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Jun 25 • 51 tweets • 14 min read
Celebrating today, 50 threads on @IAF_MCC History. Barring a few earlier, it all began in Jan’22. Since then: ~1000 tweets, 5.2 million views, ~70,000 engagements. This thread is a compendium of all the threads so far. Humbled & grateful for the encouragement. #IAFHistory (1/51)
The heroic story of Leh Airfield construction (1/50)

Beautifully Camouflaged Vampire and its heroics in 1971 War (2/50)

Wing Cdr Marshall, CO of the Vampire Ad-hoc Sqn – first-hand narration. (3/50)

How did an @IAF_MCC base at Hindon (near Delhi) come about (4/50)

“Mad Mally” – Maverick, war decorated and later dismissed fighter pilot (5/50)

Helicopter Dare devils in the Galwan Ops of 1962 (6/50)

AVM Kishnaswamy – The longest-serving Staff Officer to Chief of Air Staff (7/50)

Did you know @IAF_MCC had its own “LEGAL” branch for a brief period? (8/50)

AS Kuller – Maverick, brilliant, decorated and nerdy fighter pilot (9/50)

Haider Raza, the forgotten Airman (10/50)

1947 War – The Dakota’s gallantry role (11/50)

Republic Day Flypast – Midair Collision (12/50)

@IAF_MCC link to nabbing the assassins of MK Gandhi (13/50)

Life of CRA Howe, IAF Fighter Pilot who flew for RAAF and earned a DFC (14/50)

IAF’s connection to the Jind dynasty (15/50)

Jagdev Chandra – The first-ever Indian flying instructor in the IAF (16/50)

Ambala – The oldest station in the IAF (17/50)

IAF’s umbilical connection to Walton, Lahore (18/50)

Members of the royal families who served in the IAF (19/50)

History of aerobatics in the IAF (20/50)

The first navigators to be trained in India and 12 Sqn’s role in it (21/50)

Air Cmde AIK Suares – the first of the only 5 to receive “Bar to Vir Chakra” (22/50)

War history of Ad-hoc Squadrons in the IAF (23/50)

IAF’s first Helicopter – the S-55 (24/50)

IAF & its connection with Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) (25/50)

@IAF_MCC ’s fighter operations at Leh airbase (26/50)

Tribute to Air Mshl Subramaniam Raghavendran (27/50)

Air Mshl Douglas King-Lee, the oldest surviving Air Marshal in the IAF (28/50)

The IAF Dakota that was shot down by the Naga’s (29/50)

India’s reserve Air Force (Auxiliary AF) (30/50)

Air Mshl Minoo Engineer – IAF’s most decorated officer (31/50)

IAF’s service numbers – the oddity and Check suffix (32/50)

MiG-21 – type wise history of service in IAF (33/50)

Tribute to Air Mshl TS “Timki” Brar (34/50)

The only 38 A-1 Qualified flying instructors in IAF (35/50)

India’s Air Defence setup in the 1940s/50s (36/50)

Air Defence Setup evolution in the 60s (37/50)

Air Defence cranking up during the 65 and 71 wars (38/50)

Only 26 officers have got a Vayu Sena Medal & Bar (39/50)

The first known patch of Fighter Training Setup (40/50)

The only five officers qualified as a Flying Instructor, Experimental Test Pilot, and Pilot Attack Instructor. (41/50)

TACDE - the story of how independent India made its own Mavericks (42/50)

AVM Jemi Manekshaw, younger brother of Sam Manekshaw (43/50)

IAF Structure and Nomenclature – de-jargonised. (44/50)

Air Cmde NP Nair – Forgotten Techie officer (45/50)

Sealand Scandal – Parliament Q&A (46/50)

Devon – 40 years in the IAF (47/50)

IAF Cadre mgmt. over the years (48/50)

Tribute to Air Cmde N Chatrath (49/50)

IAF pilots training at US Air Force in the 1960s (50/50)

