Harjinder Singh (IAF Officer)

On 21 January 1931, Singh joined the air force at RAF Drigh Road. He trained as a fitter airframe rather than a fitter aero-engine on the advice of his senior NCO. After two years of apprenticeship, in January 1933, he was attached to the test and despatch flight at RAF Karachi where he worked and maintained a Westland Wapiti. He was among the 19 hawai sepoys of the Indian Air Force when it was formed on 1 April 1933 with the strength of one flight.[6]

Singh was posted to Quetta in September 1933 along with four officers and one more sepoy.[7] It was here that an accident occurred with Pilot Officers Bhupinder Singh and Amarjit Singh being killed in an air crash.[8] On 7 February 1934, he was promoted to the acting rank of Hawai Naik, equivalent to a corporal in the RAF. In early 1935, he was a part of the first men to be promoted to the rank of Leading Aircraftman (LAC) after taking the LAC test.[6]

In April 1936, 'A' flight moved from Karachi to Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to participate in the Waziristan campaign. The flight was attached to No. 5 Squadron RAF as its 'D' flight. In mid-1937, it moved to Miranshah where achieved record serviceability of aircraft. In July 1938, 'B' flight was formed and No. 1 Squadron IAF moved to Ambala Air Force Station. Later that year, Flying Officer Henry Runganadhan on his Wapiti won the air race at an aircraft display in Delhi against the RAF's Hawker Audaxes. As the maintenance crew of the winning aircraft, Singh was presented to the Air Officer Commanding, India Air Vice Marshal Philip Joubert de la Ferté.[9]

With the outbreak of the war in September 1939, Singh was offered a commission in the RAF by the Commander of the aircraft depot in Karachi. He declined the commission opting to stay on with the IAF noting that he did not mind remaining a NCO in the IAF all his life. On 1 November 1939, he was promoted to the rank of Hawai Havildar, equivalent to a sergeant.[10] Eight months later, on 10 June 1940, he was promoted to the rank of Flight sergeant and appointed Station engineer of Fort Sandeman in the NWFP, commanded by Flight Lieutenant Karun Krishna Majumdar.[11] During this stint, he was hailed as a 'Technical Wizard' by Flying Officer Baba Mehar Singh for repairing in 72 hours, an aircraft which had crash-landed.[12]

In March 1941, the commanding officer (CO) of No. 1 Squadron, Squadron Leader Subroto Mukerjee performed an emergency landing in a village after he was caught in a dust-storm. The aircraft was damaged and was repaired by Singh in the village within two days. Repairing a damaged aircraft in a remote corner away from the airbase and the depot was a remarkable feat and Mukerjee hailed Singh for his wonderful performance in a meeting with British NCOs attached to the squadron in Ambala.[13] In August 1941, the squadron converted to the Westland Lysander and Singh and his men trained on this aircraft.[14] The Lysander had an issue with tail wheel tyres getting damaged during landing. Singh designed, fabricated and installed wooden wheels on the aircraft![15]

In January 1942, No. 1 Squadron under Squadron Leader KK Majumdar received orders to move to Burma. The squadron moved by train to Rangoon via Calcutta while the twelve Lysanders were to fly from Peshawar via Lahore, Delhi, Kanpur, Calcutta and Chittagong into Burma. A day before they were to fly, three aircraft crash landed on the runway. The technical crew along with their equipment were on the train. Singh, without equipment or technical crew, led the pilots and their gunners to repair the aircraft and make them flight-worthy within 36 hours. Majumdar promoted Singh to acting Warrant Officer Class I.[16]

In February, No. 1 Squadron executed multiple bombing raids on Japanese airfield in Mae Hong Son. The Japanese retaliated with raids of their own almost every day. Singh led his team to keep the Lysanders serviceable throughout this time.[17] After returning from Burma, the squadron moved to Secunderabad and then to Trichinopoly. In June 1942, it moved to Risalpur and converted to the Hawker Hurricane II B.[14] In August, the CO Mukerjee and former CO Majumdar asked Singh to accept a technical commission and become an officer in the IAF.[18]

