A tribute to those Anglo-Indian servicemen & women, to whom we owe a huge debt for their contribution towards world peace & stability. We can never repay you for the freedom that you won for us, but we will never forget you.
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Ian "Locky" Loughran (2005)
(The following excerpt is from "Loughran - the family in India". Reproduced here with the kind permission of Ian "Locky" Loughran)
Ian Steele, is the eldest of Albert & Elizabeth Loughran’s eight offspring.
Locky 1951
This photo, taken shortly after getting his “Wings” in the Royal Indian Air Force, was sent to Mum in 1951. He flew fighter aircraft in the RIAF/IAF. He commanded a Night Fighter Squadron and received a Gallantry Award in 1961.
Gallantry Award
As an athlete he did eight track and field events, held the Pole vault record in school, university and the IAF. He also won the Slalom at the Winter Warfare School, Gulmarg, Kashmir. Gliding was one of his hobbies, he holds an FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) Three Diamond Badge.
1968 Indian gliding champs
After early retirement as a Squadron Leader in 1966, he continued flying professionally till 1997, when quadruple cardiac bypass surgery forced him to hang up his helmet and goggles. He has flown 56 types of aircraft from gliders to the Big Jets. His other hobbies are wildlife photography and painting. His Aviation art features in Indian Aviation magazines, and on http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Aircraft/Models/Paintings08.html Ian has four children:-- (1) Valerie Catherine, married to Trevor McKenzie in Perth, Australia. They have two sons, Brent and Luke. (2) Steve Albert, has a daughter Jasmine, they both live in Melbourne, Australia. (3) Sandra Anne, married to Stephen Foster, have a son Jethro and daughter Nadine. They live in Hove, England. (4) Ian David, lives in London, England.
Raymond Campagnac
A fascinating and informative account of the military career of the late Raymond Campagnac, taken from the soon to be published memoirs of his father, former Mayor of Rangoon, Charles Haswell Campagnac. Raymond was a descendant of Charles Campagnac, mentioned briefly by Herbert Alick Stark, in his book, The Call of the Blood.
An account of his brother by Colonel Charles Campagnac.
Micky Blake
Joining the Air Force
I joined the Air Force with an incorrect name. I was not christened MPO. It so happened that when I got the forms to apply for admission to the IAF I left them on my desk in my room at St Xavier's Calcutta). At the time I had a girl friend in Burma named Paddy. Whilst I was out of my room one of my good friends snuck into my room. Seeing the forms on my desk he took it upon himself to fill them in for me. To my horror I saw he had added Paddy's initial in the middle of M and O. I was not going back to Fort William to get fresh forms as I felt they would think me nuts for not being able to fill in simple forms without making mistakes!! So I submitted them with MPO and as a result was stuck with the extra P through my Air Force career!! However, after coming to OZ, I dropped the P.
Our course (18th) reported to Lahore but we were there only to bekitted out and left for Bombay. The course picture was taken ineither Beach Candy in Bombay or at the Parsee Orphanage in Poona. Diggy Barrett was in my course, the 18th. He was one of those who went to Canada to finish his flying training. Our course was not the only one from which cadets went to Canada. The 17th and 19th courses also sent those who volunteered. I was glad many years later that I had not gone to Canada. As a result I saw action in Burma. In Australia any Commonwealth personnel who saw action in WW2 is classified as a War veteran. As such when I retired, I was awarded a War Veteran's pension more than what the British gave to people like David Bouche (from the same course - but went to Canada).
Course Picture of 18 PIC from the Initial Training Wing
c 1943, ITW Bombay. Flt Cdt Micky Blake (holding sword of honour) , Flt Cdt AW Barrett (Holding the Flight Championship Trophy), Flt Lt Hussey (the CO of ITW) and Flt Cdt Singha (with the Subjects prize). On the ground is Sgt George who is the senior NCO incharge at ITW
Posting to No.42 RAF
After finishing OTU on Hurricanes we were sent to Ranchi to do a course at Specialised Low Attack Instructor School (SLAIS).
On completion of this course, three of us, Hank Datta, Bolshie Misra and I were posted to No 42 RAF Squadron by error. No 42 was based at a place called Tulihal in the Imphal Valley. The other two went on to join the unit a day ahead of me. When I arrived at the squadron, there was no sign of either Hank or Bolshie. The CO told me that as they were Hindus, he felt they would not be able to feed them. I told him that I was also an IAF guy so he had better send me back also. To this he said that I wasn't going anywhere!! They were short of pilots and they made a major mistake by sending two great pilots back.
