MYSTERES OVER SARGODHA PART-I By Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar Around 5 pm we heard the news that Pathankot airfield had been raided by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and that a number of our aircraft had been destroyed on the ground. As dusk fell we were told to go back to the mess. My room mate Frisky Verma (later Air Marshal, AOC-in-C, Central Air Command) and I got on to Friskys Jawa motorbike and set off for the mess when there was a loud explosion at the Southern end of the runway and the anti- aircraft guns opened fire. Glowing red balls of tracer shells arced through the fading light and in their glow I picked out the silhouette of a PAF B-57 bomber go past. I yelled Frisky, B-57 over us and we dived into a trench. The Pak bomber carried out a second attack and dropped a bomb near the Air Traffic Control (ATC) building at the middle of the 3000-yard runway. After about 15 minutes the all clear sounded and we gingerly rode back to the mess in pitch darkness because black out had been enforced not only in the base but also all over Punjab. In the mess pilots from the other two Mystere squadrons on the base and a number of senior flying instructors from Training Command who had been attached to the three squadrons for operational duties were gathered in little knots talking in hushed tones about another PAF raid on Halwara to the South of us earlier in the evening. Some more bad news came in of a Mig-21 parked at the end of our runway being destroyed by the PAF bomber. The only cheery news was that two F-86F Sabre jets of the PAF had been shot down by our Hunter fighters over Halwara. We all knew that the IAF would have to retaliate the next day but we had no idea of where and when. Paddy Earle came to the mess and told all of us to have an early dinner and catch some sleep. I slept fitfully, rolling and tossing in bed not knowing what to expect. We were woken up by a messenger at 0300 hrs and told to report to the squadron briefing room at 0400 hrs. No mission details were given and we could only guess that it was something big. When we assembled in the briefing room fitted with black out curtains, I looked at the briefing board and saw the formation details for a 12 aircraft attack on Sargodha, the heavily defended PAF base, about 100 miles inside Pakistan. As my eyes ran over the details my heart sank because I saw Friskys name in the first wave of four aircraft but did not see my name. I was going to miss all the action! Another frantic search and I found my name at No 12 in the list, in the last wave of four - I was to be the tail end Charlie. As enemy aircraft attempting to intercept our formation would have to approach from the rear to bring their forward firing guns to bear on our aircraft the last man in the formations job was to warn the others about an impending attack. The job required the keen eyes of a hawk and a rubberneck to keep looking as far back as possible. It was a crucial duty and I had been chosen to do it. My disappointment gave way to pride. It could have also meant that I was disposable but I preferred the earlier thought! Two senior flying instructors, one of them Sqn Ldr AB Devayya, were stand bys in case any of the first 12 aircraft dropped out. Omi Taneja started the briefing with a serious demeanour. The excitement and tension in the room was palpable. This was the real thing! We had to start up and taxy out to the take off point in the correct sequence in total radio silence on unlit taxy tracks. The runway lights would come only when we were ready to roll. Take off would be in pairs with each aircraft occupying one half of the runway and the interval between pairs was to be 30 seconds to avoid the jet wake of the aircraft in front. We were to take off at 0528 hrs and fly at 300 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) in darkness for 30 minutes and carry out our attacks at 30 second intervals at 0558 hrs just as dawn was breaking over the target. The very low altitude was chosen for the inbound leg to avoid radar detection. Navigation would be only by compass and stop watch as darkness would not permit map reading. Omi would lead the first four aircraft armed with 8xT-10 rockets each, Denny Satur the second four armed with 2x18 SNEB 68mm rocket pods each and Sqn Ldr Sudarshan Handa the last four with 2x1000 pound bombs each. As the target was at the extreme distance the Mystere could go at a height of 300 feet AGL with a full fuel and armament load we had to fly at the optimum speed for range which was about 120 mph slower than the preferred tactical speed for manoeuvring at low level. Each of the 12 pilots was given a specific target to attack on the airfield with preference for aircraft spotted on the airfield. The first abortive mission We synchronised watches and the briefing ended at 5 am. Some biscuits and tea had been served during the briefing by junior pilots who were not part of the formation. I quickly loaded my revolver and stuffed it into my flying suit along with some Pakistani currency. These items were to facilitate escape in case of being shot down! I strapped on my back parachute, picked up my flying helmet and checked that everything was in order. Dry mouthed I started walking in the inky night to the pen where my aircraft was parked when the air raid siren went off and the anti aircraft guns started to fire the by now familiar red tracer shells. It was a clear starlit sky and I picked out a moving pinpoint of light overhead and quickly realised it was a passing satellite at a height of a couple of hundred miles but our gunners did not know that! They kept up a barrage of fire for a few minutes. I jumped into a nearby trench and waited for the all clear to sound when I heard Omis aircraft, which was parked close to where my aircraft was, start up. I flashed the torch on my watch and it was already 0518 hrs, only 10 minutes to go for take off! I ran to my aircraft [IA1334], climbed into the cockpit, started the engine and while it was revving up I strapped up and caught up with the other 11 aircraft which were ghostly shapes on the taxy track. Omi and his four aircraft lined up and took off on time followed by Denny and his four. As Handa rolled on to the runway followed by his wingman Flt Lt Darshan Singh Brar I saw the two standby aircraft with their engines running parked to one side of the take off point. My sub-section leader Flt Lt Dilmohan Singh Kay Kahai took up position behind Handa and Handa began his take off. I suddenly saw one of the standby pilots Sqn Ldr Devayya move on to the runway and begin rolling in front of Kay. The second bomb dropped by the PAF B-57 the previous night had exploded to one side of the runway about 1500 yards from where we began rolling. A lot of mud was lying on the runway and the jet wake of the preceding aircraft had created a dense dust cloud. As I raised the nose wheel at about 140 mph I entered the dust cloud and lost all visual reference. After about three or four seconds I emerged from the cloud ready to lift off when I saw this enormous Mystere filling my front windshield. Devayya, who had no business to be in the formation as no one had dropped out, had drifted into my half of the runway and I was about to collide with him! Fortunately for me the Mystere had a characteristic, which I knew about, of yawing to the right if one attempted to get it off the ground before it was ready to fly off on its own. I did exactly that and the heavily laden aircraft yawed and staggered into the air. I quickly raised the wheels to reduce drag and concentrated on staying in the air. The aircraft accelerated slowly and after what seemed an eternity I had things under control but I had lost sight of Kays aircraft. I headed North West for the Beas river bridge in the hope of spotting the formation but it was an impossible task in the darkness as all aircraft were flying with their navigation lights switched off. I consumed fuel and returned to base with my bombs. About 20 minutes after I landed the formation returned. Devayya was missing and Handas formation had missed the target due to a navigational error in the darkness and had returned to base with their bomb load. After the debriefing was over Omi Taneja said the performance of Handas formation was unacceptable. He ordered the formation to attack Sargodha in broad daylight at 0945 hrs! This was a most unexpected order because there would be no cover of darkness for the inbound leg and the alerted defences would give us a hearty reception. The chances of being intercepted by enemy fighters and shot down were very bright but orders were orders and we had to obey.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 14:21:24 +0000