No. 1 Sqn, IAF played a role in the 1947 Kashmir war operating the Havard IIB & Spitfire (VIII & XIV). EXCEPT No. 1 Sqn had been numberplated a few months earlier & did not exist in Oct 1947! This closing thread of the year unravels this mysterious oddity. (1/13)
No. 1 Sqn operating Tempests at Peshwar was transferred to PAF at the time of independence. They decided to rename it as 5 Sqn, RPAF. It was not until 1953, the IAF decide to resurrect No. 1 Sqn, its oldest sqn leaving a period of 5 years where 1 Sqn did not exist. 2/
The opl record books of Advanced Flying School, Ambala for the 1947 period have a different story to tell though. The saga starts in Oct 1947, when it seems the trg school was asked to send 4 Harvards IIB, modified with .303 Bren machine guns & Bombs to Srinagar. 3/
The Nov 1947 entry is the first time we find mention of “No.1 Sqn”. It seems the sqn was equipped with 4 Spitfires and Harvards each with pilots from the Advanced Flying School. All operational Sqns of IAF at that time had converted to Tempests from Spitfires. 4/
IAF had no base north of Palam at that time and it became necessary to get Ambala into action. On 28 Oct 47, the day after 1 SIKH had landed in Srinagar, two Spitfires from Ambala were ordered to provide close air support. This story is best told by the pilot. 5/
Infact Srinagar was considered unfit for Spitfire ops due to its short runway, being just a grass strip and elevation of 1,600 mts, yet these two instructors from Ambala – RL Suri and JJ Bouche from the “No 1 Sqn” landed and operated in support of Army. 6/
The Spitfires moved its ops to Jammu on 18th Nov 47 due to the effects of winter in Srinagar and to allow higher endurance over lower J&K area. The airstrip at Jammu was also redone. Over the next 10 days, the Spitfires flew more than 40 sorties. 7/
Later Air Chief Dilbagh Singh was also at Ambala, flying the Spitfires. He operated from 5th November to late November and recounts some of the operational details in his memoirs. Spitfires attacked Mirpur, Bhimber,naushera, Jhangar, Rajouri, Poonch & Kotli. 8/
On 19 Nov, Spitfires used 250 Lbs bombs against raiders in Kotli. By the end of the campaign, two Spitfires were lost without the loss of any pilots. This was an incredible feat considering the conditions, terrain, aircraft, and the number of missions “1 Sqn” flew. 9/
The Harvards were not to be left behind. While predominantly used in a Recce role, they also straffed raiders using the 303 machine guns. JJ Bouche continues to recount some more missions. One Harvard of “1 Sqn” was lost to enemy fire over poonch on 8 Nov. 10/
By Dec 47, 1 Sqn was pulled back to continue trg at Ambala. The unit was awarded two Vir Chakras – RL Suri and LRD Blunt. JJ Bouche and Dilbagh Singh from the unit were awarded M-in-Ds. The 2-month war for the instructors from Ambala was over. 11/
Back to the question – The mystery of “1 Sqn” was resolved when a mention of No. 1 “Ad-hoc” Sqn was made in the book “Spitfires in the Sun” by Vikram Singh. IAF followed the concept of converting trg crews/aircraft to “ad-hoc” sqns during war. Crew from Ambala were named such.12/
The IAF chose to call this “Ad-hoc” unit as “No. 1” in 1947 leaving us (enthusiasts!) in a tailspin for decades. In later wars, Ad-hoc Sqn carried different numbers and made a mark for themselves again. (13/13)
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