No. 42 Squadron Hurries were meant mainly for bombing missions. They had additional bullet proofing armour and had only two 303 guns, no cannon. They could carry two 500 lb bombs. I can't remember whether the Mk 2 Hurries in 3 Squadron could carry 500 lb bombs as they had four 20 mm cannon added to their load..
Hurricane down!
On 14th August 1944, we were on a sortie of Hurricanes to attack a target on the Chindwin River. We had crossed the Burma border when I noticed splashes on the dashboard and the engine temp rising. I called the leader and informed him that I had a glycol leak. He told me to jettison my bombs and return to base. Since I was not sure that I would make base and I was not keen on bailing out over the densest forest that I had ever seen, I made for a village called Tamu. I knew there was a grass strip in the vicinity of Tamu.
As luck would have it, the moment I got to the airstrip, the engine seized. I then proceeded to land on the airstrip. I had to belly land the aircraft as it was the monsoon period and the airstrip was most likely water-bound. Landing wheels down would have been dicey. On landing I got out and ran into the jungle. However the undergrowth was taller than me. As a result, I was forced to walk on the road leading to Tamu, which was a few miles away. I was armed with a sten gun, a pistol and a kukhri. I have never been so scared in my life.
The army had taken Tamu but had not reached the airstrip. On my hike I passed a two-man Jap tank, which had been knocked out. But I was not interested in investigating it!! When I finally arrived on the outskirts of Tamu, I was stopped by a West African soldier who was on guard duty on the road. He must have been surprised to see me coming out of the wrong side, for he lined me up with his rifle. I did not know how to address him, and all I could think of yelling was SAMBO!!! Not very politically correct these days!!
The CO of the Africans told me that when they took the village they counted about 800 dead Japs. I was very surprised as two other squadrons and mine had bombed Tamu for three days and I had not seen even one Jap. There was a journalist covering the capture of Tamu. He was returning to Imphal and gave me a lift back to my squadron. The looks on the faces of my squadron comrades when I walked into the Mess were one of amazement! I don't think they expected to see me again so soon!!
When we finally took the airstrip, the Squadron sent a party to inspect my aircraft .They brought back my parachute and a glove they thought was mine. It actually was a Jap glove which had Japanese writing on it. I must have got out just in time!!
With 3 Squadron
When I arrived in 3 Squadron, apart from the CO, I think I was the only one who had seen Ops. Yet in my logbook I was described as Certified U/T Pilot!
The photograph below was taken at a Grass Strip outside Kohat. For some reason, No. 3 Sqdn used to go to this strip called Dhoda for night flying. I could never understand why the Cobras had to do this as Kohat was a perfectly good airstrip. The picture shows Flying Officer Jacobs (Jake) and myself, before the squadron went to Burma.
Fg Offrs Jacobs (Jake) and Micky Blake with Hurricane 'Fifinella' of 3 Sqn at Dhoda before departure to Burma
We both shared the Hurricane [Fifinella as Jake named her]. All the art work on Fifi was done by Jake.!! Those days pilots were teamed in pairs and were allotted an aircraft to share. They normally flew in their own aircraft unless it was on inspection. Even as late as 1947 this was the normal practice. In 3 Sqdn I was given a Tempest [Queenie] as my personal aircraft with my own fitter and rigger. It is a pity this system did not continue
As far as I can remember (the CO) Prithipal Singh was killed at the end of Dec 44, as the Squadron took off on 11 Jan 45. Shivdev Singh was the CO of the Squadron later on. He was one of the few who had spent time with RAF Bomber Command in the European theatre. I will never forget Shivdev boring us at Mess meetings on the finer points of ditching a Stirling!! Not that there was the slightest chance of any of us ever flying a Stirling!! It would be more to the point if he told us how to ditch a Hurricane!
We went via Lahore, Delhi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Gaya, Alipore, Comilla and Bawli Bazaar. Why we took so many stops I can't understand. We did not have an airborne support ground crew with us. Our ground crew had gone well ahead of us by train, so I can only presume we took our time so that they would be there to receive us. All our stops had RAF ground crews looking after us.
