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UP, UP AND HIGH...
GALLANT GOANS IN THE SKY - 2
=========
VALMIKI FALEIRO follows up his story carried in the HERALD Sunday Mirror on 28
Feb
2010, on the gallantry of Goans in the Indian Air Force, in this two-part
sequel.
=========
Reader response to the cover story in the Sunday Mirror (HERALD, 28 Feb 2010)
warranted this sequel. Grouse was there were many more gallant Goan airmen who
laid
down their lives. Besides, the article did not convey the extent of Goa's
contribution to
the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Goa, as I said before, provided officers to India's armed forces far beyond the
ratio of
her population. Most joined the army and navy, fewest went to the air force.
IAF men
occupy only 8-10 houses out of some 150 at Porvorim's Defence Colony. Yet, a
listing
only of IAF Goans provides fair judgment of Goa's singular contribution to the
ranks of
the three wings of India's defence services.
But, before that, two corrections to Part-I of this serial.
Sqn Ldr "ML" was actually "Emil" (Emiliano) Fernandes, from Dramapur proper, not
Sirlim. He was, in fact, a maternal nephew of Valerian Cardinal Gracias, from
Battiavaddo-Dramapur, now claimed as a son of Navelim. (Cardinal Gracias' mother
hailed from Navelim.) Two, I wrongly ranked Sqn Ldr FX da Silva as Wg Cdr. More
on
them below.
This list is largely sourced from the IAF website. Today, let us look at those
who died in
harness, in action or of other causes. Names are listed by the date of death,
and where
not known, by seniority or alphabetically. Ranks are in abbreviated form.
IAF gallantry awards in war are, in ascending order: Mention in Despatches
(M-in-D), Vir
Chakra (VrC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVrC) and Param Vir Chakra. Ditto for peacetime:
M-
in-D, Shaurya Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Ashoka Chakra. Citations, if available,
are in
quote marks within brackets - but in abridged form.
This list is not comprehensive, much less exhaustive. There would be many more
IAF
Goans who died in service, unsung.
*Flt Lt Aloysius William Barrette, VrC in 1950. Commissioned (hereafter, com.)
1943,
he died in a Tempest-II of 8 SQN on 08 Aug 1948 during the J&K Ops. He battled
bravely (but let's keep that story for another day.)
*Flt Lt Agostinho Gracias Monteiro joined the IAF after a brilliant academic
record at
St Xavier's-Mumbai and was based in Jalahalli. On a visit to Mumbai, he died of
a heart
attack in 1950.
*Pilot Officer Hugo Pacheco Gracias was with 2 SQN (Unit 3) when he died in a
Tempest-II crash on 24 Nov 1951 during a dive-bombing practice with the army, at
Halwara, at age 21.
*Fg Offr Gerald B. Cabral, VrC, was with 8 SQN during the 1948 J&K Ops. Let's
leave
his rarest of rare stories for another day. The third time he crashed, during
peacetime,
he was unlucky. He died on 01 Dec 1951 when his Tigermoth-DH82 crashed into a
glass
factory at Begumpet.
*Fl Lt Salvador ("Sally") Rodrigues died in Jamnagar in 1951 in a flying
accident.
*AVM Erlic Wilmot Pinto, M-in-D in 1951, PVSM posthumous. His death is the most
known among IAF Goans. Com. 1940, he commanded Goa Ops in Dec-1961. He was
AOC-in-C, Western Air Command and tipped to be Chief of Air Staff when he died
in a
Chetak of 107 HU flown by Flt Lt SS Sodhi. The chopper crashed over the Poonch
River
(in J&K) 22 Nov 1963. Also killed: Lt Gen Daulat Singh (GOC-in-C, Western
Command),
Lt Gen Bikram Singh (GOC, XV Corps), Lt Gen Rustom K Nanavati and others. Death
of
so many senior officers in an accident raised suspicions, but the Court of
Inquiry ruled
out sabotage. Goa's airport road was fittingly named after AVM Pinto. But when
the road
was widened sometime ago, roadside signage of hotels, etc. was shifted - but,
the road
name signboard of one of the best-known Goans in the IAF was, scandalously,
not. It
vanished, despite appeals to the current Goa PWD minister. A monumental shame!
*Sqn Ldr AV D'Lemos was flying a Packet C-119 transport aircraft that blew up
after
takeoff from Barrackpore on 06 Mar 1964.
*Flt Lt Raymond Vaz, a Gnat pilot with either 9 SQN or 15 SQN, died in a crash
over
the home airfield in 1965.
*Fg Offr RHC Vaz, again flying a Gnat, was killed in a crash at takeoff from
Ambala on
20 Apr 1968.
*Flt Lt Andre Rudolph da Costa, VrC, was among IAF's earliest losses in the
1971 war
(Op. Cactus Lily), when his severely damaged Hunter SD-F56 of 7 SQN crashed on
04
Dec 1971.
*Flt Lt Lawrence Fredric Pereira, VrC, a Su-7 pilot, was killed in FAC strafing
in 1971.
("Flt Lt Pereira of 26 SQN was on FAC duty with a Brigade in Shakargarh. He
directed
aircraft on close air support missions. He was killed on 14 Dec 1971 when an
enemy
aircraft strafed the brigade location.") His dying words were, "Tell my girl
(his wife
Isabelle) to be brave." He had an eight-month old daughter.
