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| WAR OF 1965 |
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| Rafiqui Opens the September Account |
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| PAF scored its first victories when Squadron Leader Sarfraz Rafiqui and Flight Lieutenant Imtiaz Bhatti shot down two Vampires each who were attacking Pakistani troops in Chamb. |
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| Indian Fighter Surrenders |
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| Squadron Leader Brijpal Singh Sikand, Commander of an Indian fighter squadron, surrenders to a PAF F-104 in combat. The painting shows him landing his Gnat fighter at Pasrur, a Pakistani airfield near Gujranwala. The F-104 was flown by Flight Lieutenant Hakimullah who became the Air Chief two decades later. Sikand was taken prisonar and later rose to be an IAF Air Marshal. This encounter was the most unusual event of the 1965 Air War. |
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| The First Encounter |
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| The start of the Indo-Pak War over Pakistan was marked when Squadron Leader Aftab Alam destroyed a Mystere & damaged another. Apart from being the first encounter to start the War in earnest, the engagement was also significant in other aspects. It marked a new era of dog-fighting at very low altitude. It was also the first combat kill by any Mach-2 aircraft, and the first missile kill for the Pakistan Air Force. |
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| Pathan Kot Strike |
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| No 19 Squadron lead by Squadron Leader Sajjad Haider executed a text book strike against Pathankot airfield destroying all MiG-21 aircraft on ground. |
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| End Of a Hero |
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| Deep into enemy territory, three F-86s - not the originally planned eight - tightly manoeuvre in mortal combat against ten or more IAF Hunters near their Halwara air base. Seconds earlier, the formation commander, Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Rafiqui, had shot down a Hunter and now his second mark was perfectly under his guns. Suddenly, Rafiqui slided back, his guns jammed and became useless, but he was determined to fight on. Saving precious moments he instructs his No.2, "Cecil, take over lead" and falls behind to let his wingman shoot and to give him cover, and while doing so was hit and lost his life. Cecil downs another Hunter but they were many more, in every direction. The remaining two, Flight Lieutenants Yunus Hussain and Cecil Chaudhry decided to fight on in the footsteps of their leader.The formation claimed a total of 5 kills whereas they lost two . Only Cecil Choudhry returned to Sargodha to tell the take of proud heroes who fought with courage till the end . |
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| Kalai Kunda Strike |
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| A formation of five Dacca based F-86 led by Squadron Leader Shabbir H Syed,who later became Vice Chief of the AirStaff, PAF, destroyed a large number of bomber aircraft parked at Kalai Kunda airfield. |
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| High Speed Reconnaisance |
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| An F-104B flown by Flight Leiutenant Aftab Alam Khan of No 9 Squadron Sargodha, on a high speed reconnaissance mission over Halwara, on 9 September 1965. |
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| Low Level Death |
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| An F-104, Star -fighter flown by Flight Lieutenant Amjad Hussain killed an enemy fighter near Sargodha. |
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| Attack on Bagdogra |
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| Four F-86Fs, from No 14 Squadron, Dhaka, attaked IAF Base, Bagdogra. Four enemy aircraft were destroyed on ground and damage inflicted on the ATC building and hangers. |
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| Interdiction at Gurdaspur |
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| Four Sabres led by Squadron Leader Alauddin Ahmed commonly known a "Butch" destroyed a long line of freight wagons. Fragments of an exploding train resulted in leader's shahadat. |
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| B-57 Lost Over Adampur |
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| After a dive bombing attack over Adampur airfield, Flight Lieutenant Altaf's B-57 received a direct hit from Ack Ack guns. The pilot & navigator ejected to become first POWs. |
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| Air Battle over Lahore |
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| In a publically witnessed encounter over Lahore, four PAF Sabres were pitched against eight IAF aircraft (four hunters and four Gnats). Two IAF Hunters were shot down. |
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| Hercules Bomber |
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| After a modification to open the rear ramp of C-130 aircraft at speed above 150 Knots, it was used for night bombing over moderately defended targets. |
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| F-86 Strike Heavy Guns at Wagah |
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| On 21 September, A formation of eight Sabres from 32 Wing claimed 15 medium & five heavy guns destroyed together with two tanks & a number of other vehicles. |
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| Battle of Chowinda |
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| PAF Sabres from No 32 Fighter Wing based at Sargodha contributed decisively at the battle of Chawinda in Pak Army's counter armour operations. |
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| Post War Reccee |
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| During a post war reconnaissance mission over IAF airfields, one RB-57 was hit by three SA-2s. Despite severe damage, crew safely landed the aircraft at Peshawar. |
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