THE INDIAN AIR FORCE IN THE LIBERATION WAR: 1971

The fourteen day Bangladesh War in 1971 marked a decisive victory for Indian Arms and established the Indian Air Force's supremacy in South Asia.Accounts that follow below have been contributed by various sources and the authors' names appear next to their articles. Note:  Please note that some of the information is outdated due to more new information coming to light. As such no claim is made to the accuracy of the figures and facts mentioned in the articles.. The current account of events may have a number of inaccuracies in them. We request the visitor to bear with this and to email us in case more information or clarifications is needed.

For a more comprehensive and overall coverage of the 1971 Ops. visit The Liberation Times

• 22nd November 1971 - Jagan Pillarisetti
  No.22 Squadron's Classic dogfight with PAF Sabres over Boyra before the Battles began!

• Air Battle over Dacca - Polly Singh
  The Black Panthers take out a Sabre over Dacca on D-Day

• Thunder over Dacca - Air Vice Marshal B.K. Bishnoi (Retd)
  The commanding officer of No.28 Squadron 'First Supersonics' narrates the strikes over Dacca and the rest of the war

• Group Captain R Sundaresan VrC VM - Photo Album (16 Images)
  The photo album of one of the 'Sabre Killer' from the Eastern Sector.

• Flying over East Pakistan - Gp Capt A G Bewoor (Retd)
  Flying Transports during the Liberation War

• Dacca - After Surrender - Photo Album (12 Images)
  Various Photographs taken in and around Tezgoan and Kurmitola after the surrender

• Night Intruder - A Tribute to the Canberra - Wg Cdr (retd.) Anil Ghosh
  A 35 Squadron Canberra Veteran recollects his war time experiences.

• The Dhamaka Incident - Wg Cdr T N Vijayan
  A night interception that nearly went wrong.

• When Lightning Strikes - Jagan Pillarisetti
  Operations of No.20 Squadron 'The Lightnings' over West Pakistan

• The Raid on Peshawar - Jagan Pillarisetti
  Revisiting the Raid on Peshawar from bothsides of the fence

• How I crossed swords with Chuck Yeager - Admiral Arun Prakash
  The story from the man who gave uncle sam "The Finger" (Chuck Yeagers words - not ours)

• Of Sabres and Sukhois - Polly Singh
  The first raid planned by No.32 Squadron 'Thunderbirds' on Dec 4 resulted in skirmishes with Sabres.

• Shorkot Road Attack - Air Marshal Vinod Kumar Bhatia
  The other mission by No.32 Squadron on Dec 4 was on Shorkot Road, which was blitzed with four missions over two days.

• Saga of Longewala - Air Marshal (retd.) M.S. Bawa
  Air Marshal Bawa was the commander of Jaisalmer AFB, whose Hunters decimated the Pakistani Tank Regiment at Longewala

• Battle of Longewala - Wg Cdr (retd.) K.S.Suresh Vr.C
  Another detailed look at Longewala by one of the Hunter pilots who flew those missions

• No.122 Squadron at Jaisalmer - Photo Album of the Longewala fame unit.
  Photographs of the pilots and officers of Jaisalmer Air Force Station who carried out the airstrikes at Longewala.

• In and Out of the Cockpit - Air Marshal (retd.) K D K Lewis
  At the receiving end of a PAF attack and being fortunate to survive!

• Plane Tales of the IAF - The Pathankot Attack of Dec 10 - Air Marshal (retd.) K D K Lewis
  At the receiving end of a PAF attack - for the second day in a row!

• Air Battles - December 1971 - My Experiences - Wg. Cdr. (retd.) Salim Baig, PAF
  A Pakistani Pilot view of two aircombats in which his Indian Opponents gave a tough fight

• Srinagar Air Battle - Sekhon's Gnat - Polly Singh
  Though a modelling article, this Indian version of the Srinagar battle answers some oft asked questions.

• Supersonic Air Combat - Vayu Aerospace Review
  The first Supersonic Air Combat in the Indian Sub Continental History - An F-104 gets shot down by a MiG-21 over Jamnagar

• Appendix A:- IAF Gallantry Awards of 1971 Air War - Jagan Pillarisetti
• Appendix B:- Indian Air Losses of the 1971 War (Unofficial List) - Jagan Pillarisetti
• Appendix C:- Pakistani Air Losses of the 1971 War (Official List) - Jagan Pillarisetti

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