Indian Air Force Veteran Histories

Veterans Recollect

• The HF-24 Glider by Group Captain Kapil Bhargava (Retd.)
  The world's last fullscale plywood glider model of a Jet fighter.

• 63 Pilots Course by Sqn Ldr Anindyo Chatterjee
  Personal reminisces on the 51st Anniversary of the passing out.

• Flying over East Pakistan by Gp Capt Anant Bewoor
  Memories of Transport flying during the Bangladesh war

• IAF's First Aerobatic Team  by Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava 
  The Predecessor of the Thunderbolts

• Flying the Spitfire  by Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava 
  Flying a legendary aircraft

• Memoirs of an IAF Technical Officer - Wg Cdr L P Fegredo
  Locksley Fegredo was one of the earliest Signal officers in the IAF

• My Experiences in the 1947-48 War - Gp Capt MPO Blake VrC
  Flying Tempests in the Jammu and Kashmir Operations

• Hurricane Tales - Gp Capt MPO Blake VrC
  Crashlanding a Hurricane in No mans land in the middle of the Imphal Battle

• Battle Damage!    Recollections of Wg Cdr Don Michael
  Remembering the accident in a damaged Tempest II during Kashmir Operations.

• Exercise Shiksha - India US Face off by Wg Cdr Donald Michael
  The first India US joint combat aircraft exercise from 1963

• An Airman's tour in Burma - Conversations with Wg Cdr HK Patel -1
  Recollections of a World War Two Veteran who started off the war as an Airman

• Flying Operations on the Burma Front - Conversations with Wg Cdr HK Patel -2
  After completion of flying training, the airman turned officer saw action on the Burma Front

• Independence to the 1962 War - Conversations with Wg Cdr HK Patel -3
  Last in the series of the Interview of Wg Cdr HK Patel - about his India China War experiences.

• Ground Tenures by Wg Cdr Venu Kondath 
  A technical officer's first ground posting at a 'happening place' - Ambala!

• Liberator Tales by Wg Cdr Venu Kondath -
  Recollections of a Flight Signaller with No.6 MR Squadron

• Dakota Dispatches by Wg Cdr Venu Kondath -
  Recollections of Wg Cdr Kondath's experiences from the 1962 Conflict

• The An-12 in the bombing role by Sqn Ldr Douglas Augier
  The unknown story of a band of pilots tasked with a 'suicidal' mission.

• Comments on the An-12 'Bomber' Article  by Wg Cdr RA Rufus
  Wg Cdr Rufus sends in his comments on the Dinky Augier's article..

• Flying the An-12 into Ladakh by Gp Capt  AG Bewoor VM
  How the IAF perfected operations from a 10,500' AGL airfield surrounded by 18.000 ' high mountains.

• IAF Pilots in the USA - The first batch by Air Marshal  Philip Rajkumar
  Experiences of a pilot deputed to the United States Air Force and who flew the F-86 Sabre

• IAF Pilots in the United States by Flt Lt  Peter Brown
  A delightful narration of the stint by a group of Indian Pilots in the United States

• Eye Witness to the Six Day War by Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava 
  A Test Pilot's work in Egypt is interrupted by an unforeseen event - in this case, the Six Day War!

• The Naked Apes in the Indian Air Force   by Group Captain Kapil Bhargava
  A new recruit's view of a hairy problem in the IAF

• Battle of Longewala by Wg Cdr  KS Suresh VrC
  The story of the 45 Tanks Vs 4 Hunters retold by one of the pilots who was there.

• Partition Troubles by Wg Cdr  GV Kuriyan
  Things weren't always smooth during partition, as this young Flying Officer was to find out.

• The Catterpillar Club by Air Vice Marshal  CV Parker, MVC VM
  When the little gremlins combine forces during a flight, you  have an engine fire and a classic baleout from a Tempest!

• The Vampire's Last Flight by Air Marshal Subhash Bhojwani
  The Vampire was retired by the IAF in Dec 75. But IB-1738 was to make one last unofficial flight and is saved the torch!

Encounters with Veterans

• Air Marshal S Raghavendran - Panther One - K Sree Kumar

• Air Marshal MS Chaturvedi - A Profile - Vaibhav Javuli

• Flying Officer OD Agnihotri - Profile and Photo Albums - Arun Agnihotri

• Air Commodore NK Shitoley - A Profile - Mukund Murty

• Air Marshal YV Malse - Dakotas in the North East - Jagan Pillarisetti

• Air Marshal YV Malse - A Tiger Pilot recollects - Jagan Pillarisetti

• Flt Lt AW Barrett - Exceptional Courage

• Tales of Vengeance - Mukund Murty

• Air Cmde HS Ratnagar - Back to India - Jagan Pillarisetti

• Air Cmde HS Ratnagar - Lysanders to Hurricanes - Jagan Pillarisetti

• Wg Cdr CHL Digby - Senior Officer and Retirement - K S Nair

• Wg Cdr CHL Digby - Panther Boss - K S Nair

• Wg Cdr CHL Digby - Squadron Service and Instructional Duties - K S Nair

• Wg Cdr CHL Digby - The Fledgling Years - K S Nair

• Wg Cdr CHL Digby - In the land of the Mikado - K S Nair

• The Sky was the Limit : Wg Cdr Murkot Ramunny - K S Nair

• Wg Cdr PS Bhachu - Flying Otters in NEFA - Anandeep Pannu

• Fg Offr Neville Gill - A World War II Pilot's Story  - S Nanda Kumar

• Air Cmde Peter Wilson PVSM VrC - Part 1 - K S Nair

• Air Cmde Peter Wilson PVSM VrC - Another perspective - Wg Cdr  K S Suresh VrC

• IAF Reunion at Sydney, 2002  - Samir Chopra

Veteran Subsites

• Air Marshal Anand Ramdas Pandit
• Fg Offr OD Agnihotri
• Gp Capt Michael Owen Blake
• Wg Cdr Cecil Henry Lawrence Digby
• Wg Cdr Donald Michael
• Wg Cdr Locksley Percival Fegredo
• Air Marshal S Raghavendran
• Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava
• Sqn Ldr Pramod Chandra Chopra
• Wg Cdr Kukke Sreekantasastry Suresh

Personal Photo Archives

• Sqn Ldr K B Commissariat - Photo Album

• Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar - No.1 Squadron at Trichy

• Air Commodore PM Wilson - Cadet Days Photo Album

• Air Commodore PM Wilson - Congo Dettachment

• Late Flt Lt AW Barrett VrC - Flying training in Canada

• Sqn Ldr PC Chopra VrC - 69 FP Course and 4 Squadron AF

• Sqn Ldr PC Chopra VrC - 1 Squadron, 8 Squadron and the 1965 War

• Sqn Ldr PC Chopra VrC - COO Hashimara and 101 Squadron AF

• Wg Cdr Digby's Photos of No.23 Squadron in 1958

• Wg Cdr Digby's Photos of CTU Hakimpet and the 58 Pilots Course

• Air Marshal AR Pandit PVSM AVSM DFC - Photo Albums

• Group Captain R Sundaresan VrC VM Photo Album

• Wing Commander PS Bhachu's Photo Album (Caribous)

• Air Cmde R H D Singh's Photo Album

• Squadron Leader J F 'Joe' Josephs' Photo Album

• Flight Lieutnant Des Peter's Photos from 221 Squadron

• Flight Lieutnant Des Peter's Auxillary Air Force Days