Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in the 1971 Liberation war

Jagan
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

manjgu wrote:the one para which i found very pertinent and summed up things rather well....

' The result is a methodological slippage: the work drifts periodically from the terrain of the historian, who must evaluate and organize material with a ‘so what’ question in mind, into that of the chronicler, who wants to catalog ‘everything that happened.’
...
Manjgu, yes, there was this section preceding that which I felt was very pertinent and correct.
Sections of the book can be tedious: it is really not necessary to detail every mission flown in the eastern sector of the war, or to reproduce every bit of information available on the movement of squadrons from base to base. The authors seem to have proceeded under the impression that information must be included regardless of its value, without first establishing the criteria for what makes information relevant.
This was a point that we tried to ponder every time we were putting our fingers to the keyboard. is this necessary?, why include this bit of info?.. and ultimately decided to include it anyway despite knowing the reading may get tedious/boring. The reasoning was that future writers will have something to verify and reference to. So yes - it was a chronicling effort by us. it was one of the objectives - to make this the reference book for future generation of researchers.

He is also right on certain observations, like the need for Bangladeshis not to delve on collateral damage like Karwan Bazaar. However the reasoning could be different - having lost millions (or hundreds of thousands - depending on your pov). what would a few more lives on the ground matter when they just got the freedom they wanted? The casualties just got lost in the narrative. but I am confident looking at the amount of literature that was generated in Dhaka after the war, that someone may have covered it.

Next question on why the M-62s were not used in the West - I tried looking into it - but didnt put much effort. On the surface it looks like some attempt was made against airfields closer to the border - Lahore, Pasrur, Chander etc.. but Sargodha , i believe was attacked by day only once and only by rockets. TACDE did singleton bombings that were successful too. but no concerted effort like what was done in the east. but one should consider that there would have been half a dozen PAF squadrons defending the same airspace so the risk was higher. But I agree that they didnt seem to think about as much as the folks in east did. again, this is still preliminary thoughts.

and yes I didnt agree with Satadru's point on us spending more time on the events leading upto the war, or delving into the civilian casualty numbers, they are not for this book and they could take a whole book by themselves - and probably someone has already written that stuff.
Karan M wrote:the PAF didn't come out to play,
Karan

so true. we probably mentioned that briefly somewhere but as you said may have failed to emphasise it enough. the IAF relied on the PAF coming up and fighting on the first and second day.. they didnt really do that much as the IAF expected.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Lalmohan »

jagan - i dont think that it is necessary for you to analyse the politics or the sociological effects/events of the war - that is a whole different book, where the air war will be a footnote. to be honest, blood telegram (amongst recent books) does that well enough
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Lalmohan wrote:jagan - i dont think that it is necessary for you to analyse the politics or the sociological effects/events of the war - that is a whole different book, where the air war will be a footnote. to be honest, blood telegram (amongst recent books) does that well enough
my thoughts egjacgly :)..
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Two nice reviews on Infibeam
By Guest, 2014-01-12 00:00:00.0
History ,as it is taught in our schools and colleges,is certainly not one of the most interesting of subjects,so why would anyone want to read a book on Military Aviation History ,which is not yet part of the required reading list?But the fact is that sometimes events take place around us which are so momentous, that we recognize instinctively that we are witnessing history being made.For an entire generation of Indians,the 71 war of liberation of Bangladesh was definitely such an event.I remember the blackout restrictions,and newspaper photos of the gun camera footage of Pakistani Sabre fighters being shot down by IAF Gnats .While talking about this book to a friend who was too young to have any direct memories of her own,I was surprised just how much of an impression this now distant event had made in her mind too. She told me that her father was a senior engineer posted in Purnia in Bihar and he was asked to supervise the pruning of tall trees around and to the east of Panagarh airfield.Panagarh had been activated to provide a forward operating base to the IAFs Russian made Supersonic ground attack Su 7 aircraft,supporting the Indian Army operations in that sector.The fact that such high speed aircraft could fly so low ,so impressed her that she eventually went on to take up an aviation career herself. I suspect that a lot of us in the subcontinent carry such deep memories.This superbly written book reads like an action story .Yet it is actually a true chronicle of those couple of weeks that distant December in 1971,when it felt good to be an Indian.
By Guest, 2014-01-21 19:05:22.0
I got my book yesterday Being a Gnat Pilot and taken part in the ops , 22 Sqn , Dumdum , First thing I did was to scan for Gnat involvement and only after that leafed through the whole book. As said,I am only human . From what I read about 22 squadron , The attention to details , depth and scope of research to present the events accurately is truly mind boggling . I am quite certain the same accuracy will be there in respect of all the units , Squadrons , fronts and personalities and Pilots involved . To do all that research from source material , interviews and final compilation must have taken tremendous effort time and involved lot of labour . A very broad canvass painted with such care and details so as to bring out even each blade of grass clearly . Written not in a dry prose but in simple free flowing language which makes it imminently readable .Photos of historical value which are Rare and may be unobtainable , are added bonus. A very arduous and difficult task accomplished with aplomb and success . WELL DONE !! All those who love the IAF as I do, will love this book.Must read material. These are of course my views, there are bound to be lot of nit pickers who may find faults here & there , let that criticism not deter you reading it.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Sanjay »

