Apart from other documented mistakes for creation of BD, our leaders failed to to appreciate the importance of intrinsic nationalism, importance of culture, language, traditions, customs etc, and relied on religion Islam alone for integrity of State, which has, apart from Faraiz, has many differences in different countries and is not monolithic in practice during daily life.

Anyway my best wishes now are for BD to prosper in every way, just as their cricket team is improving every day in every way. Regards. Inam

Asalaam Aleikum Sir. It was extreamly interesting to know about what was happening in and around East Pakistan, from a PAF Top Brass officer’s point of view.

Sir, This may come to you as a shock, I was actaully not even born in 71, and my father was one of the 1st serving Bengali PAF Pilots who escaped from West Pakistan and took part in forming the Mukti Bahini Airforce. He was flying the Otter for the Mukti Bahini Airforce at that time.

Apart from the War, I have heard my father cherish his days in West Pakistan PAF and how wonderful his days were there.

Just wanted to say, thank you for sharing this story…I can relate your political observations and I somewhat agree to the mistakes made at that point of time.

Wishing you the very best…

Haseeb

Thank you for posting this article, it is very insightful and I hope brings some long sought recognition to the PAF EP contingent. Although I was only 5 years old at the time, and aside from a few glimpses of memory, do not recall much; our family was in the cantonment as my father, (late) Maj. Khalid Sagheer, was serving with 4th Sqdn, flying Alouette’s with Army Aviation. We were lucky enough to have gotten out on the last PIA casualty evac. towards the end of Nov. ’71.

My father did tell me that there were a couple of times that PAF F86’s saved him and Maj. Tierney (flying Mi-8) while on sorties to drop off commando’s on some bridge; had it not been for the F-86’s diving on the hidden heavy cal. guns, the unarmed helicopters would not have survived the sorties.

If you’ll recall, on the morning of the surrender after the AVN contingent escaped to Burma, there was 1 Alouette that wouldn’t start, and a 2nd Alouette held back for Gen. Niazi’s use (pilot was late Maj. Tauhid-ul Haq as he was a bachelor); after successful repairs were carried out, my father later piloted that aircraft out of EP in broad daylight just before the surrender ceremony, and Maj. Tauhid piloted the 2nd helicopter safely as well to Burma.

My father told me you must have known the incoming Indian helicopters were Alouettes, otherwise their escape and ability to have been “lost” amongst the Indian aircraft would not have been possible?

Also, I was wondering what your opinion is of the Army Aviation’s 4th Sqdn’s efforts during this time and how closely PAF and Army Aviation coordinated during this time.

Sincerely, Asad

Only one RAF C-130 specially equipped for STOL (short take of landing) operations, that is fitted with bank of short firing rockets on both the wings, etc, did land and take off in about 1,500 feet of clear patch of runway between craters (needed no taxi track as would have been required for our fighter to and fro strip from dispersed pens). C-130 being light without load landed with full brakes and reverse thrust. Take off after loading was a sort of catapult employing RATO (Rocket Assisted Take Off). Bank on each wing had I think 6 to 8 rocket tubes firing a short burst providing enough thrust to get aircraft airborne.

http://sabre-pilots.org/classics/v42airground.htm

There is also one famous photo of Sajad Haider posing alongside an F-86 while F-86 is parked on PSP.

Other thing is that you did not mention an important event of 12 December 1971, when three Royal Air Force C-130 planes landed on Dacca runway and evacuated some 400 Britons and Americans.

Here again the C-130 needs less runway than F-86, but it surely means that a good length of runway was usable and we needed just a thousand feet of PSP to add to the usable runway. Once PSP added and CAP re-established, it would have perhaps bought some time for ground troops or UN intervention and would have certainly prevent Indian Paratroopers from landing in Dacca.