Indo - China War 1962. Burn the Toofanis! - a story from 1962.
How the Indian Air Force came close to destroying eight of its own Jet
fighters during the 1962 war. The first ever attempted "Scorched Earth"
order in history. Based on the recollections of Air Marshal Trilochan
Singh.
It was the 19th of November 1962, with Indian forces in full retreat in the
ongoing war. The Chinese were inside Indian territory and fast approaching
Tezpur, with just the Brahmaputra crossing keeping them at bay. The chinese
were literally at the foothills on the himalayas - and within 50 km from AFS
Tezpur. If the chinese had managed to push their offensive and reached
Tezpur, it would have had a catastrophic impact to morale. Tezpur town was
a flurry of activity with formations moving out, and civilians in a panic.
At the Officers' Mess of the Air Force Station Tezpur, Flt Lt Trilochan
Singh (5043 F(P)) sipped a cup of tea, little knowing what lay ahead of him.
Contrary to public perception, the Indian Air Force had prepared well to
play the offensive role in this war, should the need arise. No. 29
Squadron, equipped with the Toofanis (Dassault MD.450 Ouragan) had been
stationed at the forward base Tezpur, 11 Wing, with Gp Capt ASM Bhawnani as
the station commander and Sqn Ldr P K Kuriyan as the Squadron Commander. In
the run up to the conflict, 29 Squadron had a full complement of 18 fully
loaded Toofanis. Some of these had been flown in as the conflict became
imminent. However, there were only 8 fully ops pilots to man these
aircrafts.
The pilots had flown many sorties in the preceding months and knew each
valley of the NEFA region well. Extensive reconnaissance of the area was
done and no Chinese aircraft threat had ben noticed or observed in the
preceding days and weeks. With fewer pilots compared to operational
aircraft, the pilots could even be called upon to do quick turnarounds after
sorties, jumping out of one aircraft and into the other.
But the orders to use fighters for offensive or defensive roles never came
about and the squadron remained on readiness but was never used. The
helicopter squadrons on the base on the other hand were extensively used for
casualty evacuation and remained heavily utilized.
The "war" had been going on for nearly a month. The Chinese forces had come
down from the north, and slowly one after the other, Indian army positions
fell . After the forward positions of Thag La and Tawang fell, there was a
lull in the fighting before the chinese made a second push. By this time Se
La and Bomdi La have fallen, and the chinese have reached the foothills -
with less than 50km to cover to reach Tezpur.
Later in the day, a directive from AirHQ came to the station, which asked
the station to fly all available aircraft off to Bagdogra and vacate the
base with the imminent threat of the Chinese around the corner. Since they
had fewer pilots than the aircrafts, the order also said that all the other
aircrafts that could not be flown out should be destroyed. This was an
order without precedent, never in the history of the IAF was an order given
to destroy its own aircraft to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
This order cast a pall of gloom on the squadron; the air and ground crew
have an emotional connect with the aircraft and to have the same destroyed
was unheard of.
It was planned out that all the pilots, except for Flt Lt Trilochan Singh
would fly out that very day. A motley crew of technical and ground staff was
left behind under Trilochan's supervision to destroy the Toofanis and vacate
the base.
Next morning, 20th November, the Chief Engineering Officer walked in to
discuss the possible ways that the aircraft could be destroyed. It was
decided to bring in wood on the runway and burn it near the aircraft. The
aircrafts themselves had combustible material in their structure and were
fully loaded for armament. The fire would spread and consume all the
aircraft in the vicinity.
While the technical crew were left to prepare for this, Trilochan Singh
drove across the desolate and now abandoned town of Tezpur to pick up a car
left behind by his squadron mate. Not surprisingly, there was no car to be
found, possibly appropriated by the local population which had abandoned the
town. He happened to be carrying a radio transistor with him and as he was
listening in on the BBC on his short drive back to the air base, he heard
the report of the Chinese unilateral ceasefire. The news of the ceasefire
was a surprise, but it was also a god send - maybe they dont need to destroy
their aircraft after all.
Trilochan rushed back to the base full speed. Arriving just in time to see a
teary eyed chief engineering officer waiting for the final go ahead to burn
the parked aircraft. Trilochan broke the news to the him and got him to put
a temporary hold on the order. He also spoke with the station commander, Gp
Capt A S M Bhawnani on the news of the Ceasefire. Since no official change
of order had come from AirHQ, they were uncertain. But the desire to save
the aircrafts prevailed and the crew took the call to halt the destruction.
The news on BBC was indeed accurate and the Chinese had halted their advance
just short of Tezpur.
It was a call that saved the IAF from losing valuable assets. But the deeper
insight from this interesting anecdote is our understanding of how ready the
IAF was to take offensive or defensive roles in the 1962 war. It is worth
considering, if the Toofanis of 29 Squadron as well as other squadrons of
the Indian Air Force had been authorised to engage in offensive operations
in the the NEFA valley, maybe the course of the conflict could have turned
out to be different, and the outcome on the ground much more palatable.
Notes: Based on an interview with Air Marshal Trilochan Singh.
Of the aircraft operated by No.29 Squadron at Tezpur during the 1962 war,
Toofani IC-554 can be seen today at the Air Force Museum at Palam.
Pic 1: Toofanis of No.29 Squadron "Scorpios" lined up at an airfield in the
north east in the 60s.
Pic 2: A disaster averted - The scorpios celebrating a farewell to their
CO - Wg Cdr P K Kuriyan after the war . Kuriyan handed over command on 1st
of December. Trilochan is third from right.
