The Indian Air Force came into being at a time when the air power of the Commonwealth was at its lowest ebb. Using period accounts, war diaries and official WW-II publicity publications, this book traces the genesis and development of India's Air Force, from its early days as a single squadron, flying antediluvian Westland Wapitis in operati ons on the North West Frontier, to its emergence as the battle-hardened service of a young republic.

 

The Indian Air Force's magnificent contribution to the allied victory in the second world war led to the bestowal of the title of 'Royal' by King George VI in March 1945. The service proudly bore this title till India became a republic in 1950. The book covers the R.I.A.F.'s rapid expansion following the onset of the Second World War. Its role in the Burma campaign, in the Arakan, and the battles for Imphal, Kohima and Central Burma; as well as post-war occupation duties in Japan, the trauma of partition, the first Kashmir conflict 1947-48 and the police action in Hyderabad 1948, all form the subject of individual chapters.

Incorporating many never-before-published rare and historic photographs of the early years of the R.I.A.F., with a foreword by Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh, DFC, this lavishly illustrated account brigns to life a bygone era, and fills a major gap in the history of one of the largest air forces in the world today.

 

Squadron Leader (Retd) Rana T.S. Chhina is Secretary and Editor of the U.S.I. Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, New Delhi, and Vice President of the Indian Military History Society, U.K.