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Revisiting the Dogfight Over Boyra from December in Dacca | Excerpt

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From the dramatic dogfight over Boyra to the cornering of Pakistani naval vessels at Karachi to the Indian helicopter-riding infantry and paratroopers forcing the enemy to retreat, the book retells the many thrilling anecdotes, setting them within their diplomatic, strategic and tactical contexts.

It also provides a glimpse into the lives of some of these heroes once the dust had settled. Most importantly, it offers thoughts on why the events of 1971 are not better known, and how a better understanding of those could help India reaffirm her sense of self.

Read an excerpt from the book.

Dogfight over Boyra

The story of what happened on 22 November 1971 wasn’t publicly reported till 24 November, two days after it had actually happened, but when it was, it was reported in full-page banner headlines by nearly all newspapers in India. Since then, it has been one of the most widely described and analysed of the several aerial encounters that took place during the Liberation War. In reality, air-to-air combat victories, while symbolically important, are not the best gauge of air superiority. Nevertheless, this encounter is so key to the Indian memory of the 1971 war that a detailed account is included here.

Since around mid-1971, HAL-built Gnat fighters of 22 Squadron IAF had been flying close escort to any air traffic originating from Dacca and entering into Indian airspace. The Gnat was already something of a legend in India. It was a British design, from the small and short-lived company Folland Aircraft (taken over by Hawker-Siddeley in 1959). Although designed specifically as a light fighter, in an attempt to arrest the trend towards increasing complexity and weight, it was never used as a fighter by its country of origin. The Royal Air Force (RAF) used a two-seater version as an advanced trainer, and it was for many years the mount of the RAF’s famous Red Arrows aerobatic team.

India had adopted the Gnat fighter, completed its development (in a difficult process that took the lives of at least a couple of fine test pilots) and inducted it into squadron service just in time for three under-prepared squadrons to play key roles in the 1965 war.3 It met its basic requirement of being small and light (it was just over half the weight of its three main adversaries, the F-86 Sabre, the F-104 Starfighter and the Mirage III), nippy and manoeuvrable, but had only the most basic cannon armament, without radar or missiles, and was not easy to fly. Nevertheless, the IAF embraced it. Gnat pilots saw themselves as an elite, and prided themselves on having mastered a difficult and spirited little mount.

Boyra: The Build-up

Number 22 Squadron was a relatively young unit, one of several raised after 1965. It had been raised in 1966 at Bareilly, and equipped with the Gnat since its raising. It had, from 1968 onwards, been based at Kalaikunda, part of 5 Wing there. From July 1971 onwards, 22 Squadron had routinely escorted all flights (at this time, all civilian) originating from or with destination Dacca, for the period they were in Indian airspace. The purpose was to ensure that Pakistan would not be able to carry out clandestine reconnaissance over sensitive locations in eastern India, using civilian aircraft.

As war clouds gathered, the need was felt for a fighter detachment at Dum Dum airport itself, the main airport for Calcutta, and 22 Squadron had drawn this duty as well. Since late September, the squadron had been operating a detachment from Dum Dum. They had been operating from there for two months by this time, and had become familiar with the environment.

Since around 18 November, as described in the previous section, sporadic ground fighting had been taking place in the Boyra Salient, a little spur of Indian territory projecting into East Pakistan, some ninety kilometres north-east of Calcutta. A Mukti Bahini group, strongly supported by 350 Infantry Brigade of the Indian Army had, in the pattern described in the last section, established a foothold in East Pakistani territory at the town of Garibpur (Google maps users should note that there are locations of that name on both sides of the India–Bangladesh border; the reference here is to the one now in Bangladesh).

The Pakistan Army had responded by mounting a counter-attack, spearheaded by a squadron of American-built M-24 (‘Chaffee’) light tanks. They were confronted by an Indian squadron of PT-76 tanks from 45 Cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. In the ensuing battle, the Indian tanks appear to have been gaining the upper hand (sadly, at the cost of losing their squadron commander, Major D.S. Narang).

The Pakistan Army commander on the spot called for air support from 14 Squadron PAF, the only combat-capable PAF squadron in East Pakistan. They were providing close support from 19 November onwards, had strafed Indian tanks and troops, and had successfully damaged a ferry across the nearby river.

Flying Officer S.V. Savur, a young Indian Air Force officer, was on the spot in the key but often unpopular role of Forward Air Controller (FAC). The FAC is an Air Force pilot accompanying the army’s forward troops on the ground, to serve as the point of communications with Air Force colleagues providing airborne close support to the troops. Flying Officer Savur was at this time with the 4th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment (4 Sikh), at the spearhead of the Indian Army’s thrust from Boyra into Garibpur. He has written that the Pakistani close air support sorties appear to have followed a predictable pattern, even on the first day, with strafing sorties at 9 a.m., sometimes at noon, and again at 3 p.m. It is thought to be a common military discipline, to follow a routine, but from a warfighting point of view, it is not the best tactic to be predictable.

Boyra: The First Aerial Encounter

22 November 1971

To an American, the date was the eighth anniversary of the murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.

The previous day, 21 November, Pakistani close support sorties by F-86 Sabres on their regular schedule had been picked up by 254 Signals Unit (SU) of the IAF at Barrackpore. Gnats were scrambled twice, without being able to intercept.

The next day, once again, the Sabres appeared punctually at 9 a.m. and noon, and Gnats scrambled both times. The first time they were unsuccessful in making visual contact. The second time, Flight Lieutenant M.A. Ganapathy, one of the pilots in the Gnat formation, visually spotted a Sabre and called directions to the formation leader, who that morning was the squadron CO himself. But the CO did not respond. The controller at the SU tried to raise the leader, as did Flying Officer Savur from the ground, using his very high frequency (VHF) set. None of them got through to the CO, and on landing, the CO indicated that he had not picked up any of the calls. He then took the afternoon off, handing over the lead for the afternoon shift on the operational readiness platform (ORP) to Flight Lieutenant Roy Andrew ‘Mouse’ Massey.

There was considerable anger among the forward troops of 4 Sikh, who had been subjected to repeated strafing by the PAF Sabres, and had seen IAF Gnats fly over without intercepting. As may be imagined, there was also some frustration among the Gnat pilots of the detachment. Some calming counsel was required from one or two of the more sober among these young pilots, as well as a phone call from Squadron Leader M.R. ‘Manna’ Murdeshwar, at the time in a staff role at Eastern Air Command but previously an instructor or mentor to some of the younger pilots of the squadron.

A third sortie that day would have different results.

December in Dacca
About the Book - December in Dacca

The 1971 war between India and Pakistan, to help liberate the beleaguered people of Bangladesh, is considered one of the last 'just wars' of the twentieth century. Good triumphed decisively, unequivocally and indisputably. Yet, given the scale of atrocity that…

About the Author - KS Nair

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