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K S Nair

15 Dec, 9 tweets, 4 min read

OTD in 1971 the end of the #BangladeshLiberationWar was in sight, but still uncertain. Always a difficult period in wartime; nobody wants to be the last man to die in the war. These couple of days would have imposed special demands on courage, and on junior command skills ...

@BrainsTrustIn

2: The previous day, as recorded by @BrainsTrustIn & others, IAF aircraft had carried out a spectacularly successful pin-point strike on the very heart of the West Pakistani puppet government in Bangladesh:

... /3

3: Remaining Pakistan Army units moved from Dacca Cantonment into Dacca University buildings. On 15th morning the IAF went after them, flying low between tall buildings and firing rockets accurately into where the Pakistan Army was sheltering ... /4

4: By 15th evening some Pakistan Army officers abandoned the University for Dacca Intercontinental, which India had declared a safe haven. It was intended for 3rd-country nationals & other neutrals. But many Pakistan Army officers & civil servants also forced their way in ... /5

5: Indian Army troops were within 20 km of Dacca. The Indian Navy executed an amphibous landing at Cox’s Bazaar, to cut off Pakistani troops attempting to escape to Burma. In Dacca, Lt Gen AAK Niazi informed the US Consul General that he was open to a ceasefire ... /6

6: Niazi offered ceasefire for safe-conduct for Pakistani forces. India rejected conditional ceasefire, and reiterated the demand for unconditional surrender. There was mounting pressure on India in the UN to stop fighting. By evening OTD the ball was in Niazi's court ... /7

7: Niazi's military situation was hopeless, but many Pakistanis had delusions of rescue by US or Chinese intervention & might have fought on in the hope of such rescue, extending the war and exposing India to UN sanction ... /8

8: Young Indian jawans in forward elements; exhausted pilots & ground crews trying to catch some sleep in overalls; stressed commanders pondering possible scenarios for next day: a great many Indians spent a sleepless night OTD in 1971. Take a moment to remember them tonight.

Good night, and good luck.

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K S Nair

@TheBrownBeagle

14 Dec

#BangladeshLiberationWar: OTD in 1971 a spirited young Gnat pilot took off, against SOPs as his runway was being bombed, fiercely determined to get to grips with the enemy before the war ended. Fg Off Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon would receive the IAF's first & still only PVC ... /2

2: Fg Off Sekhon's story has been told by many, including (respectfully) by a Pakistani officer. One of the most painstaking is this rendition by VR pro Anurag Rana. Nearly a decade after he first rendered it, it remains imho one of the best:

... /3

3: The various retellings differ in some details - particularly in respect of how many of the enemy he shot down, or damaged, or as Douglas Bader once claimed in his logbook, "frightened". But his sheer determination earned a rare tribute - the enemy's respect ... /4

Read 5 tweets

K S Nair

@TheBrownBeagle

13 Dec

#BangladeshLiberationWar: OTD in 1971, in a painful sequel to the successes of the previous days, 47 Sqn, AF Stn Jamnagar, the IAF, & India lost Wg Cdr HS Gill, one of the most brilliant pilots to ever strap into a KM-1 seat. Lost leading a second attack on the Badin ADCC ... /2

2: In earlier years, he did breathtaking solo aero displays in a MiG-21 in a distinctive red scheme - at *half* the recommended speeds for aeros at low level. The aircraft was actually travelling on a ballistic trajectory; he was able to retain control & recover energy ... /3

3: Sadly, Wg Cdr Gill's death has not been appropriately closed. Altho' a reliable PAF officer has confirmed recovering a Wg Cdr's body in the area, his name figures in write-ups on Indian PsoW allegedly still held in Pakistan, and still worse ... /4

Read 5 tweets

K S Nair

@TheBrownBeagle

12 Dec

#BangladeshLiberationWar: OTD in 1971, for the first time ever, a US-built F-104 Starfighter was engaged in air combat by a Soviet-designed MiG-21 – and shot down. This was a hugely significant breakthrough, in the world-wide narrative of air combat ... /2

2: Around 2 pm two PAF F-104s led by the respected Wg Cdr Mervyn Middlecoat SJ (pic 1) attacked AF Stn Jamnagar. Tho' low-flying, they were spotted by Stn Cdr Gp Capt Pete Wilson VrC (pic 2)'s OPs, "just far enough for a MiG-21 pilot to get from charpoy to fighting speed" ... /3

3: Two MiG-21s of 47 Sqn IAF scrambled, flown by Flt Lts MM Sehgal (L) & BB Soni (R). Following a short tail-chase, Flt Lt Soni shot down the lead F-104 over the Gulf of Kutch. He reported a parachute, but Wg Cdr Middlecoat was never found ... /4

Read 5 tweets

K S Nair

@TheBrownBeagle

11 Dec

#BangladeshLiberationWar: OTD in 1971 2 Para of the Indian Army, CO Lt Col KS Pannu, executed a para-borne assault on Tangail, 80 km NW of Dacca, capturing the Poongli Bridge and cutting off Pakistani troops trying to retreat into Dacca ... /2

2: Some paratroopers had emplaned at Dum Dum, in full view of international correspondents, who excitedly reported, sometimes with wild exaggeration. UPI, for one, said that 5,000 Indian paratroopers had descended on Dacca (actually there were less than a thousand) ... /3

@BrainsTrustIn

3: 11 Dec was also the day following the attempted breakout by the Pakistani garrison at Jamalpur. Lt Gen Satish Nambiar, then a MLI company commander, tells the story of their surrender over at @BrainsTrustIn:

... /4

Read 5 tweets

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