DURING the wee hours of a somber evening on 01 September 1965, direct hotline at the PAF Air Defence Operations Center (ADOC) rang repeatedly requesting for an immediate air support against the attacking Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft in the Chhamb Jurian Sector. Squadron Leader Sarfraz Rafiqui and Flight Lieutenant Imtiaz Bhatti, who were flying for the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) in their F-86 Sabre aircraft, were immediately diverted by the PAF Air Defence towards the area. Next few minutes proved to be absolutely crucial and decisive as they not only helped our ground troops to get rid of the impending air threat but also changed the course of action for rest of the war with India.
The two Braveheart air warriors shot down five of the six attacking Vampire (British jet) and Ouragan (French jet) aircraft while both of them returned unscathed. Pushpindar Singh, the famous Indian author writes in his book ‘Fizaya: Psyche of the Pakistan Air Force – 1991’, that ‘the result of this air combat was so over whelming that it forced IAF to withdraw entire fleet of Vampire (132) and Ouragan (56)aircraft for the remaining period of the war’ (188 aircraft, 35% of total fleet). The spectacle was also duly acknowledged in a letter written by Brig Amjad Chaudhry, the Artillery Commander of No 4 Corps, to Air Marshal Nur Khan stating that ‘Your very first action in Chhamb left no doubt in our mind that we did not have to worry much about enemy air. The pattern was set there and then. We will never forget that spectacle—it lifted our spirits and gave us a flying start’.
Like always, PAF entered into this war grossly out numbered. PAF was pitched with 149 aircraft of different categories arranged into 11 squadrons while IAF possessed 536 aircraft arranged into 30 squadrons generating a ratio of almost 1:4 in favor of IAF. Interestingly, PAF’s almost entire fleet came under heavy economic and military sanctions well before beginning of the war and it became challenging to maintain the fleet. However, amongst many other heroes, Air Commodore Wladyslaw Turowicz, a Polish-Pakistani aviator, merits special mention. He, as the Chief Maintenance Officer of the PAF, utilized all his expertise and experience to achieve 97% availability and 100% serviceability of the PAF fleet during the entire duration of the war through innovation and indigenization. Resultantly, PAF generated 15 sorties per aircraft as compared to IAF’s 07 sorties per aircraft (Pushpindar Singh and John Fricker “Battle for Pakistan: The Air War of 1965).
Earlier, in an interesting turn of successive events, in response to Pakistan’s Ops Gibraltar, Indian army moved swiftly to occupy crucial check posts across LOC. In order to avoid threat to Muzaffarabad, Pakistan launched Ops Grandslam to capture Akhnur, the Indian gateway to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). However, dangerously riding on the escalation ladder, India launched coordinated attacks across international border in the Sialkot, Lahore and Qasur sectors during the early hours of 06 September, 1965. It was the declaration of an all-out war. Gen Choudhary, the Indian COAS was so over confident about the Indian victory that he invited several foreign correspondents, including Mark Tully of the BBC, to the Lahore Gymkhana for a victory drink on same evening.
However, Indian plans were soon thwarted. By 0930 on 6 September 1965, PAF’s No 19 Squadron, commanded by Sqn Ldr Sajjad Haider, struck Indian Army formations and halted the advance. Gen Lachhman Singh, in Missed Opportunities Indo-Pak War 1965, records that leading Indian units lost their vehicles, guns and Sherman tanks after being attacked by PAF aircraft for about 15 minutes. He further recounts that Gen Sukhwant Singh, the battalion commander, fled the battlefield, followed by his second-in-command, who escaped on a bicycle to Amritsar. Pushpindar Singh similarly records that Major Gen Nirindera Parshad, commander of 15 Infantry Division, abandoned his division and fled to Amritsar. By the war’s end, PAF close-air-support operations had destroyed 149 Indian tanks, 666 vehicles and 62 artillery guns, significantly disrupting Indian ground operations.
7th September was the apex day. PAF boldly undertook Preemptive strikes against numerous IAF Bases and destroyed 13 aircraft at Pathankot, 21 at Kalaikunda and 05 at Halwara. On the same very day, Sqn Ldr M M Alam destroyed 05 out of 10 IAF aircraft that dared to attack PAF Base Sargodha. On this fateful day (the Fazaia day), IAF lost 19 aircraft in air and 35 on ground, which comes out to be 54 (52%) out of the total losses. According to the historical accounts of Pushpindar Singh and John Fricker, during the 17 days war, IAF lost 104 aircraft against PAF’s 19 aircraft. It can be concluded that PAF, despite being out numbered, set out highest standards of courage, commitment and competence by successfully establishing professional ascendancy over IAF. The Ops Swift Retort of February 2019 and Maarka-e-Haq of May 2025 are testimony to this legacy that afforded Pakistan with renewed geopolitical and geostrategic relevance at the regional and global levels. Pakistan Zindabad, PAF Paindabad.
—The author is a retired Air Officer from Pakistan Air Force and recipient of SI(M) and TI(M). Currently, he is serving as Registrar in DHA Suffa University.
