A SHORT HISTORY OF THE AIR OP IN INDIA
There is an ongoing difference of opinion as to what should be taken as the Corps Day of the Indian Army Aviation Corps. The Army Aviation Corps, India, was formed (from the Air OP) on 01 Nov1986 and 01 Nov is the date celebrated as our Aviation Corps Day. Actually, the Corps day of the Aviation Corps in India should be traced back to the time when Air OP became part of this country's military. You see logic and historical continuity in this? The corps day/ raising day of so many units/battalions/ services/regiments/arms is based on this logic.
Important to note here is that prior to independence (1947), neither the Indian Army nor the Indian Airforce had any Air OP units. Oh yes, there was a Sqn (656 Air OP Sqn, RAF) operating in India but it was not part of the Indian Army or of the Indian Airforce. This Sqn was part of the RAF, though it had an Indian Army Artillery pilot posted to it as early as 1944, Capt F S B (Duck) Mehta, the first Indian Air OP (gunner) pilot. FSB Mehta had received his pilot training in India at No 2 Elementary Flying Training School, Jodhpur with ten Royal Artillery officers.. He was the only Indian officer. Noteworthy here is that subsequent 'early bird' Indian Air OP pilots trained in the UK!
To come back to the main issue, in 1944, the only Air OP in India was under the RAF. It was a British unit, nothing to do with the Indian army. The Indian army did not have any Air OP. So when FSB Mehta was selected as the first Indian army gunner officer for Air OP duties (he got his wings in 1944), he was posted to 656 Air OP Sqn, RAF. He joined 'A' Flt in support of XXXlll Corps in Burma and Imphal. Thereafter, no Indian Artillery officer joined the Air OP till Capt HS Butalia got his wings with the 46th course held at 43 OTU from Oct 46 to Jan 46 at Larkhill. Then with the 53rd course; Capts RN Sen and Govind Singh (Larkhill) followed by the 54th course; Capt Man Singh (Larkhill).Then with 59th course; Capt EAH Krishna. (Larkhill). And finally 61st course (1947), the last course attended by Indian pilots in Britain: Capts Barry Jackson, AB Awan, IP Sethi, SW Shahane and ND Pochkhanwala.
Awan opted for Pakistan though he had gone for the Air OP course to Britain as an Indian Artillery officer. In 1945, as the war with Japan came to an end, 656 Air OP moved out from India and was replaced by 659 Air OP Sqn which, moved from UK to Dhubulia (Bengal). It had aircrafts and flts operating independently at various places including Devlali, Jullundur, Lahore, Amritsar, Multan, Peshawar. 'A' Flt of this Sqn was at Devlali. Also on record is that Butalia, Man Singh and Govind Singh were with 'B' Flt and Sen with 'D' Flt, all located somewhere in what is now Pakistan. It was not clear whether the Sqn was to be disbanded or to be 'Indianised'. The Sqn was assisting the British Govt, British Army, Indian Army and the Boundary Commission as independence approached. Also, at this time the Sqn HQ was based at Lahore. On 13 Sept, 1947, Butalia, Sen, Man Singh and Govind Singh had moved with four machines to Amritsar as Pakistani authorities/officers were trying to grab maximum assets.
So we have on record that there are a few Indian Air OP officers of the dis-jointed 659 Sqn RAF which ceased to exist on midnight, 14/15 Aug 1947. Inter-alia, if the British Sqn ceased to exist as such on midnight 14/15 Aug 1947, the assets of 659 Air OP Sqn, RAF being officially divided between India and Pakistan; then that is the exact moment when the Air OP of the two countries came into existence.
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| PAKISTANI INSIGNIA BEING PAINTED ON THE FOUR AUSTERS ALLOTTED TO THEM |
So we have on record that there are a few Indian Air OP officers of the dis-jointed 659 Sqn RAF which ceased to exist on midnight, 14/15 Aug 1947. Inter-alia, if the British Sqn ceased to exist as such on midnight 14/15 Aug 1947, the assets of 659 Air OP Sqn, RAF being officially divided between India and Pakistan; then that is the exact moment when the Air OP of the two countries came into existence.
We also know that in Oct 1947, AHQ ordered the raising of 2 (I) Air OP Flt from existing assets of 659 Sqn. Apparently, Sen took over the Flt on 01 Nov, 1947 from one Maj Law, a Britisher. Some defendants of the case say, this is one of the reasons why Aviation Day is considered as 01 Nov.
Meanwhile, 1 (I) Air OP Flt was already active in the ' signing of the instrument of accession' by Maharaja Hari Singh and it was ' busy ferrying important persons to and fro in connection with the signing of the instrument. As per the coffee table book, 'Soldiers in the Sky', 1 (l) Air OP Flt had moved to Jammu in Jan 1948, so it was existing before this point of time. In fact there is also an Air Force photograph of Sardar Baldev Singh in a 1(l) Air OP Flt a/c dated 12 Feb, 1948. S Man Singh got a VrC about this time as part of this Flt. Shahane too got a VrC in Dec 1948 as part of this Flt. EKH Krishna was also in this Flt at that time. After these operations finished, it was the turn of 2(l) Air OP Flt in Sept 1948 for the Hyderabad action, Operation Polo. The point is that both flts were existing in 1947-48 and 1 Air OP Flt existed in some state or the other on midnight 14/15 Aug 1947. The Indian pilots were there and the machines were there at Amritsar (craftily brought from Lahore) and perhaps some at Deolali (Bhagur).
Subsequently, as we all know, the Air OP was initially part of the Air Forces of both the countries till the time the Aviation Corps absorbed it.. But rightly speaking, the celebration of the Aviation Corps Day should be taken as the date when the first Air OP Flt was raised as part of that country's Armed Forces.
Pakistan has got it right. The Aviation Corps of Pakistan was raised in 1958 and it traces its origins to the erstwhile Air OP. But Pakistan correctly celebrates their Army Aviation Corps Day on 14 August, as No 1 Air OP Flt (Pak) came into existence on this day in 1947 on receiving its part of the assets of 659 Air OP Sqn, RAF ! India has got it wrong. The Aviation Corps of India was raised in 1986 and it too traces its origins to the erstwhile Air OP. But we celebrate 01 Nov as the Aviation Day. We have conveniently forgotten that like Pakistan, India too had received its share of the assets of 659 Air OP Sqn, RAF on night 14/15 Aug 1947 and the origin of our own Air OP lies there-in. We do have some early entries in the then 1(I) Flt Air OP visitors book (15 Aug 1947 to be precise) and in their war diary. But our AAC Day is 01 Nov. Since AA came into being on 01 Nov 1986! Air OP history forgotten!!
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Paintings From the book
-------- courtesy Mushtaq Cheema
Books on Air OP/Army Aviation
Below, Pakistan AirOP/Army Aviation photographs from Mushtaq Cheema's book
