Recollections of a Communicator; On 50th anniversary of IAF’s first air war, its vital role

New Delhi, Oct.8 The Indian Air Force (IAF) today is observing its 83rd Air Force Day, as also the fiftieth anniversary of its first air war. While the nation is aware of the various battles fought by the Indian Army, not much is known about the role played by the Indian Air Force in the war against Pakistan in 1965. The book by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar provides us the comprehensive details of the role played by the Indian Air Force during the war.When Pakistan launched an attack in the Rann of Kutch, the Government of India restricted the response to the Army alone. However the Indian Air Force reconnaissance aircraft provided photographic evidence of American Patton tanks being deployed in the Rann of Kutch. A Vampire aircraft of the Indian Air Force took pictures of the Patton tanks which intruded into Indian territory between Biar Bet and Point 84 in the Rann of Kutch.Soon, with the intervention of Harold Wilson of the United Kingdom, a cease fire came into being, but not for a long time.Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar on August 5, and regular Pakistan Army officers and soldiers of the POK battalion, called Razakars , infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in his address at the Red Fort on August 15 told the nation that “resort to the sword with be met with the sword”. In the counter attack, the Indian Army captured Haji Pir, which was the main route for infiltration.