From the IAF vault: The story of the daring 12 Squadron

During the 1947 Kashmir War, 12 Vir Chakras were awarded to a single unit. That record stands unbeaten to this day, held by a transport squadron – Number 12 Squadron of the Indian Air Force. This is the valiant saga of the last Royal Indian Air Force unit to be raised by the British.

Post-World War II, the RIAF had settled on a 10-squadron size. With numbers 5 and 11 Royal Air Force squadrons serving in India, these numbers could not be used for the RIAF squadrons. The 10th RIAF squadron to be raised was thus the Numbers 12 Squadron codenamed 'The Yaks', whose history will forever be linked to that of newly independent India. 

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The Number 12 squadron was raised in Kohat in December 1945 under the command of Squadron Leader Syed Naseem 'Gus' Haider and was equipped with 4xSpitfire Mk VIIIs. Built around a team of 10 officers and 153 airmen, it was meant to be the IAF's first twin-engine fighter/bomber squadron.

Syed Naseem Haider was an RAF pilot with experience with Fleet Air Arm and Spitfire operations in Europe. He had transferred to the IAF in 1942 and was busy strafing the Japanese with 8 Squadron in Burma, when he pulled out to attend the Fighter Leader Course in the United Kingdom and subsequently take over 12 Squadron.

The wooden de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito combat aircraft was abandoned as it suffered from tropical droop. Moving to Risalpur in January 1946, the Yaks' future would instead be hitched to the Airspeed Oxford's ilk. As the number of Oxfords in the squadron grew, in March 1946, it was tasked to train 18 navigators on the Oxford aircraft.

By mid-1946, an RAF navigator and flying officer Krishna Mahesh Agerwala were posted in as navigator instructors and a separate navigator school was established in the squadron. Even as Spitfires reduced, two Oxfords were allotted to the school. Still working to a fighter squadron establishment, it kept up churning out Navigators.

In June 1946, the squadron moved to the RAF station at Bairagarh in Bhopal, under the command of Number 2 (I) Group. With the Spitfires shed to 152 Operational Training Unit in Risalpur, the squadron now flew nine Oxfords, besides running the RAF station at Bhopal. The Nawab of Bhopal, himself an honorary Air Vice Marshal, was a frequent visitor and benefactor of Squadron 7.

September 46 is when it became a transport squadron. A fleet of five Dakota aircraft was established, with three RAF instructors. Having flown 80 hours on the Oxford, eight pilots, including Flight Lieutenant H C Dewan as Flight Commander (later Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command during the 1971 war) were selected for conversion to the Dakotas. Flying on the nine Oxfords continued for other pilots.

In line with a Transport role, on September 15, 1946, the administration & functional control of the squadron was handed over to 229 Group of RAF (headquartered in Delhi), which itself reported to the RAF's Transport Command and the Air Command in South East Asia. Initial Dakota serviceability remained low due to a shortage of spares. 

Concurrently, the Navigation Training School started at Tambaram and took the role away from 12 Squadron. In November, all Oxfords were transferred to Service Flying Training School in Ambala and then Communication Squadron at Palam. The 12 Squadron was now a single-flight, 10 crew, Dakota 'Gooney Bird' Squadron.

By October 1946, 10 pilots had converted to Dakotas, and the Squadron now had 10 Dakota birds. Second Lieutenant Shivdev Singh assumed command in December, with the headquarters at Risalpur. 'The Yaks' now moved to Mauripur to train with the RAF’s Number 10 and 31 squadrons.

A veteran of the European theatre, Shivdev led the Squadron's celebrations of its first anniversary. In 12 months, it had flown three different types and relocated four times! A move to Chaklala to train in para-dropping was soon to be its fifth. Shivdev ran the squadron through its paces, flying 500 hours in two months.

One more twist was in the offing for the 12 Squadron. Paratroopers Training School, Chaklala was an RAF establishment that was winding up at Independence. As per Shivdev Singh, - India and Pakistan flirted with the idea of making 12 Squadron a "joint para training school". But the idea was dropped shortly thereafter. 

In May 1947, the soon-to-be-famous K L Bhatia (Flight Commander at 12 Squadron) and five officers were posted to 6 Squadron RIAF to convert it to Dakotas. With 6 Squadron being allocated to the Pakistan Air Force, Bhatia returned to 12 Squadron, which had moved to Agra, as its Commanding Officer. Shivdev took over the newly-raised No 4 Wing of the RIAF at Agra.

Having earlier housed the US Air Force's 3rd Air Depot Group and transport and bomber elements of its Hump (the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains) operations, Agra was a natural choice for basing India's only transport squadron. Agra was also the first base whose infrastructure was upgraded post-independence, with the Defence Minister himself gracing the event in 1950. 

But before that, Bhatia and his boys got down to flying refugees between India and Pakistan, airlifting over 30,000 of them. Station Commander Shivdev, meanwhile, flew a squadron aircraft to Singapore carrying more than 1800 kilograms of medical supplies for wounded Republicans in Indonesia -- India's first international mercy mission.

