Thread by @TheBrownBeagle

1: Wg Cdr Karun Krishna "Jumbo" Majumdar, DFC & Bar:

One of the great role models of the early #IndianAirForce, he was in the third batch of Indian cadets trained at the RAF College Cranwell - which itself makes him part of a tiny, select elite ... /2

2: Back in India, he flew Westland Wapitis with the sole IAF unit, No 1 Sqn - seen 2nd from right in the first photo below. His leadership qualities were recognised early; with flight command as a Flying Officer ... /3

3: No 1 Sqn's time in the NWFP is often overlooked; but it should be better-studied; there are lessons which apply to many 21st-century conflicts. There is some evidence that Jumbo Majumdar, and other early IAF leaders, attempted innovative solutions to "air policing" ... /4

4: By 1941 Jumbo Majumdar was CO No 1 Sqn, which was converting to Westland Lysanders. In December that year Pearl Harbor, & the Japanese invasion of South East Asia, brought WW2 to Malaya & Burma - & No 1 Sqn was ordered to Burma ... /5

5: No 1 Sqn's exploits under Jumbo Majumdar's leadership, which included leading raids of mixed RAF & IAF formations - a first for the times - earned the sqn rare encomiums, during a period of disaster for the Allies + Majumdar's first DFC ... /6

6: Sqn Ldr Jumbo Majumdar was invested with his DFC in mid-1942, at a grand ceremonial investiture parade, where both he and Aspy Engineer received their DFCs ... /7

7: For most of that year & next, as the IAF expanded, Jumbo held staff roles, including as Acting Wg Cdr the deputy to then-Gp Capt HJGE Proud, then Inspector-General, about to become AOA. He was in key roles, but for various reasons pressed to go on ops in Europe ... /8

8: By early 1944 he was in Europe, having dropped his Acting Wg Cdr rank to return to ops. While doing ops conversion to Typhoons & Mustangs, he encountered RAF Sqn Ldr David Ince, who wrote this marvellous tribute to him ... /9

9: Conversion completed, he flew on ops over the D Day beaches & the Falaise Gap with 268 Sqn RAF. No photos from that period, unfortunately; but this evocative painting of 268 Sqn Mustangs over D Day by @Posartaviation gives a good idea of what he would have done ... /10

10: And the Operations Record Book of 268 Sqn shows his regular participation in the heavy work of the time, flying initially out of what was then RAF Gatwick; later from forward bases in France ... /11

11: His time with 268 Sqn brought him his Bar to his DFC, the only one to an Indian officer ... /12

12: Back in India, he was put to work with the IAF Display Flight, in some ways the predecessor to the modern @Suryakiran_IAF, with the specific intention that his record and his personality would help recruitment and continued expansion of the IAF ... /13

13: Sadly Wg Cdr K K "Jumbo" Majumdar was lost to the IAF and India doing a display over Lahore on 17 Feb 1945 - the anniversary of which prompted this belated thread.

Others, especially @vayusena, have been compiling material for a full biography - hoping to see it soon 🙏🏽