*Fg Offr Joe D'Souza, VrC, a young pilot of 43 SQN was tasked with a maintenance
sortie from Mohanbari to Monigeng. He was killed when his Dakota-C47 crashed at
Machuka in NEFA on 17 Dec 1971. He was unmarried, parents worked in Mumbai.
*Wg Cdr Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar, Kirti Chakra in 1965, AVSM in 1972.
Let's keep the story of his heroism in 1965 for another day. When CO of 29 SQN
("Scorpions"), his MiG-21FL crashed following a bird hit over Hindon on 04 Apr
1972.
Hailed from a well-known family whose storeyed homestead with two courtyards
still
stands in Sanvordem. His family later lived in Panjim.
*Sqn Ldr Owen Joseph D'Sena, VSM. ("Sqn Ldr D'Sena is today one of the top
fighter
pilots on new aircraft and is an invaluable fighter combat instructor. He was
assigned
strenuous tasks of combat flying and xxx hours of mission analysis. He ensured
timely
completion of special flight trials. He displayed skill of a high order.") Sqn
Ldr D'Sena
was with Unit TACDE when he died in a Sukhoi-7 crash on 24 Jul 1976.
*Sqn Ldr Francisco Xavier Menino da Silva was with 48 SQN in the 1965 war and
with 19 SQN in 1971. On 12 Aug 1976, at age 34, a massive heart attack, his
first and
last, felled him. His widow and son live in Goa, a married daughter is in USA.
*Wg Cdr Clarence Joseph D'Lima, VSM in 1973. Commanded the New Delhi-Tezpur
flight carrying Prime Minister Morarji Desai and others that crash-landed near
Jorhat on
04 Nov 1977. All passengers survived, all five aircrew died. No awards bestowed
despite
their evident self-sacrifice. Civil society decided otherwise. Pune changed the
name of
the road by which his family lived from Irwin Road to Wg Cdr Clarence D'Lima
Marg. The
main road from NH-17 to Limavaddo-Socorro where the family originally hailed
from was
named after him.
*Gr Capt Allan Albert D'Costa, VSM and MVrC. As CO of SQN 222, Sukhoi-7 fighter-
bombers in 1971, he was among the best-organized and daring IAF pilots. Let's
save the
story of his heroism for another day. Wg Cdr D'Costa died in Jodhpur of a
massive heart
attack in 1977. He was son of a Chief Engineer of Central Railway and brother
of Sqn
Ldr Henry Vivian D'Costa. One of only two known IAF Goans to earn a Maha Vir
Chakra.
*Sqn Ldr José ("Joe") de Jesus da Conceicao e Souza was with IAF Unit 117 based
at Bombay Flying Club. On 07 Nov 1979, he took off from an oilrig at Bombay
High in a
Chetak with two Germans onboard, when a technical failure brought the chopper
back to
the rig, breaking it into pieces. Sqn Ldr Souza and his two passengers
perished. He was
33. His widow lives in Goa and two sons, both engineers, work in USA.
*Wg Cdr Emiliano Augustine Fernandes of 48 SQN was sent to the USSR to take
delivery of three new Antonov AN-32 transporters. During return, after a
stopover in
Oman, the three aircraft took off at 1328 hrs for Jamnagar on 25 March 1986.
Flying in
reverse-V formation, 60 miles apart of each other, the aircraft piloted by Wg
Cdr UM
Bheemiah and co-piloted by Wg Cdr Fernandes was last in line. Over the Arabian
Sea,
some 450 kms. from Jamnagar, the aircraft abruptly disappeared. Extensive
search by
IAF's IL-76s and naval IL-38s (36 aircraft in all, plus 6/7 naval ships)
yielded no trace of
debris. It is the only mystery of its kind in the annals of the IAF. At the
time, the US 7th
Fleet and Pakistan Navy were in joint exercises in the region. Was the aircraft
force-
landed and the crew taken captive? One may never know.
*Sqn Ldr Rodrigues was a fighter pilot at Car Nicobar (Andaman & Nicobar
Islands).
He lived there with his family. It was the season of Christmas-2004 and his
mother had
joined them. The Tsunami struck. The entire Varca-origin family perished.
*Wg Cdr Oswald Manuel Francis de Abreu, Flight Commander of 222 SQN died on
takeoff in a MiG-27 on 16 Feb 2010. Preliminary Inquiry revealed "failure of
low-pressure
turbine blades" of the R-29 engines. IAF's fleet of over 100 MiG-27s, its
frontline swing-
wing fighter aircraft, was grounded.
There are others like Fl Lt Phillip D'Souza, who ejected from a Marut, but
died. Charles
D'Souza, an IAF helipilot, was young, yet unmarried, the only son of Brig
George F
D'Souza. He died of cancer - a tragedy that irretrievably shook his otherwise
gregarious
parents.
The valiant stories of patriotism and gallantry on part of Goans not only in
the IAF but in
all the three services during the 20th century would never cease to amaze. We
will look
at some of those inspiring stories another Sunday.
(To continue next Sunday)
(The author can be contacted at: [email protected])
=====================================================
The above article appeared with photographs in the HERALD, Goa, of April 18,
2010
