Leena Joins Me at Chandigarh

Another shifting of the house was due.  I was to shift from Subroto Park New Delhi where I was the Operations I at HQ Western Air Command to Chandigarh where I had gone to command the Black Archers. 

Hectic Days in Halwara-12: The End is Visible

General wisdom says that the flame of a lamp about to die-out burns brighter for a brief moment before it extinguishes.   The condition of the war seemed to follow the same path on the morning of the 14^th.      By all indications, Pakistan was in no condition to continue with this war;   in response, our war effort was on the up-swing without a doubt.  

Hectic Days in Halwara – 11: The Fog of War Thickens?

Start of the day on the 12^th of December was rather slow.   For the first wave at sunrise there was only one request for close support that was grabbed by Chopra and Bapat.   It was actually getting to be quite difficult to pick crew for a strike mission.   Over the past two days the demands had shrunk and there was a scramble for every mission that came about.   Those not chosen were disappointed and crest fallen, but if targets are not found, can missions be mounted?

Hectic Days in Halwara-10: The War Limps Along in the West

As I had noted earlier,   the war was steadily taking the shape of an exercise.   On the night of 6^th December, the feeling of relief amongst the aircrew on the station was quite palpable.    After dinner, I switched on the small transistor at the BADC tuned to Radio Pakistan Lahore.  

Hectic Days in Halwara-9: On to Day Three

The battle on the ground and air seemed to go quite according to our plans.   Pakistan had been made to commence the operations and our response from the air was quite overwhelming.    The land forces had planned to blunt any Pakistani advance and it seemed that their plan was working too. 

Hectic Days in Halwara-8: The 2nd Day of Ops

As the sun set on 4 December  1971, with  the war between India and Pakistan being barely 24 hours old, I was already burdened with a personal loss.   Gopal, my closest associate for the past three days was gone.  

Hectic Days in Halwara-7: The Battle is Joined

TeeOH and Suzie Apte landed back at 0950.   Their attack on Walton was successful.   They were able to locate their targets camouflaged and hidden in blast pens.   They found no ack-ack  and no air opposition.   

Hectic Days in Halwara-6: The ‘Thing’ Explodes

The night wore on amongst hectic activity on the ground.    With the runway blocked, I stood the Archers down.   Soon the sky filled with planned activity from other stations.   The Canberra second round strikes got airborne.   Strange ‘sparrows’ started chirping in the neighbourhood.   It was not that we were failing to carry out any task from Halwara.   Apart from a pair of MiG21s on ORP,   I had no other allotted task at that time of the night.   However, we had a runway to rehabilitate for use at first light and we were running against time.   If I was a bit restless,   perhaps I could be excused.

Hectic Days in Halwara-5: Challange and Response

Moments passed. The raid was over.   It was time to sound the ‘All Clear’ and get on with the next task.   After all, the war had just started a few hours ago and none of us knew how long it would take for us to prevail over the enemy.   Of course there was not an iota of doubt in any one’s mind that we shall prevail.

Hectic Days in Halwara-4: The Enemy Shows Up

I was still to finish my second cup of tea with the Tiger Sharks when the news came in.   It was just after six in the evening of 3^rd December 1971.    The information was rather vague.   It seemed that a raid on Srinagar had taken place a few minutes earlier.   At the crew room the news did not create any flutter.    There had been too many rumours in the recent past that had turned out to be false.   Within a few more minutes however, Groupie Gole drove up.   Alan D’Costa and I were standing in front of the unit.   We moved to the station commander’s jeep as it stopped.    Groupie was at the wheels as usual.   There was a faint smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes.   ‘It is on’ was all he said.