06-05-2025
With 'wings of fire,' IAF hero downed Pakistan's 'faster' jet in 1965, act of bravery even documented by enemies
Synopsis Squadron Leader A.B. Devayya, an instructor turned fighter pilot, displayed extraordinary courage during the 1965 India-Pakistan war. On September 7th, he engaged a superior Pakistani F-104 Starfighter over Sargodha, shooting it down before his own demise. His bravery remained largely unacknowledged until years later, when evidence led to him being posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. Somebody rightly said, 'Some heroes don't return, but they never leave.'
ADVERTISEMENT In the vast skies above Pakistan's Sargodha on 7th September 1965, a lone Indian pilot engaged in a dogfight that may not have made loud headlines back then, but earned lasting reverence from his force, and from the whole of India, now and forever.
This is the story of Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya (called 'Wings of Fire'), an unsung hero of the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
For his bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, the only Indian Air Force officer to receive it posthumously, as per the IAF war broke out in 1965, Devayya wasn't on the frontlines. He was an instructor at the Air Force Flying College, training young pilots. But when duty called, he joined No. 1 'Tigers' Squadron at Adampur, flying the Mystère IVa, a French-made job wasn't to engage enemy fighters, it was to strike targets and return. But fate had other plans.
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On the morning of 7th September, Devayya was part of a strike mission to Sargodha Airfield, a major Pakistani base. He was the last to finish the bombing run. As he turned back, a Pakistani F-104 Starfighter, faster and more advanced, intercepted enemy fired missiles, but Devayya outmanoeuvred them. Still, the Starfighter caught up and fired its guns, damaging his aircraft.
ADVERTISEMENT At that point, most pilots would try to escape. But Devayya made a different choice, he turned around and fought, as recorded in the IAF archives. In a daring display of skill and courage, he engaged the 'superior' Starfighter in close combat and shot it down.
ADVERTISEMENT The Pakistani pilot, Flight Lieutenant Amjad Hussain, ejected and survived. Unfortunately, Devayya never returned.
ADVERTISEMENT His body was never recovered. Initially, the Indian Air Force listed him as missing, and later presumed him dead.
Over a decade later, a British author John Fricker was commissioned by the Pakistan Air Force to write an account of the war. In his book published in 1979, Fricker included details from Pakistani sources that revealed Devayya's final act of later admitted that his body had been found by villagers near Sargodha and 1988, based on this information, the Indian government awarded Sqn Ldr Devayya the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously, making it the only posthumous MVC in IAF history.
The movie "Sky Force" is based on the 7 September 1965 attack on Sargodha, now known as PAF Base Mushaf. Veer Pahariya takes on the role inspired by Devayya, though his character is called T. Vijaya, and Sara Ali Khan plays his wife.
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