Micky Blake (Standing fourth from right) with rest of No.3 Squadron IAF during their move to the Burma Front in January 1945. The CO is Sqn Ldr Shivdev Singh
Pathan Bearers
We were put up in Bashas ie huts made from bamboo. It was better than the tents we were housed in in Akyab. When I arrived in 3 Squadron in Aug 44. it was the norm that the Aabdar in the Mess was the Boss of all our bearers. He was the one who decided who would be your bearer! Anyway he deputed an elderly bearer to work for me [we will call him Abdul] .One day Dhatigara came and told me that I should sack Abdul as he had threatened to kill Dhati. I queried Abdul as to why he wanted to do in Dhati, he informed that Dhati had abused him. I was aware that Dhati had a foul mouth. As such I told Dhati that he had no right to abuse my employee.
The Pathan servants considered themselves equal to the Sahibs and did not take kindly to being abused. As such, I refused to sack Abdul. Those days our bearers stood behind us at meals. At dinner one night I asked Abdul to get me the tomato sauce. He went looking for it and saw another officer had it and was just about to help himself to the sauce. Before he could, Abdul grabbed it from him and gave it to me!! This did not go down well with the officer!! The next morning the Aabdar informed me that he had sacked Abdul and that my new bearer was Jabbar!
Jabbar went with me to Burma and was with me in Madras when we came out of Burma. One day before going to work I told him to go to the local durzie and pick up the uniforms I had ordered. On returning for lunch I asked Jabbar if he had picked up the uniforms. In a very angry answer he informed that they were not ready. I didn't think much about it till the durzie came in the evening with my uniforms. He asked me never to send Jabbar to him in future. On enquiring why, he said that Jabbar was so angry the uniforms were not ready that he proceeded to give him [the durzie] a hammering!!
That's the sort of guys the Pathans are! I must say though, if they worked for you they would probably die for you.
Asghar Khan, American Visitors
I will always remember Asghar Khan he was the Flt/Cdr of No 9 Sqdn. In a nearby airfield was an American Squadron equipped with Lightnings [the twin boom] fighters. They made the mistake of calling our Hurricanes peashooters!! Asghar invited them to a dogfight. This took place over the base. There were two of them against Asghar by himself .It was a delight to watch as he got on their tails and there was nothing they could do to shake him off. They were a very subdued pair of USAF pilots when the landed!!
I remember both a Liberator and a Mustang that landed at our airstrip in Akyab. The Liberator was an RAF one. I can never forget the sight of the ball gunner lying in a pool of blood . I think he had been shot in the head. I don't remember the Mustang being black. As far as I remember he was able to get airborne quite soon. Yes, they seemed to be permitted to smoke whilst airborne!
US aircrews were terrible at aircraft recognition during WW2. On one occasion they attacked either 7 or 8 Sqdn’s Vultee Vengances and killed an air gunner by the name of Ball. He was the brother of one of my classmates in a school in Burma. There was no need for this attack on the Vengances as all allied aircraft had broad white bands on the wings besides the Vengances were basically US aircraft.
I had an incident with a Lightning. I was on my way to Cox’s Bazaar from Akyab to have some aerial photos processed when I suddenly saw a Lightning about 200 yards on my starboard. Knowing of the attack on the Vengances I was prepared to have to take him on. Luckily he realised I was friendly!!
Bakshi - IO
One night in Akyab we had an air raid warning so about six of us jumped into the slit trench that was next to my tent. We had a Sikh Intelligence officer called Bakshi. Seeing us in the trench he called out to us "My Gad Ya what is wrang with you. Are you scared of the Japs". Stupidly we all got out of the trench and sat on its edge.
A few minutes later an ack ack gun fired behind us. In the scramble to get back into the trench, Bakshi was in first and we all landed on top of him!! He wasn't very pleased with us!!
Another story about Bakshi! He was quite rotund. He was debriefing us after a sortie. The first one to be debriefed was Randhir Singh [known as Singhs Lair]. Randhir usually saw things no one else saw. He was patiently telling Bakshi all the things he had seen. I can still see Bakshi -- he took off his glasses looked at Randhir and said in a loud voice, "Randhira you saw f--- bloody all!!!" Pardon my French but I was there and I will never forget the look of disbelief on Randhir's face!
Members of No.3 Squadron on Akyab Beach. L to R: John Mack, Brian Stidston, Reggie David, Pundalik Pawar, Micky Blake, Lloyd-Fonceca (as Lloyd was known till he dropped 'Fonceca'). On the ground is Hank Datta. We were all rather skinny except for Hank!
