60 Years Before Op Sindoor, Pak's Sargodha Airbase Saw Legendary Dogfight
Among the Pakistan airbases India targeted during Operation Sindoor is Sargodha in Punjab. Satellite images following India's airstrikes show a damaged runway at Sargodha, now named after Pakistan's former air chief Mushaf Ali Mir, who died in a crash in 2003.
About 60 years ago, during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the Sargodha airbase was at the centre of some legendary dogfights between the two air forces. And one such dogfight, between India's vintage Mystere IV A fighter and Pakistan's far more advanced F-104 starfighter, established that it is not the plane, but the pilot who determines the result in a dogfight.
Unfortunately, it took over two decades for this pilot, Squadron Leader AB Devayya, to get his due. Twenty-two years after he died and was buried in Pakistan, this pilot became the only Indian Air Force personnel to be awarded posthumously the Maha Vir Chakra, the country's second-highest gallantry award.
The Epic Battle
On September 6, the Pakistani Air Force struck Indian bases at Adampur, Halwara, Pathankot, and Jamnagar. The next day, the Indian Air Force launched a fierce counterstrike and bombed the Sargodha airbase. Squadron Leader AB Devayya was flying a Dassault Mystere IV A and engaged with a far-superior PAF Starfighter, flown by Flight Lieutenant Amjad Hussain and both planes crashed. While the Pakistani pilot ejected safely, Devayya could not. The remaining Indian squadron was unaware of this dogfight in which Devayya took down the superior Starfighter.
A Forgotten Hero
Squadron Leader Devayya was considered missing, with the Indian security establishment unaware of his heroic feat. 'India-Pakistan Air War of 1965', a Pakistan-sponsored book by British aviation historian John Fricker published in 1979, mentioned a dogfight between a Mystere and the Starfighter flown by Flt Lt Hussain. "In staying with the Starfighter, the Mystere fighter showed commendable courage and gained an advantage when Flt Lt Ahmed made the mistake of reducing down in an attempt to out-turn his determined opponent. The F-104 pilot failed to clear its tail during the dogfight and the Mystere pressed home its attack and scored several cannon strikes on the Starfighter."
The Revelation
Several claims in Fricker's book have been challenged and called out as propaganda for Pakistan. PVS Jagan Mohan, co-author of 'India-Pakistan Air War of 1965', said in a podcast that Group Captain OP Taneja, Commanding Officer of No.1 Squadron, had read Fricker's book and concluded that it was Devayya who shot down the F-104, as he was the only casualty in the raid. Flight Lt B Guha was killed in action later in the evening in another raid.
Mr Mohan told air force historian PR Ganapathy on the Blue Skies Podcast that all Indian aircraft part of the morning raid returned to Adampur except the one flown by Devayya.
Group Captain Taneja then wrote to Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif and requested that he recommend Squadron Leader AB Devayya's name for the Maha Vir Chakra (Posthumous).
Recognition, Decades Later
Squadron leader Devayya is believed to have died on Pakistani soil after a crash following the dogfight. He was 32. Twenty-two years later, his wife Sundari Devayya received the Maha Vir Chakra on his behalf. And six decades after his death, his story was retold in the Bollywood movie Sky Force.
Many still don't know about this Indian pilot's courageous feat, but every time Sargodha is mentioned, those who know think about Squadron Leader Devayya and his battle to the death.
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