#TodayInHistory The 1965 India Pakistan War, begins when Indian forces cross the border, as a response to Pakistan's Operation Grand Slam. As part of my series on the War, today I will be looking at the role played by the Indian Air Force in the conflict.

The 1965 War had the highest number of tank to tank battles ever post WWII, I think only other equivalent could be the Arab-Israel wars and 1990 Gulf War. Also this war was when Pakistan started covert operations on a large scale.

Now this was the conflict that saw large scale aerial combat between both the sides. In thee 1948 War, the Indian Air Force was primarily involved in logistics and transport, but during the 1965 War, they played a major role in the combat, both aerially as well as on ground.

It was also the first time dogfights took place in an Indo-Pak conflict, IAF flew around 4000 sorties , while PAF flew around 2600 odd. While both sides made wildly contrasting claims, neutral sources claim around 60-75 Indian aircraft were lost, while Pakistan lost around 20.

Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh was the one who guided the IAF well during this critical phase. Post World War II, this witnessed some of the most intense aerial dogfights ever, with both sides taking a large number of casualties.

The first major operation in which IAF were involved in the ’65 War, to counter the Pakistan Army during Operation Grand Slam. IAF Squadron 45 headed by S.K.”Marshal” Dhar in Pathankot, that had been moved from Pune to Pathankot was the one heading the airstrikes here.

Three missions of four aircraft were tasked with carrying out the strikes on Pakistani forces, most of them the Vampire aircraft. Taking off at 17:19 hours, the Indian aircraft strafed the Pakistani airfields, tanks and on ground targets, causing extensive damage

However two PAF F-86 Sabres led Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Rafiqui and Flt Lt Imitiaz Bhatti, enaged the IAF in a dogfight, leading to 4 Vampires being lost, and forcing it to withdraw 130 Vampires, along with 50 Ouragons from the action.

One of the most intense air battles took place on Sept 3, 1965 when the PAF Sabres launched a large scale attack, forcing IAF to retaliate with the Folland Gnats. IAF adopted a smart strategy using slow flying Mysteres to lure the Pak Sabres into attack by the Gnats.

While two of the Sabres retreated, one of them piloted by Flt Lt Yusuf Ali Khan, tried to get the Gnats into the cross-hairs, before a cloud of Gnats surrounded and attacked him. However with a Lockheed F-104 StarFighter entering the fray, the Gnats had to make a retreat.

The hero of the day was Squadron Leader Trevor Keelor, who shot down one of the Sabres, and was later awarded the Vir Chakra. Hailing from Lucknow, he studied at the prestigious La Martineire college there, joined the IAF in 1953, and was later promoted to Wing Commander

Flying straight into a crowd of Sabres, he engaged them in a dog fight, and then had to deal with the much superior F-104 Starfighters joining in. Outnumbered, he neverthless fought back and in fact chased a Sabre all the way, bringing it down.

It was the first major victory ever for the IAF against PAF and Keelor was given the nickname of “Sabre Killer”. Incidentally his brother Denzil Keelor, won the Vir Chakra in the same war, and later served as Air Marshal.

Another Squadron leader Brij Pal Singh Sikand, landed by mistake in enemy territory at Parsur, and was taken as POW. Flt Lt Hakimullah Khan who forced the Gnat down in his Lockheed Star Fighter, was later awarded by the Pakistan Government.

On September 6, Indian Army crossed the border and came within striking distance of Lahore, PAF launched attacks on Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara airfields. However while the attack on Pathankot was succesful, the other 2 were failures.

While IAF lost 10 aircraft on the ground at Pathankot, the Adampur mission was aborted midway, while at Halwara, Indian Hunter aircraft shot down three of the raiders, forcing the rest back.

Ace Squadron Leader of PAF, Sarfaraz Rafiqui, who was credited with shooting down 2 Vampires on September 1, was among those who were killed in action. On Sept 7, Pakistan also parachuted 135 SSG commands at the Pathankot, Adampur, Halwara airfields.

However the airdrop was a disaster, with only 10 of the commandos managed to return back, while the rest were captured as POWs. IAF on the other hand carried out 33 sorties against the heavily guarded airfields at Sargodha, losing two Mysteres and three Hunters.

The hero of the day was Ajjamada Devaiah, of the No 1 Tigers Squadron, who shot down a Pakistani Lockheed Starfighter during an intense dogfight. Hailing from Coorg, to Dr. Bopayya, he joined the IAF as a pilot in 1954.

Posted to the legendary Tigers Squadron, he flew the Mystere IVA Fighter Bomber. Though he was on standby, he joined the air battle, and was intercepted by a F104 Starfighter, piloted by Flt Lt Amjad Hussain.

Inspite of the Starfighter being a faster aircraft. In an intense dogfight, Devayya’s Mystere Bomber was damaged by the Starfighter, yet he counter attacked it, and managed to damage the Starfighter, striking it.

While Hussain managed to eject and save himself, Devayya had to crash land, with his aircraft running out of fuel. His body was later discovered by Pakistani villagers, and he was the only one to be posthomously given a Maha Vir Chakra, the only such instance.

. Devaiah is as much a hero in Coorg as legends like Cariappa, Thimayya, and the private bus circle in Madikeri is named after him.

The other hero of the day was Flt Lt Alfred T Cooke, who engaged 3 PAF Sabres in a straight dogfight, flying a Hawker Hunter. Pakistan Air Force had also launched attacks on the IAF airfields at Kaliakunda located on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar railway line.

Cooke like Trevor Keeler was also a La Martieniere, Lucknow alumnus. When the attack began, Cooke who was leading a patrol, plunged straight into the dog fight engaging 3 Sabres , disregarding his own personal safety.

Outmanoeuvring the Sabres with skill, he shot down one of them, in mid air, and damaged the other one badly. Even though he ran out of ammunition, he went in hot chase of the 3rd Sabre, and forcing it to flee. .

The Folland Gnat nicknamed the Sabre Slayer was the star of the show, credited with shooting down at least 7 Pakistani Sabres. The Folland Gnats of No 9, 23 Squadrons especially played a significant role, while the IAF operated 200 missions simultaneously

While the IAF did manage to hold it’s own, against the much superior PAF aircraft, it did learn many lessons, and changed it’s tactics. Two of it’s vulnerable areas, ground based defensive radar coverage and lack of air-to-air missiles were identified, and worked upon.

India established Fansong-E Low level radar linking it with SA-2 Guideline SAM, and many anti aircraft guns with Soviet assistance. When war broke out in 1971, IAF by then had 36 Squadrons, of which 10 were on the Eastern Front, and over 650 combat aircraft.

Though the US imposed a 10 year old arms embargo on both sides, India managed to get over it with assistance from Soviet Union, France and Britian.

However the embargo was a disaster for Pakistan, which was over reliant on US and had to get obsolete second hand Sabres from Iran and Mirage IIIs from France.

And lastly the role of Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, who led the Indian Air Force, with distinction during it’s critical period. Inspite of Pakistan gaining early advantage, he ensured that IAF gained operational balance within 3 days and strike back.

He ensured that aircraft flew over Kashmir to avoid detection, and attacked the major supply lines crippling Pakistan. Inspite of the fact that Pakistan had the more superior aircraft and massive US support, the leadership of Arjan Singh, ensured, it would not be a walk over.