FIRST AIR BATTLE POST KOREAN WAR
Manna Murdeshwar
When
dawn unfolded on the morning of 1st Sept, 1965, on the Green Fields
of Ambala airport, we of No. 23 Sqn. AF
did not realize what was in store for us.
The “buchi woochies” ( hairy caterpillars) of Green Fields had crept
onto our flying overalls and ‘g’ suits and we were busy brushing these off when
word was transmitted to detach 4 Gnats to Halwara for ORP duties. ORP
duties were routine in those days, so not many eyebrows were raised. Sikand, Pat, Gill and Kitcha were accordingly
instructed “to get there!”
On
2nd Sept, 65 at about 1000 hrs, instructions received from WAC named
Johnny Greene, Manna Murdeshwar, AJS Sandhu and Trevor Keelor to fly four armed Gnats to Pathankot. Johnny and Sandhu, thus became attached to
No. 23 Sqn. We took off in the afternoon
of the same day in a low level abreast formation .
We
landed at Pathankot, at sunset and while taxiing to the dispersal I was greeted
by dejected and sad looking faces of course mates & others standing
alongside the taxiway. It was only when
we all walked out to the Technical Area, that we learnt of the four Vampires
that had been shot down on their attempt
to neutralise the large scale Pak Army’s thrust towards Akhnoor.
We were unaware of this major Pak operation and the consequence of
Indian Army’s SOS to the IAF for air support that resulted in the rather
misguided deployment of the ineffective Vampires from Pune. This , if I may call it, was a foolish
endeavour, as it resulted in the loss of
four Vampires and three pilots (one
bailed out). The apparent intention of the
Pak Army was to make a rapid thrust from
the Chamb-Jauhria sector to the Akhnoor bridge, thereby cutting off J & K State from India. The unfortunate decision of deploying
Vampires against well- armed Pak forces
was a reflection of the poor analysis and decision making abilities of our
then, rather naive leadership.
When
we assembled at the temporary makeshift office given to us, we were pleasantly
surprised to find Sikand and his team also present. On their landing at Halwara, they were
redirected to Pathankot. Thus, there
were eight of us comprising the No. 23 Sqn. Dett. Sikand, though senior most, realised he was
not an experienced combat pilot and therefore graciously asked Johnny to become
the leader of the Dett..
The so called brief given to us on 02 Sept late evening, was only to
develop any suitable tactics that would result in at least one Sabre
casualty. Two Mystere Squadrons based at Pathankot could also be
included to evolve any tactics that would yield the desired results. Johnny
with the concurrence of the Mysteres’ Commanders
drew out a plan that would draw the Sabres onto the Mysteres flying at about 20,000
ft. whence they would paint on the Pak radar. The Gnats at tree top heights,
would then climb up to engage the Sabres. That would be the indication for the
Mysteres to swoop low and return to base.
On
completion of the plans, we trudged along to the Officers’ Mess where we learnt
that no rooms were available for us. It
was already about 2130 hrs so we had our dinner, pulled a few charpoys outside a room and slept in our flying overalls. At about 3 am we were woken up, and clutching our flying gear, sleepily trudged along to the dispersal with
no vehicle, bearer, or tea in sight! “Wheels up” was scheduled at 0600 hrs. After the Met briefing, all eight of us taxied
out and waited for the Mysteres to get air borne. We then took off in
formations, fully armed with guns and drop tanks to cater for the low level flight
and air combat, that was likely to ensue.
It
must be appreciated that the Pak radar was far superior to ours. While the
Sabres were always within sight of Pak radars, our 230 SU at Amritsar
and the 501 SU at Barnala, were not as efficient to control and guide or warn us
of any threat that could develop.
As we arrived at the Chamb sector, the Mysteres at height, were picked
up by Pak radar and as foreseen the
Sabres arrived to meet them. At 501 SU’s
warning, the Mysteres, dropped height and both our Gnat formations moved up to engage the Sabres.
We were in a finger four a/c formation, led by Johnny and self, as
No.2, Sikand No.3 & Pat No.4. The rear formation were spread out abreast,
as normally done, led by Trevor, with No,2 Gill, No.3 Sandhu, & No.4 Kitcha.
In the combat that followed, a
lone Sabre was spotted behind me prompting Trevor to call a starboard ‘break’. Siki,
unable to maintain position, fell
off, and disappeared from sight. Pat, who also ‘got out of phase’, spotted a F104
& turned into him hoping for a possible engagement, but without success.
Both Johnny's & my ‘ break’ made the Sabre fall out, placing it in front of
Trevor who successfully fired at the Sabre. Sandhu who followed, also fired a few more shots, for luck!
Johnny & I landed together, with
Pat & the rest following at intervals. Siki unfortunately was not with us
and we learnt later that he had landed in Pakistan. That brought to a close the
first day's air battle.
The shooting down of a Sabre brought
much joy to WAC. Trevor was recommended for a Vr.C which was promptly announced in the evening’s News
Bulletin over All India Radio. ( But much after the hostilities were over, we
learnt that the ‘shot down Sabre’ had purportedly, landed at its base full of
bullet holes). Nevertheless, it was a
memorable air battle and the kudos were rightly earned, since it raised the
morale of the Service and the country!
(As an aside I would like to
state that the late AVM Johnny Greene Vr.C., did not receive all the credit he
deserved. To my mind he was one of the top combat pilots that I have had the opportunity to fly with. Not only was he an excellent
flyer but also a good combat instructor who could explain and demonstrate each manoeuvre very lucidly.
I was fortunate to learn more about combat flying from him at the mini DFLS
Course, he conducted at Ambala. God bless his soul.)
(I
would also like to place on record that I had the occasion to engage in a
couple of more air to air combats with the PAF Sabres. Without holding back any
punches, let me state that I developed a professional respect for the PAF
pilots’ flying abilities. On both my
engagements with them, they were initially in an advantageous position. But as
they lost the advantage during the gradual descent to lower heights, they
managed to ‘notch a flap’, half roll
& rapidly disappear. We, in the
Gnats, devoid of flaps, could not half roll at those heights, thereby remaining
at a disadvantage.)
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