WARS & ENCOUNTERS COLLECTION

A Mianwali F-6 meets an IAF Hunter at dusk over lake Khabakki near Sakesar. The Hunter was gunned down, its pilot Flight Lieutenant V S Chatti of No 27 Squadron ejected and was taken POW. The F-6 was piloted by Flight Lieutenant Qazi Javed.

The painting depicts the last of several air strikes by PAF aircraft on the Amritsar radar installation during the 1965 War. Wing Commander M Anwar Shamim, who led this mission on 11 September, is seen pulling up after his strafing attack. The leader’s No.2 was Squadron Leader Muniruddin Ahmed, who attained Shahadat when his aircraft was hit by a heavy ack ack shell. Following behind and faintly visible are his No.3 and No.4, Flight Lieutenants lmtiaz Bhatti and Cecil Chaudhry.

On the daybreak of the second day of war, Squadron Leader M M Alam led an intercept mission against IAF Hawker Hunters that were attacking Sargodha airfield. The Air Defence Controller assigned for this mission was Flight Lieutenant Farooq Haider from Sakesar radar. When the six Hunters broke after a final strafing pass on the field, Alam loosed a Sidewinder missile at their “tail-end Charlie.” The missile quickly found its mark and blew the Hunter out of the sky. Alam and his wingman, Flying Officer Masood Akhtar, lost sight of the other Hunters at this point, but called contact with them again a few minutes later. The Hunter pilots also saw the F-86s, and all five broke left in a line-astern formation, crossing in front of Alam’s guns. Alam then performed a virtuoso, but well-documented, feat of gunnery by shooting down four of the Hunters in rapid succession. Squadron Leader Mohammad Mahmood Alam, Commander of 11 Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force in 1965, was already a notable leader and highly experienced pilot. He also excelled in gunnery competitions – a skill that no doubt contributed greatly to his becoming the first and only jet ace in one mission.

The painting depicts a publicly witnessed dog-fight over the city of Lahore on the afternoon of 19 September 1965. The F-86 Sabre flown by formation commander Squadron Leader S A Changezi is pulling up after a kill. In this encounter four PAF Sabres were pitched against eight enemy aircraft - four Hunters and four Gnats. Two IAF Hunters were destroyed. The other pilots were Flight Lieutenants A H Malik, S N A Jilani and Amanullah Khan. Air Defence Controller for the mission was Flight lieutenant Ijaz A Khan from Sakesar radar.

Having failed to advance across the BRB canal towards Lahore, the Indian army brought up its heavy guns between Jallo and Attari to shell the historic city. On 21 September 1965, air support was requested to neutralize this threat. The F-86 formation tasked with this mission came from No.32 Wing of Sargodha Air Base. Mission Leader was Squadron Leader Azim Daudpota with the following pilots in the strike: Flight Lieutenants Amanullah Khan, Mansoor Ul Hassan, Saiful Azam, Pervaiz, Saleem Sheikh and Flying Officers Aftab Raja and Qadir

One of the most successful strikes during the 1971 War was at Mukerian Railyard south of Pathankot, where a number of trains laden with ammunition and fuel were attacked by 4 Mirage fighters from Sargodha. The mission was led by Wing Commander Hakimullah with Flight Lieutenants Najeeb Akhtar, Hameed Malik and Hasnat as his team members. The pilots’ accounts, gun camera films and subsequent ground reconnaissance was used by the artist to recreate this scene of destruction

This was a joint services operation carried out at Bhairab Bazar where the largest and the only leftover reserves of food grain were preserved in the silos. The silos were located at the bank of the river and were occupied by the Indian infiltrators. The storage was recaptured after a well-coordinated attack by the three forces. The Pak Navy brought the army troops in the small makeshift boats, mostly with outboard engines and fitted with machine guns. (The larger boats could not operate in this area because of the shallow water). The F-86s from No 14 Squadron Dhaka strafed and rocketed the strong hold of the enemy, while the army moved forward. The army heliborne contingent was led by the late Brigadier Tariq Mehmood, (as shown on the right) affectionately known as “T M”, who was then a Major.

Squadron Leader Dilawar destroys an IAF Hunter flown by Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Tremenheere over Dhaka in the last air battle in East Pakistan. Next day, Tejgaon airfield seen in the background would be destroyed completely by enemy bombers thus ending the heroic stand against overwhelming odds by No.14 Squadron. Today the squadron flies the JF-17 Thunders and proudly displays the battle honours of 'Kalaikunda 1965' and 'Dhaka 1971' inscribed on its Squadron Colour. Far greater honours may lie in the future for No.14 Squadron but the unforgettable epic of its handful of audacious warriors – rising repeatedly from Tejgaon runway to challenge an enemy who outnumbered them 10 to 1 – shall remain enshrined in its history for all times to come.