Jock Lloyd was my course but as far as I can remember he did not come to the SLAIS course. I am not sure where he went after OTU because he did not join us when we went to SLAIS. He only joined 3 Sqdn when we were in Akyab not long before we were brought back to India. Brian Stidson, Cazalet , Frankie Francis, Hector Beale were the others who joined us in Akyab
After Independence, MPO Blake served with and saw action with No.8 Squadron in the Jammu and Kashmir Operations of 1947-48. He was awarded the Vir Chakra during that time. Later in his career, he flew the first Vampire fighters in the IAF. He also commanded No.7 Squadron and in 1961 was involved in Operations against the Portugese in the Liberation of Diu.
1947-48 KASHMIR OPERATIONS
My Experiences in the 47-48 War
Operations in Kashmir
On one sortie in Kashmir I was doing a recce down a very lonely road when I saw three figures in burkhas. I felt that three women would never be on such a lonely road on their own. So, I turned around to have another look! I was not surprised to see three men who divested themselves of the burkhas and were legging it to a hut which was about 100 yards off the road. I wish I could have timed them for I'm sure they broke the Olympic record for the 100 yards! I did catch up with them in the hut but had no idea with what success! I did not see them exiting the hut!
Pandit Nehru addressing the Jawans at Jammu Airstrip (Probably in 1948)
Another time I caught a camel caravan loaded with loot very close to the Pak border to which they were heading. The looters evidently heard and saw me for I noticed them shinning up a large tree .On my firing at the tree I have never again seen so many bodies leaping out of a tree!! I don't know whether they made the border.
About that story regarding my attacking a tank in a Harvard that is in Kapil Bhargava's article on Anglo Indians [1]. I would now correct it as it was not a tank, but a gaggle of Pakis who were stealing cattle and herding them across the border. I don't know how Jackie Pawar got the idea of a tank. I was given a reprimand for my effort to thwart the enemy. I was most annoyed to learn that three other pilots who were senior to me never even got a reprimand for doing unauthorised low flying over the Ravi river to ogle the women having baths. In consequence one Tempest one Harvard came back with cables wound around their props and one Auster pranged on the banks of the Ravi!!!
Skardu Raid
8 Squadron's diary mentions an attack on Skardu by myself and Fg Offr Mathur. Fg Offr Livy Mathur and I did this trip to Skardu on the 9th Feb 48. We had tried to do the trip a few days before but Livy's oxygen system packed up so we returned without completing the mission. On the 9th we had to climb to about 26000 ft because of cloud and it was the first time I ever had to use the High Gear on the Tempest. Our target was not Skardu but a village called RONDU which was further west than Skardu. We were blown far off course by the easterly jetstreams which no one had ever told us about.
However we broke cloud when we hit the Indus and I was able to pin-point where we were. We followed the River Indus in a westerly direction and hit Skardu and then Rondu. We were told there was a Pir in Rondu who was making a lot of trouble. He evidently lived in the largest white house in the village and we were asked to hit it with rockets. As we needed overload tanks for the trip we could not carry bombs.
We both attacked the biggest house with rockets but when we tried to strafe the area our cannon failed to fire .I could only think this was due to our flying at these heights and the guns had seized. I cannot vouch for the amount of damage we did but I hope we gave the old bugger a fright! We flew alongside Mt K2 the 2nd highest mountain on our way to Rondu.
On our way back we flew past Nanga Parbat and when I started letting down I saw a structure which comprised of a hut on four tall poles. As there was no other habitation near by I was intrigued to know what it was and why it was on it's own!
The army had no idea what it was, 40 years later in Australia Lofty Plomer lent me a book by an Englishman who had visited Gilgit as a boy .In the book was a picture of the structure. It was a refuge for the Dak Runners those days to be safe from the Leopards and Bears at night!!
Minoo Engineer asked me later when Skardu was beseiged if I would drop supplies to the garrison in Skardu from Tempest overload tanks. I said I would have a go if he wanted me to do so, but it never materialised, maybe Skardu fell before we could plan the operation.
Dons Crash
Jammu 1948. Tom Anderson , Micky Blake and Don Michael, with Micky's Bull Terrier 'Sandy'
This is a photo taken in Jammu 1948. Tom Anderson , myself and Don Michael. Later Don had a very nasty accident when his left tyre was either shot up or it deflated in flight. As a result he did one and a half somersaults and ended up on his back. I had landed ahead of him and really thought he had had it.I remember Doc Mukerjee coming to me and saying Don had had it,as he saw the red brake fluid spilt on the ground and thought it was blood!!
