Braves Of The Air Force : Our Torch Bearers Today we remember Chandra Mohan Singla Vir Chakra :- If someone told the story of an Indian Pilot, who fought side by side with another flyer who once belonged to the enemy country, and that both of them were decorated for gallantry by their respective nations, and that both flew in the same aircraft as pilot and co-pilot in combat, then you would think the story teller was hallucinating or has gone mad. But that was exactly the story that happened in September 1971. Flight LIeutenant Chandra Mohan Singla , a Helicopter pilot stationed in the North East was hand picked and sent to Dimapur in Nagaland. His mission, to train several Bengali Officers who defected from the Pakistani Air Force to set up the Kilo Flight - the embryo of the Bangladesh Air Force. Just six years earlier, Singla and the officers he trained would have been on opposite sides in the 1965 Pakistan war. But here he was standing side by side with them in fighting against the common enemy from the West Pakistan. Singla trained two of the Bengali Officers on flying the Chetak Helicopter - including the senior most of the Bengali Oficers - Squadron Leader Sultan Ahmad. He not only trained them on their missions but when war broke out, he along with Sultan Ahmad manned the Chetak Helicopter and flew it on combat missions over East Pakistan. In one of the missions he supported the Sylhet Heli Landing by rocketing the Pakistani Army positions. (The Chetak was equipped with rocket pods). His contribution was acknowledged by the award of the Vir Chakra. His co-pilot Squadron Leader Sultan Ahmad was similarly decorated by the free Bangladesh Government with a Bir Uttam Award. Its no surprise that the Vir Chakra citation of Flight Lieutenant Singla does not tell the whole story.. During the operations against Pakistan in December, 1971, Flight Lieutenant Chandra Mohan Singla served with a Helicopter Unit in the Eastern Sector. On the night of 7th/8th December, he flew an armed helicopter and gave cover to a special Heliborne operation at Sylhet. During this mission, the enemy directed intense ground fire on him and his helicopter was hit at eight places. Flight Lieutenant Singla kept up these missions and gave air cover for 4½ hours and fired 35 rockets at ground targets with exceptional accuracy. Thereafter, he continued to operate on such hazardous missions every night from 7th December to 12th December at various places in enemy territory and deep behind the enemy lines. For his outstanding devotion to duty, determination and cool courage in the face of enemy, Flight Lieutenant Chandra Mohan Singla is awarded the Vir Chakra. Throughout, Flight Lieutenant Chandra Mohan Singla displayed gallantry, professional skill and devotion to duty of a high order. Authority: Notification No. 92-Pres/72 dated 18th July, 1972 published in Part 1, Section 1, Gazette of India dated 29th July 1972 This Citation and Photograph are reproduced from Air Marshal Bharat Kumars book Courage and Devotion to Duty The story of Singla and Sultan Ahmad comes from the upcoming book on the IAF in Bangladesh War titled Eagles over Bangladesh : The Indian Air Force in the 1971 Liberation War A first person account of this story appears in Air Commodore Rajesh Issers book Purple Legacy veteran Air Cmde CM Singla is presently residing in Gurgaon. Family AFA wishes him great health and wonderful life ahead. Thanks Jagan Pillarisetti for compiling and sending so much information to us. Thanks for your great effort.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 02:28:44 +0000
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