In addition to 34 air defence missions flown by PAF on 4th September, all but four of which were from Sargodha, more ground attack missions were flown against Indian army targets in the vicinity of Jaurian and Akhnoor. In one low level sortie over in the Jammu area, Sqn Ldr Alam, accompanied by Flt Lt Jilani, had his cockpit canopy shattered by ground fire but nevertheless continued strafing enemy artillery before nursing his damaged Sabre safely back to Sargodha. Another strike mission led by Sqn Ldr Arshad, OC No.15 Squadron, with four F-104s flying as top cover, during the afternoon was less fortunate and incurred the first loss to be suffered by the PAF during the period of hostilities. Two sections, each of four Sabres armed with rockets, followed by a further four carrying Napalm, came across a large convoy of Indian vehicles on the road from Akhnoor to Jaurian, and claimed 26 trucks destroyed. By the time the third flight arrived, under the command of Sqn Ldr M. D. Ahmad, no worthwhile targets were left and while searching for alternatives, these Sabres came under heavy AAA fire from guns around the Akhnoor bridge at Jaurian. They nevertheless attacked what appeared to be a large field HQ south of Jammu. As the Sabres were busy attacking the Indian army positions, four IAF Gnats sneaked upon them from low level. Sqn. Ldr. Greene was leading the formation and Sqn. Ldr. Sandhu, Flt. Lt. Pathania and Flt. Lt. Murdeshwar flew the other three Gnats. The Sabres were flying in a circuit attacking the Indian gun positions by taking turns. On the signal by the flight Commander, the Indian Gnats plunged into the Sabres circuit and within no time all the four Gnats positioned themselves behind the Sabres as they broke out of the attack pattern. Greene latched onto the first Sabre, but found himself at a high angle of attack to the targets flight path and broke away. Murdeshwar coming in behind Greene, was in a better position to attack his target and maneuvered himself for a kill. He had positioned the Sabre dead on between the diamonds of his Gyro gun-sight and pressed the firing button. The 30mm guns rattled off a shell….And fell silent. The Gnat was still suffering from the teething problems of development. One of the severe problems was the frequency at which its guns jammed. The Gnat which had two 30mm cannon placed on the inlet walls by the side. They were placed in such a pattern that the links that joined the bullets were deposited in the ammunition box of the gun on the opposite side. So instead of falling out into the sky, they traveled across a cross-feed before depositing themselves in the ammo box of the other gun. So when one gun refused to fire, the other gun also stopped firing, as the links had no place to go. Later on the problem was solved, but the on this occasion this resulted in the Pakistanis escaping more damage. It was Pathania who drew blood in this battle. He observed one of the Sabres had turned away and was flying towards the town of Akhnur. Pathania gave chase and fired three gun bursts at the Sabre. The Sabre started emitting smoke and it crashed near the town of Akhnur. Flg. Off. M. N. Butt ejected near Marala Headworks, and was rescued by the Pakistani SAR team. The Gnats returned to base and in the Officers Mess of No.23 Sqn there was no hiding the excitement. They took on the PAF and had made their mark. They had their first confirmed kill. About the same time Pathania was shooting down the Sabre, the two MiG-21s from No.28 Sqn were on a offensive CAP over the same area. Wg. Cdr. M.S.D. Wollen, CO, and Sqn. Ldr. Mukerjee were both flying at 16,000 feet altitude listening to the radio traffic. On being directed by RT, Wollen flew his MiG to a lower level along with his wingman, and as he entered the engagement area, he noticed two Sabres cross his path. He pulled his MiG in a tight turn, so tight, that Mukerjee lost sight of Wollen, who was now chasing the Sabre all alone. Wollen got a lock on his Sabre and fired one of his K-13s, which sped along and exploded just ahead of the Sabre. The Sabre pilot was now alerted, and a frantic chase ensued. Wollen fired his second and last K-13. But by now both the Sabre and the MiG were at very low level. The K-13 missile, once fired, falls for a brief second before its rocket motor starts and chasing the target. In this case, the missile fell and fired itself into the ground. Now Wollen was left with no missiles or guns chasing the Sabre. Frustrated as he was, he engaged reheat and zoomed over the head of the Sabre, barely controlling the temptation to ram him. The Sabre was flown by Squadron Leader Muniruddin Ahmed. Munir got so close to one of these Mach 2 fighters that he could pick out its big wing fences and belly detail as it turned away. He called up on the radio about the Mig, and stammered convulsively, B-B-B-B-By G-G-G-G-God, he nearly hit me. Meanwhile Wollen rendezvoused with Mukherjee and flew back to Pathankot. Flt. Lt. F.J. Mehta was going thru the dispersal area, where he met a seething Wg. Cdr. Wollen. Oh! For a 23mm, Just for a 23mm! said Wollen, expressing his disgust for the lack of the cannon in the MiG-21FL. Mehta could do nothing but sympathise.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 11:02:23 +0000
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