Amazingly he came out with only a strained shoulder. Pushong and Aquino pulled him out of the aircraft. Someone then switched off the electrics and the aircraft blew up. His time had not come!!
Change of CO
8 Squadron Tempest at Jammu 1948. In the front from L to R Plt Offr Nagina Singh (Eng), Fg Offr BK (Scorpy) Ghosh, Plt Offr Vernie Vaz, Flt Lt Micky Blake, Sqn Ldr Padam Singh Gill (CO), Fg Offr Dhan, Fg Offr Livvy Mathur, Plt Offr Bhatnagar.
I was the Flight Commander in 8 Sqdn under Padam Singh Gill. He was a great CO . Always backed his boys no matter what. He got posted out because he backed me against Minoo Engineer. Because we were due to have rain in Jammu, Minoo wanted me to take the Sqdn to Amritsar. I was not keen to do this as I felt we had been very busy and it would give the ground crew a break.They had been working from before dawn to late at night for weeks and I felt they needed a break. I suggested to Minoo that 7 Squadron who were in Palam could be brought to Amritsar for a few days but to no avail. However, as I had got into my aircraft Padam arrived back from Palam and parked the Harvard next to me. He asked me where I was going and he saw I was not happy about going to Amritsar. He told me to get out of the aircraft and told Minoo the Sqdn was staying in Jammu. Minoo got into the Harvard and flew to Palam. The next day Padam was posted out. I never forgave Minoo for that.
Diggy Barrett:
Diggy Barrett was my course, the 18th. I have a photo of him and me at our passing out from ITW. I had won the Sword of Honour and he as our Flight Commander is holding the Flight trophy. He was one of my course who volunteered to go to Canada for training. For some reason they did not complete their training whilst overseas. They returned to India and completed it at home. As such none of them who went to Canada saw operations in WW2. Barrett was posted to No 8 Squadron as Adjutant. I was the Flight Commander . However Aunty (AL?) Berry decided that he would swap our roles so Barrett became the Flight Commander . I was in Palam and Barrett was in Jammu. As such I was not there when he crashed, from what I heard it was on takeoff or just after. I have no idea as to the cause.
While I was in Jammu the strip was grass but I know that the army was converting it to a bitumen hessian one. The Tempests of 8 Squadron had Blue painted Spinners, while 7 Squadron had Red Spinners.
Vir Chakra:
I do not have my citation. I was never given a copy of it. All I can honestly say is I had to go to Lucknow in the early fifties, either 52 or 53, to receive the award. There were two of us being presented with our rewards, me and a Jawan. My citation was read out first then the jawan's. After listening to his citation I thought to myself "What the hell am I getting a Vr C for?" What he did was so fantastic, it made me look like a Pussy cat as compared to his effort!!
Notes:
[1] Quote from the Article - "Mickey Blake was always cheerful – angry for about two minutes only if greatly provoked. In the Kashmir War he was once flying a Harvard with SR (Jackie) Pawar as the other pilot. They spotted a Pak tank on the riverbank in Pak territory. Mickey Blake decided to take it on with the Harvard’s puny little gun. It did no harm to the tank, which fired back and hit the aircraft’s canopy. The shattered plastic damaged Jackie’s helmet, injured him and made him deaf. Fortunately the doctors were able to do the required repairs. But more than half a century later he still carries some plastic pieces in his neck."
Copyright © GP CAPT MPO BLAKE. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GP CAPT MPO BLAKE is prohibited.
*Gp Capt MPO Blake VrC now retired, lives in Sydney, Australia.
© 2007 Micky Blake
Douglas Augier
The Antonov 12 in the Bombing Role
By Squadron Leader (Retd.) Douglas Augier
The Initial Trials
The use of the An-12 in the bombing role was conceived by Gp Capt Surinder Singh (affectionately known as Susu) Director of Operations in the then Western Air Command. In May 1965 he asked for a pilot from 44 Squadron with bombing experience to do some trials at Tilpat.
Although there were pilots who had done bombing on Liberators they all found reasons not to go and sent me who had not done a single bomb drop. I flew to Palam on the 14th May and did a familiarisation fly over Tilpat range.
On the 20th May I did 2 drops of 8 x 500 lbs. bombs. The bombs were put on cast iron cradles specifically made to fit the four moving transporter rails on which loads were normally carried for supply drops. For normal supply drops, the axle which connected the four transporter rails to ensure that they moved together was removed, as it was found the axle slowed down the release of the load.