On 3 September 1942, Singh was commissioned as the first Indian Engineering Officer in the rank of flying officer. Two other warrant officers were commissioned in the rank of pilot officer on the same day.[19] On 1 February 1943, he was appointed president of the Initial and Re-selection Board at the Recruits Training Centre at Walton, Lahore. In June 1943, Singh was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), the first such award in the IAF.[20] Later that year, he was featured in a propaganda film with his former CO Majumdar and in a recruitment poster along with Flying Officer A.M.O. Pring with the caption "This is Pring and this is Singh."[21]

On 1 December, Singh embarked for England since he was selected to undertake higher technical training. He visited various establishments and manufacturing companies and during his visit. In June 1944, he returned to India and was posted to the IAF Base Kohat.[6] In February 1945, Majumdar was leading a display flight which was performing in Walton, Lahore. Singh was present and saw Majumdar crash during a dive. Singh later wrote the obituary of his friend and mentor that a part of him died that day.[22] After an eighteen-month stint at Kohat, Singh was promoted to the rank of squadron leader and appointed chief technical officer of the RAF Operational Training Unit at Peshawar. He had Indian as well as British airmen under him. In early 1947, he moved to Air headquarters having been appointed Head of Technical training in the rank of wing commander.[6]

After the partition of India, majority of the technical equipment as well as the repair depots were in Pakistan. Singh went about building maintenance and technical know-how in India. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, he reorganised the entire maintenance cover and ensured high serviceability. He also trained at the Delhi Flying Club and obtained a commercial pilot license. He then flew his personal civilian aircraft into Kashmir and hopped from base to base on the small aircraft.[6]

On 9 August 1948, Singh was promoted to the rank of Group Captain and was appointed Station commander at Kanpur.[2] Here, he led the team to work on 100 damaged Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft, in conjunction with the Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) in Bangalore. With these aircraft, the No. 5 Squadron IAF was raised on 2 November 1948.[23] While he flew civilian and military aircraft, he was still not a qualified IAF pilot. Starting late-1949, he trained at the Air Force Academy at Ambala.[24]

On 15 April 1950, Singh earned his 'wings' at the age of 41 when most trained pilots restrict their flying. Squadron leader ED Massilamani, his Senior administrative officer and a qualified flying instructor (QFI), assisted him in the advanced flying stage. [2] In 1951, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman offered Singh the position of Chairman of HAL with a promotion to the rank of Air Commodore. Singh declined the offer opting to stay in the IAF. On 26 January 1955, the Maintenance Command was established at Kanpur with Singh at the helm.[25]

On 24 March 1958, Singh was promoted to the rank of Air Commodore and with his air rank, the appointment was re-designated Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Maintenance Command.[26][27] During this time, the IAF and the Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) were looking for a replacement for the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The three aircraft in the fray were the Hawker Siddeley HS 748, the Fokker F27 Friendship and the Lockheed CL-49. In 1959, he led a team to the United Kingdom to select an aircraft to be manufactured in India. The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 was ultimately selected.[28] On 15 May 1959, he received an out-of-turn promotion to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and was re-designated Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C). Singh led his command in designing and building a four-seater light communication aircraft christened 'Kanpur-I'. He acted as the test pilot as well, flying the aircraft himself.[29]

In April 1961, the Maintenance Command under Singh launched the first jet engine built in India.[30] Later that year, in November, the first HS 748 aircraft christened 'Subroto' was assembled and later dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[31] On 26 January 1962, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (then called Vishisht Seva Medal, Class I) for distinguished service of the highest order.[32]

Singh retired from the IAF on 4 November 1963 after 32 years in service.[33] He was offered the position of Controller General Aircraft Production by the CAS Air Marshal Aspy Engineer. He was also offered an extension in service which he declined. Learning that Singh planned to settle down in Chandigarh after his retirement, the Prime Minister wrote to the Chief Minister of Punjab Partap Singh Kairon that he had a very high opinion of Singh and that he did not want him to retire from government service.[34]