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| An aerial photograph showing the layout of the
Halwara War memorial. The center obelisk commemorates the pilots who died flying
operations during war time. The obelisk on the left of the photograph is dedicated with
names of those who were killed during peacetime flying. Another similar obelisk has been
constructed on the right after this photograph was taken. |
Halwara Air Force Station is the home for 9 Wing operating
MiG-23BNs. 9 Wing was initially established in the 1950s and was in the center of
action during the 1965 and 71 Wars, operating Hunters in the former and Sukhoi-7s in the
latter.
Seen in these photos is the Halwara War Memorial that
commemorates both the war dead as well as peace time casualties. The memorial
consists of three obelisks - connected by a pathway.
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| The main memorial pillar commemorates eight casualties of
the 65 war and three casualties from the 71 war. |
The center main obelisk is devoted to war
casualties and lists the names of pilots killed in the 1965 and 71 Wars. The names are as
under:
| 1965 (Dedicated by Air Chief Marshal
Arjan Singh on 16th June 69) |
| Sqn Ldr A K Rawlley |
7 Sqn |
| Sqn Ldr S B Bhagwat |
7 Sqn |
| Fg Offr J S Brar |
7 Sqn |
| Flt Lt G S Ahuja |
27 Sqn |
| Sqn Ldr N K Malik |
2 Sqn |
| Flt Lt T K Chaudhury |
27 Sqn |
| Fg Offr F D Bunsha |
7 Sqn |
| Sqn Ldr D P Chatterjee |
7 Sqn |
| 1971 (Dedicated by Air Chief Marshal PC
Lal on 15th April 72) |
| Sqn Ldr G K Arora |
7 GTS |
| Flt Lt H V Singh |
222 Sqn |
| Fg Offr M M Singh |
9 Sqn |
During the 1971 Operations, Flt Lt S K
Chibber of 108 Sqn was lost on a daylight strike into Pakistan. 108 Squadron's parent base
was Bareilly, which could be the reason that Chibbers name is not found on the memorial.
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|
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| The left side obelisk with the names of peace time
aircrew who died in the course of duty. Hunter BA-233 in the background |
|
The right obelisk is still blank - and hopefully remains
so. A Sukhoi-7 in the background. |
The main obelisk is flanked
by two slightly smaller obelisks connected by a pathway. The one on the left has several
names related to peacetime accidents. The obelisk on the right is still blank. The
names on the left obelisk are not too clear. Since the names have been painted and not
inscribed, the legibility has been affected by the elements. It is clear that the names
are as under:
| Lest We Forget |
Date on Memorial |
Remarks |
| Flt Lt S P Singh |
?? |
|
| Plt Offr S R Kamath |
28.6.?? |
|
| Plt Offr A K Jain |
20.8.?? |
|
| Fg Offr M P Singh |
5.1.?? |
|
| Flt Lt D J DiSilva |
9.2.?? |
|
| Flt Lt U R Potnis |
18.8.66 |
Gnat Cr |
| Fg Offr H S Chouhan |
20.??.?? |
|
| Fg Offr K S Dalal |
5.10.?? |
|
| Plt Offr T S Sandhu |
7.11.6? |
|
| Fg Offr K S Johal |
21.8.70 |
Gnat Cr |
| Sqn Ldr K S Rao |
15.3.71 |
Gnat Cr |
| Fg Offr V K Khajuria |
10.2.72 |
Sukhoi-7 Cr |
| ???????? (illegible) |
?? |
|
| Flt Lt R Raghu |
?? |
|
| Flt Lt I S Gohil |
17.6.87 |
Helicopter Cr |
| Fg Offr P Sharma |
17.6.87 |
| Sqn Ldr S K Dogra |
8.6.88 |
Helicopter Cr |
| Fg Offr J Singh |
8.6.88 |
| Wg Cdr Sanjoy Bose |
19.9.91 |
|
| Sqn Ldr R Ravindranath |
8.9.93 |
MiG-23 Cr |
| Sqn Ldr M Rajkumar |
25.4.2000 |
MiG-23 Cr |
The Aircraft
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| Two views of
Hunter BA-233 at the monument. The Hunter is silver scheme, having lost its original two
tone camouflage in a repaint. BA-233 was an ex-RAF Hunter with serial XE537. No
information is available on its career. |
As with other memorials, two
aircraft are displayed at the memorial . Hawker Hunter [BA-233]
and Sukhoi-7BMK [B-785] form the backdrop for
this monument. It is apt that these two aircraft were chosen, after all the Hunter was the
mainstay of Halwara in the 65 Operations and the Sukhoi was at the forefront during 1971.
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| Sukhoi-7 BMK B-785
on the right side of the monument. |
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