The loss of four Vampires on the opening day
of the ë65 war was a major blow to the morale of the IAF and,
it was felt in all quarters that something had to be done
urgently. A grudge fight was, therefore, planned and the nimble
Gnat was chosen as the most suitable fighter. Its small size,
good turning ability and fast acceleration were seen to be
lethal attributes vis-a-via PAF’s main fighter, the Sabre. A
detachment of eight Gnats from Ambala-based No 23 Squadron was
flown to Pathankot and Sqn Ldr William Greene was deputed to
lead it. Greene had done his Fighter Leaders’ Course from UK
and was busy imparting his air combat skills to the Squadron
pilots when the war broke out. The more senior Flight Commander,
Sqn Ldr Brij Pal Singh Sikand held no grudge in ceding command
of the detachment to Greene, in view of the latterís
experience. Soon after landing at Pathankot on the evening of
2nd September, Greene was told plainly in an Operations brief
that the patrolling Sabres had to be tackled at any cost. The
plan consisted for four Mysteres luring the Sabres, while eight
low flying Gnats popped up and pounced from two different
directions. While the plan was bold, the large number of
aircraft demanded a high order of formation integrity and radio
discipline. Also, the operation had to be conducted swiftly
since the Gnat’s limited fuel did not permit a prolonged
turning fight. As the IAF had expected, the morning of 3rd
September saw PAF CAPs over Akhnur area. Pak Army’s 7 Division
had put in a request for air cover while its reinforcing
elements forded River Tawi during the offensive against Akhnur.
At first light, two Sabres and a Starfighter stared a vigil
which was continued an hour later by another similar trio. The
Sabre pair included Flt Lt Yusuf Ali Khan and Flg Off Abdul
Khaliq of No 11 Squadron. The singleton was flown by No 9
Squadron’s Flg Off Abbas Mirza, whose schoolboy looks belied
his proficiency at handling the aerodynamic wonder that was the
F-104 Starfighter.
After patrolling for a while, the Sabres were
warned about four bogeys approaching Akhnur at high altitude.
Outnumbered two to one, Yusuf decided to go for them anyway and
asked for intercept instructions. Before he could pick contact
with the reported bogeys up in the sky, his eyes caught a
glimpse of four Gnats zooming from below. Yusuf immediately
ordered jettisoning of drop tanks but one of his wingman’s
tanks did not go. While groping with the switches to sort the
problem, Abdul Khaliq lost sight of his leader and, in effect
ended up being a liability. Yusuf, therefore, instructed him to
head for home and impulsively decided to handle the complex
situation all by himself. The four Mysters, having apparently
lured the patrolling Sabres, turned north and exited the battle
area, leaving the Gnats to strike from behind. Led by Greene,
the front Gnat section consisted of Flg Off M R Murdeshwar as No
2, Sqn Ldr Sikand as No 3 and Flg Off V S Pathania as No 4.
Following instructions of Sqn Ldr Dandapani, the seasoned
controller at Arilritsar Radar, the Gnat Formation continued to
look out for the Sabres but to no avail. Yusuf, in the meantime,
dove down unnoticed from almost 30,000 ft and without much ado,
was able to place his missile sighting reticle on one of the
Gnats1. A loud growl indicating Sidewinder lock-on was just what
Yusuf could have asked for, in this one-versus-many scenario.
Ready 10 press the missile firing button, he was rattled by a
series of thuds on his aircraft.
Confounded at what could have gone wrong at
the vital moment, he looked back only to see a pair of Gnats
behind him! The Gnats that were in front, meanwhile, broke to
the left, obviously having been warned by the rear pair just in
time. Flt Lt Trevor Keelor and Flt Lt S Krishnaswamy, who were
trailing the front Gnat section, had been able to sandwich Yusuf’s
Sabre while he was busy with his quarry. Keelor opened up with
the Gnat’s 30mm cannon causing extensive damage to the Sabre.
A large portion of the elevator had been blown off, but Yusuf
continued dog fighting somewhat shakily. Hearing his plight on
the radio, Abdul Khaliq made an attempt to rejoin the fight, as
he had not gone much far.