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More from @AnchitGupta9

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Jun 23
When the @IAF_MCC pilots flew the F-86 Sabres with the USAF and then “slew” it in the 65 and 71 Wars. The saga of the 80 odd IAF fighter pilots who trained with the USAF between 1963-66 and later claimed five PAF Sabre kills amongst them! #IAFHistory (1/17) Image
1962 Sino-Indian War prompted two key changes – an expansion in the IAF fighter sqns requiring higher pilot intake & US + UK Military aid and assistance to balance the power equation with China. 2/ Image
It was felt that the sqn trg in India would not be able to produce the required nos of fully ops pilots in time to man these sqns. Help was sought from both the UK and the USA, and both responded. The USAF-bound IAF pilots would fly the T-33A & F-86 (Sabres) 3/ Image
Read 17 tweets
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Jun 18
Air Cmde Narinder Chatrath(3959) VrC, today passed away,aged 95.He commanded 17 Sqn @IAF_MCC during 71 war that led an attack on Kurmitola, the heavily defended airbase near Dacca taking on a dogfight with two PAF Sabres, shooting one down. May he rest in peace. #IAFHistory (1/6) Image
Commissioned in 1950 with 53 Pilot course. Joining the fighter stream, he flew the Spitfire, Tempest, and the Vampires in his initial career. Posted to FIS, he qualified as a flying instructor and was posted to the academy at Begumpet in 1955. 2/ Image
He was ADC to the Chief of Air Staff in 1958, and had the honor to be posted to the Egyptian airforce as an instructor from 1959 to 1961. An honour reserved only for the very best of instructors in the IAF. 3/ Image
Read 6 tweets
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Jun 16
This thread seeks to give a historical perspective to cadre management by taking a peek into some critical periods in the evolution of the @IAF_MCC officer cadre. It throws up some real-life fascinating insights that planners might want to consider. #IAFHistory (1/17) Image
Between 1932 and 1939, IAF had 20 officers commissioned - all having been trained at Cranwell. With an aspiration to expand the IAF, the IAF Volunteer Reserve was announced – a kind of an Emergency Commission without any institutional commitment of service length. 2/ Image
With WWII in full swing, the British Indian Govt increased the IAF’s intake to a record 680 officers in 1943, equal to the size of all the officers already in the IAF at that time-thereby doubling the IAF’s Nos. This bulge was necessitated by the mil requirement of the times. 3/ Image
Read 17 tweets
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Jun 12
The Shorts Sealand was the first ac to be inducted after the establishment of the Dte of Naval Aviation in the @indiannavy. An order for ten of these was placed in 1952. At that time no other Navy in the world had this a/c, which meant the defence minister was under fire! (1/4) Image
"Scandal of Sealands" - In a parliament debate on 24 March 1953 the Defence Minister, Sardar Majithia (ex IAF officer and CO, 2 Sqn) eloquently explains the logic to Shri Jaipal Singh. The extract of the debate is attached as images. (size of the print can be challenging!) 2/ Image
The first Sealand INS-101 was handed over on 13 Jan 53. The Fleet Requirements Unit was commissioned with Lt Cdr YN Singh as CO. The FRU operated from Cochin's airfield at Willingdon Island, known as INS Vendurthy II, later as INS Garuda. The Sealand was in service until 1963. 3/ Image
Read 6 tweets
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Jun 10
@IAF_MCC celebrates AVM Harjinder Singh as the pioneer of the Tech branch. Unsung and unknown is the name of Air Cmde Narinjan Parsad Nair. He was the 4th senior-most officer ever in the tech branch when he hung his boots in 1965. This is his journey. #IAFHistory (1/16)
Born on 21 Nov 1915 at Kunjha, Gujrat in West Punjab, to Dewan Durga Prasad Nair who was a criminal lawyer with practice at Ferozepur, Nair would be inclined to the military from early on. His RIMC interview was conducted by the Governor of United Provinces 2/
He was at RIMC Dehradun from 1927 to 1933. A contemporary of Gen. Prem Bhagat, he joined the Indian Military Academy in 1934 but was withdrawn on medical grounds having partially lost hearing in one ear due to an infection caught during participation in a swimming competition 3/
Read 16 tweets
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Jun 8
Do you get confused with the nomenclature of establishments in the @IAF_MCC ? Words like Comd/Wing/Station/ FBSU/ C&MU confuse you? This abridged thread tries to explain the structural philosophy which the IAF has followed, initially borrowed from the RAF. #IAFHistory (1/16) Image
The IAF HQ in Delhi is essentially divided along the Ops, Maint & Adm verticals. Its 5 geographical & 2 functional command HQs are likewise divided. Each Comd oversees numerous Stations that are largely functional in nature. These stations are named as per their functions. 2/
While Air Forces like the USAF & PAF have named their Stations after luminaries of their service, the IAF has largely stuck to numbering them (with very few recent exceptions) 3/ Image
Read 17 tweets

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