Group Captain (retd.) Goraya, both of whom flew in the 1965 War. This was when things started really moving in.

Sanjeev K. Sharma interviewed Group Captain (Retd.) M.N. Singh for me. This was actually a surprise. Group Captain Singh's account gave a first look impression into the planning & execution that went on in the Eastern Sector and the Missed Opportunities that went by.

Sanjeev showed extreme patience in submitting my queries and more questions for comment to Group Captain Singh and sat out late in the nights to send me back the information. This information did not limit itself to just the 1965 conflict, but also to the other periods in the IAF's history.

Personally, I had the good fortune to interact with two distinguished and decorated officers in Hyderabad. Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) C.V. Parker, MVC, VM and Wg. Cdr. (Retd.) F.J. Mehta, VrC. Though AVM Parker had not directly fought in the 65 Conflict, he helped me get in touch with Wg. Cdr. Mehta, who incidentally turned out to have flown in the first sorties of the conflict.

Noted Air Historian Pushpindar Singh Chopra was kind enough to send much material on the 1965 Air War, especially the numerous articles he had authored on the war and after. He also kindly offered the permission to quote from the same.

Also thanks to Sid Mukherjee, Gyanesh M. Khanolkar, Chris Thornburg, Tomas Polak and Satish Krishnan who came forward to extend their help in making the site complete. Sameer Chopra offered me information on the role of his father, then Sqn. Ldr. P.C. Chopra VrC, who flew Mysteres during the war. I am sure, that more information and facts will come to light as time goes by, and accordingly it is always better to revise and update the account at periodical intervals.

Finally, Acknowledgements should also go to several Pakistani Web Sites that give much information about the conflict. Syed Amir Hussain's now defunct "Defenders of Pakistan". The Pakistan Institute for Air Defence Studies (PIADS) and the Defence Journal are to name a few.

When I though about putting the story of 1965 on the internet, I never even thought in the remotest possibility I would enjoy the benefits of actually getting the stories from the people who fought in the frontline. Some day, the Indian Government will publish the official history of the 1965 War. Mr. Pushpindar Singh Chopra is also bringing out a comprehensive three volume history of the Indian Air Force since Inception. Till that day, when either of these two accounts are complete, I hope this site will fill in the void as far as the air war is concerned.

- PVS Jagan Mohan

[UPDATE: 17 March 99] I had spoken to Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) Dennis Anthony La Fontaine, who was the commander of No.14 Hunters in the Eastern Sector, regarding the operations in that theatre. Following these discussions, I had decided to put all the references of the Eastern sector in the Chapter regarding operations in the east. Consequently Chapter 4 was also edited to remove the references of the Eastern Sector. My thanks to Air Chief Marshal La Fontaine for spending his valuable time with us and patiently explaining many things to us.

[UPDATE: 30 July 99] We had the good fortune of talking to three officers who served at the Pathankot Air Base during the war, after which Chapter 3 has been revised and updated. Wg Cdr (Retd.) Verghese Kurien, Then Wing Co (Ops) of Pathankot gave some details on the story behind the early days of ops from Pathankot airbase including the days leading to the PAF Attack. Air Marshal (Retd.) Janak Kapur, gave some much needed details on Gnat Operations from the airbase. A blow-by-blow account of the initial air battles of September 2-6th were given by Group Captain (Retd.) M.R. Murdeshwar, who was one of the initial batch of pilots who flew the Gnat into combat. Our thanks to both these officers for their time and help.

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