Air Mshl TS “Timki” Brar, PVSM, AVSM had an illustrious career in the IAF and retired as the Vice Chief. Only a few know that till a few years prior to retirement, he was on the path to being Chief of the IAF. This thread is to take you through his career.
Born on 9 Nov 1925, he hailed from a family from Ferozepur/ Moga with strong connect with service in armed forces. His grandfather Capt Hira Singh has a village named after him. Lt Gen Kuldip Singh Brar, of Golden Temple fame, was his first cousin.
He studied at the Doon school and while encouraged to join the Army, his family was averse to IAF. He put his foot down to become a pilot or a paratrooper only. At which his mother relented – “At least be in the cockpit if you have to be in the air”.
He was accepted in the IAF in 1943 and after completing service and basic training at ITW & EFTS, he was commissioned in Apr 44. After his advanced trg with SFTS at Ambala and Fighter conversion at 151 OTU, Peshawar, he found himself with 2,3 & 9 Sqn in the 1940s.
In April 1947, he was sent to Central Flying School, UK to train as an instructor. Dilbagh Singh (later CAS) would be his companion. Dilbagh & Brar would cross paths all the way to CAS & VCAS. After the course, he was posted as an instructor for a couple of years.
The young and handsome, curly-haired instructor would then serve as the Aide-De-Camp to the President of India in 1950-51, a position usually reserved for the brightest. A rare video of him here.
After a stint as Flt Cdr of 4 Sqn at Jamnagar flying tempests, in Sep 53, on being promoted to Sqn Ldr, he took over as CO of 1 Sqn, flying the Vampires at Palam for the next 30 months. 1 Sqn would lead the way in utilizing the Vampire to its potential.
In 1954, he married the daughter of Raja of Kalsia. Incidentally, The son of Raja of Kalsia was also serving under Brar in 1 Sqn, who tragically lost his life in an air accident, was awarded Shaurya Chakra.
Air Cmde Tikku Sen, then a rookie pilot with 1 Sqn, recollects an incident where he authorised a flight that could have ended up badly when Timki instead of reprimanding him, counselled him –
Discipline, he said, must rest on self restraint.As a punishment, I was grounded for 15 days. As an encouragement, I was delegated the power to authorize flights. I was made to prepare the flight program &brief all the pilots, listen to all the de-briefs & write out the blue books of all the junior pilots.
Staff College, AirHQ and Opl Command postings till 1962, firmly grounded Timki in staff roles. In Nov 62, he was promoted to Wg Cdr & posted as Stn Cdr of 8 Wing at Adampur. His first of 4 stn commands including Hindon, Agra & Dundigal. No one has been able to match this.
In June 65, he was promoted to Gp Capt. Posted as the first Stn Cdr of 28 Wing, Hindon, & given the tough job of setting it up, he inducted 7, 20 Sqn, and 104 HU during his tenure.
Timki Brar’s reputation has an able administrator, leader, strict disciplinarian and unscrupulously honest was growing. He was sent in 1967 to be Air Attache to France for three years. On return he was posted to NDC.
On completing NDC, he was promoted to Air Cmde and made Air-I at Western Air Command, incharge of all fighter ops in the command. For this crucial role during the 1971 war, he was awarded AVSM.
As an Air Vice Marshal, he served as SASO of Central Air Command, Commandant of AFA and ACAS (Plans) at AirHQ before being promoted to Air Mshl and being posted as C-in-C of CAC for a couple of years and as Vice Chief of IAF for another two years.
An old school soldier of firm conviction, he took the blame for a junior-an act while Cmdt AFA that is rumored to have cost him the top post. To his credit, Brar would serve for two years under Dilbagh as his deputy despite the 6 months seniority diff between them.
Timki’s logbooks and albums remain preserved with the 1 Sqn museum in Gwalior. He had also served as the Commodore Commandant of the unit between 79-85. He finally breathed his last on 24 March 2014, aged 89 and is survived by his elegant wife and kids.
Originally published on Twitter
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