Luckily, the Sabres were able to ‘pair up
again and they continued to help each other fight their way out
of the cloud of six Gnats2. Flt Lt Farooq Hadier, who had been
controlling the fight from Sakesar Radar, apprehended the
gravity of the situation and directed Mirza’s nearby
Starfighter into the midst of ongoing combat. The fearsome,
reputation of the Starfighter was not unfounded, it appeared, as
the Gnats went helter skelter on sighting it. Abdul Khaliq, who
at this time was being chased by Pathania, thus managed to get a
lucky reprieve.
Pajh oye.. 104 eeee," Sikand shouted out
to Pathania in inimitable Punjabi (the English translation,
"Run.. It’s a 104" just cannot grasp the hint of
made rush in the expression).
The ‘104’ did not stay in the fight for
long as the idea was to charge in at supersonic speed and try a
pot shot or, simply overwhelm the adversaries with sheer awe.
Mirza did his act a couple of times before leaving the scene; it
had a salutary effect as the dogfight broke off and the Gnats
started egressing. Sikand, who had initiated the panic call
broke off too, but in an opposite direction, thus losing contact
with his wingman as well as the rest of the formation. At
Sakesar Radar, Farooq was keeping abreast of the situation.
Anticipating the need for reinforcement he had scrambled another
Starfighter to the scene. Flown by Flt Lt Hakimullah, it arrived
a bit late for the Gnats, which had turned away. One Gantat
however, was seen to be behaving strangely; having gone back, it
turned about and re-entered Pakistani airspace. Hakimullah, who
was supersonic at this time, was directed towards the errant
intruder. Though Hakimullah could not sight the tiny Gant at the
speed he was flying, he learnt from Sakesar that his adversary
had slowed down to what appeared like landing speed. Hakimullah
set up orbit over the area, wondering if a forced landing was in
progress. Shortly thereafter, to his utter surprise, he picked
contact with a Gant taxing down the disused Pasrur airstrip near
Sialkot. When Green and his formation members landed, they were
in celebratory mood for what was believed to be Keelor’s kill.
They were expecting Sikand, the gregarious fellow that the he
was, to joint in any time for a heartily beer session. Little
did they know that their Flight Commander was in Pakistani
custody following a bizarre episode? During interrogation Sikand
claimed that almost all his systems failed soon after he was
separated from his formation. Once he had lost visual contact
with everyone, he tired to communicate on the radio, but found
it dead. His guns too had jammed, fuel flow had become erratic
and the fuel quantity was low; incredibly, his compass also went
berserk and the lost his bearing. If there was any hope of
making it back, the Starfighters snuffed it. Under the
circumstances, the airstrip that he saw was a godsend, no matter
that the stepped off his Gnat as a vanquished airman.
YUSUF somehow managed to keep his badly
damaged aircraft in control and, extricated out of the battle
area along with his wingman. With marginal fuel as well as a
dead radio, he made it to Sargodha; however, after landing he
discovered that there was no hydraulic pressure for braking, and
the Sabre ended up in the over-run arrester barrier without
further damage. For having fought single-handedly against six
Gnats and, also for recovering a badly damaged aircraft, Yusuf
was awarded a Sitara-i-Jur’at. Keelor, who claimed having seen
Yusuf’s aircraft go down, was promptly awarded a Vir Chakra
for what was believed to be IAF’s first kill. The picture of
the damaged Sabre released by the PAF told a different story,
though.
Sikand was promptly apprehended by Pak Army
troops and had to spend the next five months as POW. After his
repatriation, the IAF somehow took a light view of the incident
and, Sikand resumed his career; he eventually rose to the rank
of an Air Marshal. His aircraft was flown to Sargodha by Sqn Ldr
Saad Hatmi, who carried out several evaluation flights after the
war. Hatmi, who had flown the Gnat extensively while on an
exchange assignment with the RAF, did not find the IAF version
any different. He also maintained that the Gnat was no ‘Sabre
Slayer’ when it came to dog fighting. After its brief service
with the new air arm, Gnat IE 1083 was consigned to the PAF
Museum, where it continues to bemuse visitors with one of the
bizarre episodes of the 1965 War.