Thread by @VincentVanGyaan

Spitfire Singh - a name that evokes bravery and heroism.

Join us in a thread dedicated to the inspiring story of AVM Harjinder Singh - who rose from the lowest enlisted rank to the then second-highest rank in the Indian Air Force! @IAF_MCC @adgpi @MilHistNow
@EGYDinfo

“ Yours must be one of the most romantic careers of any man in any service in the world” - Air Vice Marshal Cecil Bouchier.

These are the words of the first Commanding Officer of Indian Air Force on the illustrious service of our man under the spotlight today : Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh PVSM MBE.

08 Oct, 1932 marks an important event in the history of the Indian subcontinent that subtly, yet irrevocably, altered the dynamics of the relationship between British Raj and it’s subjects in colonial India.

The birth of Indian Air Force, although unheralded by any fanfare, embodied the hopes and aspirations of a subjugated nation that wished to prove that its youth were the equals, if not the betters, of their colonial rulers.

In 1930, six young men- Harish Chandra Sircar, Subroto Mukherjee, Amarjit Singh, Bhupendra Singh, Aizad Bajaj Awan and TN Tandon were sent to Cranwell, England for pilot training.

Along with them 29 hawai sepoys were recruited, amongst them an engineering graduate from the elite Maclagan Engineering College, Lahore- Harjinder Singh, whose only reason for rejecting a comfortable life in civil was his nationalism and dedication towards his country.

This is the heroic story of a man whose wizardry at modifying planes during WWII is the stuff of legends. It earned him an MBE(Member of the Order of the British Empire) but laurels and awards were never what our Jat boy from Hoshiarpur, Punjab aspired for!

Born on 04 Feb, 1909, Singh had a lonely childhood where he lost his parents and siblings to plague, becoming an orphan at the age of 11. Raised by his aunt, this hard working boy joined the MacLagan Engineering College at the age of 17.

In his third year, he was elected secretary of the young engineers association. As secretary, he wanted to organize a visit to the RAF station. The adjutant of the unit turned down his request stating that the racially inferior Indians were not allowed inside the station.

This statement lit a fire inside Harjinder and he set out on his journey of proving the Brits wrong, starting with joining the IAF as a Hawai sepoy.

He trained as an airframe fitter and after two years of apprenticeship, in Jan 1933, he got attached to the test and despatch flight at RAF Karachi.

Indian Air Force was formed with the strength of 01 flight equipped with just 01 Westland Wapiti aircraft. Singh was one of these legendary flight of men who time and again proved their worth in various missions assigned to them.

However it was in early 1942, during the Burma Campaign that the IAF truly came of age.

The Second World War had broken out, and the British, who were outwitted by the Japanese on the eastern war front, were left with no alternative but to draft the No. 1 Sqn of the IAF into Burma.

Singh had risen to the rank of Flight Sergeant by this time and was even offered a commission in the RAF as an officer, which he declined stating that he didn’t mind being an NCO(Non-commissioned officer) in the IAF all his life.

In Jan 1942, No 1 Sqn under Sqn Ldr KK Majumdar received orders to move to Burma. The Sqn moved by train to Rangoon via Calcutta while the twelve Lysander on their flight line were to fly from Peshawar into Burma.

A day before they were to fly, three aircraft crash landed on the runway. Singh, without equipment or technical crew, who were already enroute Burma, led the pilots and gunners to repair the aircraft and make them fly worthy within 36 hrs.

Though not fully convinced to fight for the British, Singh had to jump into action when their base in Toungoo, Burma was hit by a bombing raid. His Commanding Officer “Jumbo “ Majumdar had an audacious idea that he shared with Singh.

He wanted to bomb the Japanese air base with their obsolete recon aircraft- The Lysanders !!

And like a true soldier, Singh converted the Lysanders into deadly bombers.

Jumbo personally led a series of successful offensive strikes against numerous Japanese airfields. They also supported Chinese army operations in the campaign and performed so well that in appreciation were presented a “Gold Wing” by the Chinese- a rare honor indeed !

Jumbo became the first Indian pilot to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Harjinder was awarded an MBE.

It was a sweet revenge of sorts for the men ! On joining the IAF they had received the most disappointing welcome message from Air Marshal Sir John Steele, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain..