However for the first bombing trial they replaced axle on the transporters to ensure stability and the pin which defused the bomb was linked by a thin rope to wires which ran along the insides of the aircraft loading bay. The first briefing we were asked to do the drop from about 1Kms but our drops were usually carried out much lower. Gp Capt Surinder Singh agreed to the lower drop.
On the first drop the axle on the transporters were holding up the bombs and as I thought the bombs would overshoot the target. There was no way in which to abort the drop once it had commenced so I pulled up hard and the bombs fell out. I did a tight turn and looked down and there was a huge cloud of dust and I thought I had bombed Tilpat village. One can imagine the thoughts that raced through my mind at the time. I called up Surinder and asked if him if everything was all right and he replied that we would talk about it at the debriefing. At the debriefing he said the many of the bombs had overshot the target.
We decided to stop using the axle on the transporters and let the bombs roll out by gravity for the next drop which was uneventful. As dropping at Tilpat seemed to be dangerous I recommended that we do further drops in a more suitable range.
The 1965 War
In September 1965 the political situation had turned tense and all crews were asked to remain on 24 hours standby . I flew in ammunition and troops to Pathankot on the 1st. and 3rd of September from Kanpur and Nagpur. I was surprised to see a few families watching the take offs and landings from flying control the operations as a number of sorties were being flown to the sensitive areas on the border. I was anxious, as I had a 8 ton load of ammunition which was being unloaded and had there been a strike it would have been disastrous. After unloading we were then sent to Hindon and on the way the low fuel lights came on and as we landed just as a heavy shower of rain came in from the opposite direction. As Hindon was short of fuel in or rather they wanted to preserve what they had they gave us the minimum we needed to get back to Chandigarh.
On the evening 4th of September all An-12 aircraft based in Chandigarh were ordered to go south. I was sent ahead to report on the weather conditions as a weather front was over Central India. It was dark when we took off and I remember the excessive R/T natter between Pakistan Airlines aircraft and Palam flying control and here we were broadcasting to the world that a large number of aircraft were heading south. I flew through the weather front and for the first time and only time saw St.Elmo's fire dashing around the cockpit windshield. We were met at the airfield by Gp Capt Molokai who seemed to want to take over operations . The next morning we were sent to Poona and took more troops to Pathankot via Chandigarh. We then flew to Pathankot again and back to Chandigarh.
On landing back at Chandigarh I was then told that five crews had been selected to carry out a "special operation" and I and my "bombing crew " were one of them. We were to assemble in Kanpur and flew there that night. Before going I asked that the pilots seats in the aircraft be refitted with the armour piercing that was removed during day to day operations to increase the payload. I cannot remember the exact weight but they were extremely heavy. The captains selected for the "special task" were Wg Cdr Reggie Rufus1, Sqn Ldr Singha (who along with Flt Lt Dicky Raphael now a dentist in Perth was a guest of the Nagas for a number of years2) Sqn Ldr PK Datta and one whose name I cannot remember (possibly Sqn Ldr Desoares) I got the impression that the captains and crew selected were not exactly blue eyed boys in the scheme of things.
I could feel the unspoken of tension among the crews that were assembled in Kanpur. I was the only person who had ever dropped bombs and knew the drill and so had to hastily briefed the rest of the crews.
On the 6th evening we were ordered to go to Palam to load up for a bombing mission. After the first two aircraft took off they were sent back as Palam was under and air raid attack. They flew back and unfortunately or may be fortunately one aircraft taxied facing another and the taxi track was blocked. An-12 do not have reversible pitch propellers and so cannot reverse like the C-130s. This was about 7 or 8 p.m. and all the airmen on the base had returned to their billets. We called them and they came and pushed the aircraft so we were in a position to taxi out and take off for Palam.
We landed about midnight and they were to load our aircraft. Reggie Rufus was called for a briefing he and spoke to the AOC-in-C Western Air Command. (Air Marshal R Rajaram) When he returned we were told to head for Hakimpet. It is my impression that when he told them that we were untrained, they asked him if he was scared. I am not sure as to whether I had discussed with him that sending untrained crews was a great risk and possibly not worth the effort. I will admit it was an anxious time for me and one I would not like to go through again.
