Armed Pegasus: The Early Years

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Barely seven years after the Wright Brothersflew for the first time a heavier than air machineat Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA, in 1903, thefirst crates containing two Boxkite aeroplaneslanded at Karachi. In December 1910, they flewin the Indian skies for the first time, heralding thecoming of the air age to India. It was, however, in early 1916, with thepressure of war on, that the British governmentdecided to send military aeroplanes to India.Prior to that, a flying school had been opened inearly 1914 but due to the war, it closed down.Thereafter, the miniscule presence of the RoyalFlying Corps/Royal Air Force (RFC/RAF) in India(mostly in the North-West Frontier area)steadily increased and served right through theTwenties and Thirties, until World War II beganand beyond it up to 1947. This was the period when the tactics andorganisational structure of the new servicegradually changed through innovation andemulation of the other two services until theIndian Air Force (IAF) came into existence inOctober 1932. It was in this period that therewas a demand for Indians to be recruited intothe RAF. The British flatly refused buteventually conceded that a separate servicefor India should be established. However, this period of nearly 20-25 years sawthe slow but steady growth of the organisationand formulating of rules, regulations, uniforms,rank structure, methods, tactics and utilisationof the changing technology that brought betterand more powerful aeroplanes for use. While Britain has its own history of the RAF,India does not have any history that explainsthe how, why and where of the operations inIndia. And once the IAF was set up, it naturallyfollowed the pattern on which the RAF hadbeen set up. For the past over sixty years, the IAF has itsown history but does not have any detailedaccount of how the RAF was managed and theintroduction of many operations and actionsthat laid the foundation of the IAF. From thelogo on the aircraft, to squadron histories, theconstant upgradation of technology andadoption of the RAF's customs and traditions,these were not recorded. This book is anattempt to place on record the facts andevents to show how the Air Force was set upand by trial and error, reached the heights ofglory of today's IAF. This narrative is in thenature of describing the base on which thefoundation was gradually laid andsubsequently expanded. Table of Contents Introduction Acknowledgements The Fledgling Years The Operational Test The Frontier Experience The Chequered Years Ahead Keepig Peace on the Frontier Defending The Empire's Outposts Appendices Bibliography Index