92 years of touching sky with glory

On October 8, 1932, the then Viceroy of India, Lord Willingdon, gave his ascent to Act XIV of 1932, which gave wings to what is today among the largest and finest air forces around the globe. The Indian Air Force commemorates the beginning of its chequered journey from a handful of lumbering metal and fabric airframes to operating at the outer fringes of the earth’s atmosphere on this day each year.

The 36-odd page document, titled the Indian Air Force Act, 1932, had first been presented to the Indian legislature on March 10, 1932, and post-Independence, was repealed by the Indian Air Force Act, 1950.

The Indian Air Force was established in erstwhile British India as an auxiliary air force of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and adopted British uniforms, badges and insignias. It was only on April 1 the following year that the first flying unit, No. 1 Squadron, with four Westland was commissioned at Karachi in undivided India. Led by a British Commanding Officer, Flight Lieutenant (later Air Vice Marshal) Cecil Bouchier, the crew comprised six RAF-trained Indian officers and 19 ‘havai sepoys’ (air soldiers).

The genesis of the IAF, however, began much earlier. Years before the establishment of the air arm, Indian officers flew combat missions in Europe during World War I. Four volunteers — Lieutenants Shri Krishna Chandra Welinkar, Hardit Singh Malik, Errol Suvo Chunder Sen and Indra Lal Roy — served as fighter pilots with the Royal Flying Corps, then a part of the British Army.

According to historical excerpts, Sen’s aircraft was shot down in September 1917 and he was taken prisoner of war, Malik was wounded while Welinkar and Roy were killed. Before going down, Roy had destroyed 10 enemy aircraft, and in 1918, he was posthumously decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for his act of bravery.

In 1925, a committee chaired by General Sir Andrew Skeen, the then Chief of General Staff in India, was set up to review the ‘Indianisation’ of the Army’s officer cadre. One of the committee’s recommendations, submitted in 1927, was that Indian cadets should be accepted for officer training at RAF Academy at Cranwell in the UK.

The exploits of the aforementioned Indian pilots in Europe were mentioned in the report and the committee is also said to have been impressed by Malik when he deposed before it at Shimla.

Discussions within the British establishment and its functionaries in India continued until Lord Birkenhead, the then Secretary of State for India, approved the creation of an Indian Air Force on April 5, 1928. The new service would be open to persons of all faiths and castes drawn from every part of the subcontinent. It was in 1930 that six Indians were sent for officer training.

The first five Indian pilots commissioned from Cranwell in 1932 were Subroto Mukerjee, who went on to become the IAF's first Chief of the Air Staff, Harish Chandra Sircar, Bhupendra Singh, Aizad Baksh Awan and Amarjeet Singh. A sixth officer, JN Tandon, had to switch over to logistics as he was too short to become a pilot.

Subsequent officers commissioned before World War II included legendary figures such as Aspy Engineer, KK Majumdar, Henry Runganadhan, RHD Singh, Baba Mehar Singh, SN Goyal, Prithpal Singh and Arjan Singh.

During World War II, the IAF played an instrumental role in the eastern hemisphere by halting the advance of the Japanese army in Burma, where the first IAF strike was executed on the Japanese military base in Arakan. Primary missions included strike, close air support, aerial reconnaissance, bomber escort and pathfinding for British and American heavy bombers.

Besides operations in Burma (now Myanmar) and Southeast Asia IAF pilots also participated in air operations in North Africa and Europe. In addition, many Indians residing in Britain volunteered to join the RAF and the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, with several distinctions during combat missions.

In recognition of its services during the war, King George VI conferred the prefix "Royal" on March 12, 1945. Thereafter the IAF was referred to as the Royal Indian Air Force. In 1950, when India became a republic, the prefix was dropped.

The IAF had witnessed steady expansion during the war, with several different types of UK and US origin aircraft being inducted. After the Partition, three of the IAF’s 10 operational squadrons went to Pakistan, along with some assets located within the geographical boundary of that country.

Since 1950, the IAF has been involved in four wars with Pakistan. Other major engagements by the IAF include Operation Meghdoot in Siachen, Operation Cactus in Maldives, Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka and Operation Safed Sagar in Kargil, besides numerous deployments in United Nations missions and joint exercises with friendly countries and disaster management missions at home and abroad.

From a miniscule force, the IAF has transformed to a highly trained, multi-dimensional force operating a diverse inventory of indigenous, western and eastern origin platforms capable of operating across the entire spectrum of conflict and living up to its motto of ‘Touch the Sky with Glory’.