He had said to the Indian members “ Indians will not be able to fly or maintain military airplanes. That’s a man’s job”.

Post the war the Sqn ultimately moved to Risalpur and converted to the Hawker Hurricane II B. It was here that Jumbo asked Singh to accept a technical commission and become an officer in the IAF.

On 03 September 1942 Flying Officer Harjinder Singh was commissioned as the first Engineering Officer of the IAF.

After returning from England in Jun 1944, on completing his higher technical training, Singh was posted to the IAF base Kohat. In Feb 1945, Majumdar was leading a display flight which was performing in Walton, Lahore.

Singh was present and he saw his friend and mentor crash in front of his eyes during a dive. Singh later wrote in his obituary that a part of him died that day along with Jumbo !

After the partition of India, majority of the technical equipment as well as the repair depots were in Pakistan. Singh went about building maintenance and technical know-how in India.

During the Indo-Pak war of 1947, he reorganized the entire maintenance cover and ensured high serviceability. He obtained his Commercial pilot license at the Delhi Flying club and hopped from base to base in Kashmir during the war.

On 9 Aug 1948, Singh got promoted to the rank of Group Captain and was appointed Station Commander at Kanpur. Here, in conjunction with HAL, Bangalore, he led the team to work on 100 damaged B-24 Liberator aircraft which led to the raising of No 5 Sqn, IAF on 02 Nov 1948.

At the not-so-prime age of 41, Singh earned his ‘wings’ at Air Force Academy, Ambala.
The then Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw- Chapman offered him the position of chairman of HAL, which he again gracefully declined opting to stay in the IAF.

On 26 Jan 1955, the Maintenance Command was established at Kanpur with Singh at the helm till his retirement on 04 Nov 1963!

In this period he achieved many milestones, namely, inducting the Hawker Siddeley HS 748(Avro), launching the first jet engine built in India, becoming AOC-in-C Maintenance Command, and receiving the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for his distinguished service.

With the manufacturing of the HS 748 aircraft at Kanpur under his direction, the then CAS, Air Chief Marshal PC Lal had noted that the “HS” could well stand for “Harjinder Singh” rather than “Hawker Siddeley”.

His connection to Kanpur was immortalized as ‘Harjinder Nagar’ near Air Force Station Chakeri, Kanpur.

After serving for 32 years in the IAF, Singh, after declining an extension of service and the prestigious position of Controller General Aircraft Production, settled down in Chandigarh where he served in many advisory positions for the Punjab Government.

He also served as an advisor to GE, Himalayan helicopters, and Avro Atlantic.
Singh and his wife, Beant Kaur continued pursuing their passion for flying post-retirement at Chandigarh. Beant Kaur, in 1952 , became the first Indian woman to hold a private pilot’s license.

Having no children of their own, they adopted Beant’s sister’s son, Manmohan, who joined the Indian army and retired as a colonel.

In September 1971, while giving a speech at the DAV College, Chandigarh, Singh suffered a heart attack and died aged 62. This legend of the IAF was mostly forgotten until a British Airways pilot came across his story by accident.

Mike Edwards, son of a British navy pilot, was tending to his eldest daughter who had leukemia. She had intensive chemotherapy and while spending a lot of time in hospital waiting rooms, he started reading up on the history of Spitfires and Hurricanes his father used to fly in.

He stumbled upon a few in India and as luck would have it, he was flying the Delhi- London route then. His curiosity took him to the Air Force Museum in Delhi where he found a disused old hangar with six oldies gathering dust.

This began the journey of restoring these vintage aircraft to flying conditions.

During this time Edwards came across the story of our forgotten hero through JR Nanda, a businessman and nephew of Amit Saigal, who had served as Harjinder Singh’s personal staff.

This led to Edwards penning the only account of the life of Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh. His book is named “Spitfire Singh”- aptly named….as Harjinder once found a Spitfire in a rubbish dump, rebuilt it himself, and used it to fly to all his meetings!

Interestingly, Edwards has been successful in assisting the IAF in restoring its vintage aircraft. The IAF vintage flight presently has a Tiger Moth, Harvard, and a DC3 Dakota in flying condition and these vintage beauties were the highlights of the #aeroindia2023 .

Next in line to be restored are a Hurricane, the same aircraft in which Jumbo crashed….and of course Singh’s very own- Spitfire !!

*End*