Manimugdha has been scribing a fine crop of articles on Indian military History. In this one he lightly touches upon Indra Lal Roy though. The only air ace India has produced. He served in the First World War with the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force. When the First World War broke out, Roy was attending St Pauls School, Hammersmith in London, England. Five months after turning 18, in April 1917 he enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 5 July 1917. After training and gunnery practise at Vendôme and Turnberry, he joined No. 56 Squadron on 30 October 1917. Roy was part of A Flight, commanded by flying ace Captain Richard Maybery. Two months later, Roy suffered an early setback and was injured after he crash-landed his S.E.5a fighter on 6 December 1917. While recovering, Roy made numerous sketches of aircraft — many of which still exist. Though concerns were raised that he was medically unfit, Roy was successful in returning to duty after he had recuperated. He was transferred to Captain George McElroys flight in No. 40 Squadron in June 1918. On his return to active service, Roy achieved ten victories (two shared) in thirteen days. He claimed five aircraft destroyed (including one shared), and five down out of control wins (including another shared) in just over 170 hours flying time. He was killed over Carvin on 22 July 1918 while flying in formation with two other S.E.5a in a dog fight against Fokker D.VIIs of Jagdstaffel 29. Roy was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in September 1918 for his actions during the period of 6–19 July 1918. He is buried at Estevelles Communal Cemetery. His nephew Subroto Mukerjee too was a fighter pilot who later became the first Indian Chief of Air staff of the Indian Air Force.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 06:11:48 +0000
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