But it was in October 1947 that 'The Yaks' truly made their tryst with destiny. With Srinagar on the verge of being run over and Banihal closed for traffic, only 'The Yaks' could save the day for India. The operations began on October 27 -- now celebrated by the Indian Army as (the IAF-enabled) Infantry Day.

Six Dakotas took off from Palam and Wellingdon airbases and landed at Srinagar by 10 am, with Bhatia leading the first in Dakota VP-905 (later commemorated by the refurbished 'Parshuram' of the IAF's Heritage Fleet). Each of the 22 sorties flown on that day had carried 17 men, their equipment and 226 kg of supplies.

In week one, 12 Squadron and some civilian Dakotas flew 1.9 lakh kg load, including two artillery guns, to Srinagar. Each aircraft flew more than two sorties per day. The air bridge continued for three weeks, and 704 sorties were flown till November. At its peak, the squadron flew 35 sorties per day. The losses included an MA965 piloted by Flight Lieutenant Mendoza.

Three fighter squadrons also rendered critical support to operations. But 'Mehar Baba' joined the fray by modifying 5 Dakotas to drop four 113kg bombs, which proved handy in the next phase of operations at Poonch. The beleaguered Indian Army garrison needed emergent help, especially to counter the enemy artillery fire.

After the first landing at Poonch by Baba and Subroto Mukerjee, Flying Officer Pushong landed a Dakota on December 12. A Mountain Battalion was flown in the next day by Grewal and Pushong. On the 17th, Bhatia put Baba's modified Dakotas to good use by dropping six bombs at night, unsettling the enemy.

On March 21, 1948, Bhatia's VP-914 was hit on its tail fin while landing, leaving the aircraft damaged. Two days later, he was back with Subroto, dropping bombs again. In April, Grewal and Pushong landed at night, with 2 Dakotas flying overhead, looking for flashes in the darkness

By March 1948, the squadron had flown 3404 hours, lifted 3.5 million tonnes of load, 10000 Poonchi refugees, 4000 troops and 1000 casualties. Over 8000 kg of bombs had also been dropped. On May 24, 1948, in keeping with the Indian Army's SOS call, Baba landed a troop-bearing 12 squadron Dakota at Leh to ease the siege.

With the 'Punching Ops' ending, Srinagar, Leh, and Poonch had been saved! Major General Kulwant Singh, General Officer Commanding of Jammu and Kashmir forces, commended the performance of the 12 Squadron and offered a trophy on behalf of Raja of Poonch -- a stuffed Panther. I wonder if the 12 Squadron Museum sports this still.

It remains a mystery and perhaps a travesty that 'The Yaks' were not conferred with battle honours for these operations, though later in 1971, they became the second IAF Squadron (after the Number 1 Squadron in 1968) to be awarded the President's Standards. Regardless, their contribution remains unparalleled.

In 1949, the 12 Squadron was sent to the East to 'Show the Flag'. A year later, they were in the Farnborough flypast. Now led by Malse, in 1950, the Squadron provided succour to Assam, then affected by an earthquake and floods. In 1951, the 12 Squadron carried out high-altitude drops at Walong -- another first.

In February 1954, the Squadron was the first to convert to the C-119G Packet aircraft. The aircraft could lift thrice the load of a Dakota. In March 1958, the aircraft landed at Leh for the first time. The IAF souped it up by adding the J-3400 jet pack that later permitted Second Lieutenant Raje to land a Packet at Daulat Beg Oldi in northern Ladakh in July 1962.

The two Packet Squadrons at Agra -- 12 and 19 -- maintained an alternate detachment at Srinagar for a year each. During the 1962 war, Squadron 19 was on detachment, but Squadron 12 augmented it with four aircraft while some aircraft were sent to the North-East Frontier Agency. Regular operations were conducted by the squadrons to Fukche (13670 feet), Chushul (14314 feet) & Leh (11562 feet). 

The squadron flew about 730 hours during the 1965 war and participated in the Tangail airdrop in December 1971. The Packet element was led by the Commanding Officer of 12 Squadron, Wing Commander SP Sabarwal. The squadron also maintained two aircraft at Dumdum for covert operations into East Pakistan. On December 12 alone, the squadron flew a record 116 hours.

Much like 1 Sikh regiment (now 4 Mechanised Infantry), which it inducted into the Valley, 12 Squadron has been involved in most major operations since independence. Maybe there is a case for affiliation if one does not already exist -- two gallant units to whom the nation will owe forever.

On the international front, the UN Congo Operations of 1960 had a strong 12 Squadron presence. In August 1960, three crews of C-119 aircraft arrived in Congo and operated the UN C-119 aircraft led by then Commanding Officer Wing Commander KL "Ken" Suri. An achievement best recognized in Wing Commander KS Nair's book 'Ganesha's flyboys'. 

The author is a finance professional, currently Managing Director at a Private Equity Firm, and hails from a military family. He is deeply interested in Indian aviation history and has regularly contributed across platforms on Indian Air Force history. You can check out his work on Twitter: @AnchitGupta9