As we set off for Hakimpet I decided that we would go low level for practice but after flying for about 10 minutes my navigator told me he was "uncertain of his position." I am quoting the words written on the navigation room of No 1 Air Force Academy in Begumpet. "Man is never lost, he is only uncertain of his position".
We climbed and landed at Hakimpet in the early hours of the morning. The day after we landed in Hakimpet Reggie Rufus flew back to Palam for a briefing . He was briefed that we should start training immediately and standby to be called up. Security was tight in Hakimpet. We got off the aircrew bus and were heading for the aircraft when a sentry shouted "Halt who goes there? Password" My reply was not exactly polite Probably " 'Surinder Singh' off".
During our training we called in the local artillery and asked them about the radar controlled anti aircraft L24s which Pakistan used. The officer replied that an An-12 shows up on the radar as a Squadron of Hunters.. It was evident then that the tactical method would be to go in low and at night.
My log book records that every night we did a low level cross country not above 500 feet for the next 7 nights and one day sortie of fighter affiliation. The first night we tried to go in formation at night !!! I will not forget that as we reached the first turning point I was almost looking inside Reggie Rufus cockpit. At the debriefing after landing his navigator, whose name I remember but shall remain nameless, said that he had changed course a bit so that he would be on the correct heading for the next leg. I resisted the urge to strangle him on the spot. We stopped training about the 17th September which must have been about the time that a cease fire came into force.
It was in May 1966 that we started using the bombing range at Poona. We did a joint exercise with the Canberras and I remember after we dropped the bombs the range was closed as we managed to blow out the target. Experience had taught me that if you line up a set of rivets on the nose of the aircraft as you run in to the Dropping Zone you do a good drop.
Post Script.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
I left the Air Force to migrate to Australia in 1968 and in a few years the Bangla Desh Operations started. I wrote to Air Chief Marshal P.C.Lal offering my "Experienced" services. I did this even though I was not on the reserve and had been denied "non-effective" benefits by some known but unnamed Under Secretary in Air Headquarters. ACM Lal sent me a letter which thanking me and also letting me know that they had the situation well in hand. I still have the letter which reminds me of the many happy memories I have of my days in the I.A.F.
There are a few memories which I was privileged to be a part of when flying the An-12s in 44 Squadron..
· Seeing a meteorological mirage after take off and heading for a Rohtang Pass there were the mountains ahead of me and then a stratum of blue sky above which was another layer of mountains compressed as a broad band across the sky. and then the blue sky again. There is information on the internet as to how this occurs. I have seen Rohtang Pass from about 200 miles south and could identify it.This is how far astronauts see the earth from when orbiting so one can get that feeling.
· Witnessing the full eclipse of the sun at Leh one day. An eerie sight , blue skies and darkness and the birds making a noise as if they are going to roost.
· Watching the Dalai Lama come out of the An-12 (pilot Sqn Ldr PK Datta). I took in his party in the second aircraft and as I watched him coming out of the aircraft all the people who had come to welcome him lay flat on the ground and they started blowing those long trumpets (sometime seen in Switzerland) which made a strange noise. It gave me goose bumps.
· Passing a flock of geese in the winter of Kar Tso at 7.3 Kms. almost had a bird strike. Buzzing the horses on the mountains in the snow near Kar Tso (Tso means lake) ) which was a bit naughty of me.
· The dosas that they made when you landed at Leh among the best that I have tasted.
· Moonlight drops at Stakna just before Leh.
· Giving an army officer who had a bereavement in his family a seat on the aircraft as he would have missed the ceremonies if he could not get home in time.
· Taking a large number of troops out on a flight from Leh. The aircraft staggered of the ground and when I landed I had the passengers line up on the tarmac and there were 120 or so of them.
· Taking a tank out of Leh and being offered a case of whisky for the effort. Did this in the winter.
· Beating up my parents house in Ranchi and watching them on the front lawn waving towels at me.(naughty- court martial offence) I also went to Rohtang Pass to look for a possible DZ they needed to make the road to Leh. At the top of the pass there was a cha wallah but because of the height of the place they used pressure cookers to boil the water. The valley on the other side where we spent the night lends itself to transcendental meditation.
Thank you to the crews who flew with me and shared so many breakfasts on Ladakh Airlines (No 44) You needed to pick your crew to have a good breakfast.
Thank you to the ground crews who worked so hard to keep the aircraft flying. Master Warrant Officer Samuels hardly ever went home. He was an outstanding officer and I hope he got an award for services beyond the call of duty.
© 2002 Douglas Augier