SORRY PICTURES ARE NOT AVAILABLE
*************************************************************
Brig Narinder Dhand,
Founder & Convener
Veteran's Web Portals.
http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.in
How the Indian Air Force came close to destroying eight of its own Jet
fighters during the 1962 war. The first ever attempted "Scorched Earth"
order in history. Based on the recollections of Air Marshal Trilochan
Singh.
It was the 19th of November 1962, with Indian forces in full retreat in the
ongoing war. The Chinese were inside Indian territory and fast approaching
Tezpur, with just the Brahmaputra crossing keeping them at bay. The chinese
were literally at the foothills on the himalayas - and within 50 km from AFS
Tezpur. If the chinese had managed to push their offensive and reached
Tezpur, it would have had a catastrophic impact to morale. Tezpur town was
a flurry of activity with formations moving out, and civilians in a panic.
At the Officers' Mess of the Air Force Station Tezpur, Flt Lt Trilochan
Singh (5043 F(P)) sipped a cup of tea, little knowing what lay ahead of him.
Contrary to public perception, the Indian Air Force had prepared well to
play the offensive role in this war, should the need arise. No. 29
Squadron, equipped with the Toofanis (Dassault MD.450 Ouragan) had been
stationed at the forward base Tezpur, 11 Wing, with Gp Capt ASM Bhawnani as
the station commander and Sqn Ldr P K Kuriyan as the Squadron Commander. In
the run up to the conflict, 29 Squadron had a full complement of 18 fully
loaded Toofanis. Some of these had been flown in as the conflict became
imminent. However, there were only 8 fully ops pilots to man these
aircrafts.
The pilots had flown many sorties in the preceding months and knew each
valley of the NEFA region well. Extensive reconnaissance of the area was
done and no Chinese aircraft threat had ben noticed or observed in the
preceding days and weeks. With fewer pilots compared to operational
aircraft, the pilots could even be called upon to do quick turnarounds after
sorties, jumping out of one aircraft and into the other.
But the orders to use fighters for offensive or defensive roles never came
about and the squadron remained on readiness but was never used. The
helicopter squadrons on the base on the other hand were extensively used for
casualty evacuation and remained heavily utilized.
The "war" had been going on for nearly a month. The Chinese forces had come
down from the north, and slowly one after the other, Indian army positions
fell . After the forward positions of Thag La and Tawang fell, there was a
lull in the fighting before the chinese made a second push. By this time Se
La and Bomdi La have fallen, and the chinese have reached the foothills -
with less than 50km to cover to reach Tezpur.
Later in the day, a directive from AirHQ came to the station, which asked
the station to fly all available aircraft off to Bagdogra and vacate the
base with the imminent threat of the Chinese around the corner. Since they
had fewer pilots than the aircrafts, the order also said that all the other
aircrafts that could not be flown out should be destroyed. This was an
order without precedent, never in the history of the IAF was an order given
to destroy its own aircraft to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
This order cast a pall of gloom on the squadron; the air and ground crew
have an emotional connect with the aircraft and to have the same destroyed
was unheard of.
It was planned out that all the pilots, except for Flt Lt Trilochan Singh
would fly out that very day. A motley crew of technical and ground staff was
left behind under Trilochan's supervision to destroy the Toofanis and vacate
the base.
Next morning, 20th November, the Chief Engineering Officer walked in to
discuss the possible ways that the aircraft could be destroyed. It was
decided to bring in wood on the runway and burn it near the aircraft. The
aircrafts themselves had combustible material in their structure and were
fully loaded for armament. The fire would spread and consume all the
aircraft in the vicinity.
While the technical crew were left to prepare for this, Trilochan Singh
drove across the desolate and now abandoned town of Tezpur to pick up a car
left behind by his squadron mate. Not surprisingly, there was no car to be
found, possibly appropriated by the local population which had abandoned the
town. He happened to be carrying a radio transistor with him and as he was
listening in on the BBC on his short drive back to the air base, he heard
the report of the Chinese unilateral ceasefire. The news of the ceasefire
was a surprise, but it was also a god send - maybe they dont need to destroy
their aircraft after all.
Trilochan rushed back to the base full speed. Arriving just in time to see a
teary eyed chief engineering officer waiting for the final go ahead to burn
the parked aircraft. Trilochan broke the news to the him and got him to put
a temporary hold on the order. He also spoke with the station commander, Gp
Capt A S M Bhawnani on the news of the Ceasefire. Since no official change
of order had come from AirHQ, they were uncertain. But the desire to save
the aircrafts prevailed and the crew took the call to halt the destruction.
The news on BBC was indeed accurate and the Chinese had halted their advance
just short of Tezpur.
It was a call that saved the IAF from losing valuable assets. But the deeper
insight from this interesting anecdote is our understanding of how ready the
IAF was to take offensive or defensive roles in the 1962 war. It is worth
considering, if the Toofanis of 29 Squadron as well as other squadrons of
the Indian Air Force had been authorised to engage in offensive operations
in the the NEFA valley, maybe the course of the conflict could have turned
out to be different, and the outcome on the ground much more palatable.
Notes: Based on an interview with Air Marshal Trilochan Singh.
Of the aircraft operated by No.29 Squadron at Tezpur during the 1962 war,
Toofani IC-554 can be seen today at the Air Force Museum at Palam.
Pic 1: Toofanis of No.29 Squadron "Scorpios" lined up at an airfield in the
north east in the 60s.
Pic 2: A disaster averted - The scorpios celebrating a farewell to their
CO - Wg Cdr P K Kuriyan after the war . Kuriyan handed over command on 1st
of December. Trilochan is third from right.
SORRY PICTURES ARE NOT AVAILABLE
*************************************************************
Brig Narinder Dhand,
Founder & Convener
Veteran's Web Portals.
http://signals-parivaar.blogspot.in
No comments:
Post a Comment