Jagan, just to advise - still trying to get time to read it thoroughly. Off to Netherlands again hunting ships ! Why couldn't it have been India ?
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by manjgu »

jagan..is it possible to see on youtube some of the shots filmed by various reporters during 71 ops?? any links...
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Sanjay wrote:Jagan, just to advise - still trying to get time to read it thoroughly. Off to Netherlands again hunting ships ! Why couldn't it have been India ?
Sanjay, sorry didnt get that question.. could you elaborate? i may have missed something
manjgu wrote:jagan..is it possible to see on youtube some of the shots filmed by various reporters during 71 ops?? any links...
A couple here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFHlPID- ... kuorf9QwSx
@42.11 has shots of MiG-21s and Hunters over Dacca

Best video is this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR9bmQ-D ... verified=1
The explosion at 0:14 is actually a Hunter going down to AA fire (S G Khonde)
At 0:57 you see Bhutani's Sukhoi in flames.
At 1:43 you see Civilian evacuees caught in attack on dec 6

Incidentally I found this one reccently

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZLFgjrU ... kuorf9QwSx
At 1:20 you see a Kilo Flight Allouette with the Bangla Flag on the tail with Flt Lt C M Singla and Sqn Ldr Badrul Alam (ex PAF)

I have a couple of clips which I will upload in due course. but mostly black and white variations of the above clips. one shot of the Hunter getting hit by AA and turning away (Samanta) and the PAF F-86 making a turn at low level of Dacca are the ones that are not there in the above links. Apparently there would be tons of footage made by international media outlets out there in Dacca during the 71 war, we need to pay up the media companies to dig it out.. A lot of it made it to youtube.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by jamwal »

A bit surprisingly, a stationary shop plus book store was selling this book in Dilli. Signs of good changes I hope. Ordered it online anyhow.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by member_25399 »

Just finished reading the first half of the book. Quite detailed and rational.
The small section on Bangladesh air force was fascinating. Was facing the pages for MIG's in action :P
A big thanks Jagan saar, and way to go from here.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 959&type=1

The review from "Salute" Magazine - Feb / March 2013 issue

Image
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Rahul M »

ordered from flipkart and received it within 3 days. review will have to wait since I am preserving it for reading during an upcoming travel. :D
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by SBajwa »

Is there an electronic version available anywhere to buy? It is $35.00 in Amazon for us NRIs.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

S Bajwa, where are you? if in the US, read the first post in this thread for BR-ites. or drop me an email airforce At Bharat dash rakshak dot com
If in UK, try Aviation-Bookshop. (all these ofcourse are for the Hardcover.)

Anywhere else will be a problem..
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Philip »

Jagan congrats on a great effort! However, could you add in the next edition a section on the role played by the IN,whose Seahawks and Alizes helped take some of the burden off the IAF's back,as they relocated assets to the western front.This would give a complete picture of the air war in the battle for Bangladesh.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Thanks Philip. I guess we stayed off the Sea Hawk and Alize Operations as they were covered very well in the Navy Histories as well as the recent Sea Hawk book by Admiral Pasricha. but I get the point of having everything in one place.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Here is the another endorsement from Vishnu

Vishnu Som, ( NDTV ) writes :
"I leafed through the first few pages of Eagles Over Bangladesh and realised there was no point in just reading it. It had to be studied with the seriousness that an outstanding work of history deserves. Outstanding effort and an invaluable contribution to military history. Enjoyed every page."
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by SBajwa »

Thanks Jagan ji!! I just ordered mine!!
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by kancha »

Jagan ji, an amazing piece of work.
But one little grouse - the paper quality of the paperback needs to improve for the next edition. I am in a habit of marking my books and in this particular paperback, I couldn't help the ink from spreading. The quality of paper used for printing the 1965 book was superb, hope the same for the next edition of your book.
Btw, I agree, the narrative in this one makes it 'unputdownable'!
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by manjgu »

arey bhai...use a marker/highlighter !! costing / profits ki baaat hai bhaya... kisi exam ki prep kar rahe ho?? :roll:
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by sattili »

Jagan garu, firstly let me congratulate on bringing out such a wonderful book.

I ordered my copy through Lancer Publishers website, though their delivery time is little slow. I did get the book in my hand early Feb but couldn't read it due to work, I read it over this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. It provides a very balanced view of how the war was conducted in 1971 and also liked the way you researched PAF side of story as well.

I did spot couple of Typos- I believe they could be corrected in next re-print.

I will be eagerly waiting for your book on Western front as well :-)
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by kancha »

manjgu wrote:arey bhai...use a marker/highlighter !! costing / profits ki baaat hai bhaya... kisi exam ki prep kar rahe ho?? :roll:
Let me just say its a force of habit. And yes, I have managed to 'borrow' a couple of pencils from my kid's school bag :P
Last edited by kancha on 19 Feb 2014 21:05, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by manjgu »

@kancha.. actually u r right. i also felt the same abt paper quality. @jagan...if its not a trade secret, how many copies have sold ??
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

manjgu wrote:@kancha.. actually u r right. i also felt the same abt paper quality. @jagan...if its not a trade secret, how many copies have sold ??
Manjgu, its not even a couple of months so no sales figures yet. though myself, friends and family accounted for 200 copies :).. i expect maybe a 1000 got sold all over? should have some figures soon.

For a comparative perspective. the Air War book sold about 2000 copies over the years. the pricing and lack of distribution didnt help.. I expect this to do better (better distribution, cheaper pricing, more word of mouth etc)

Kancha and others, i agree, IPAW had a better look and feel than the eob71 paperback , though the second reprint suffered from bad photo quality.. third reprint fixed it.

As far as using ink to mark text on book pages - sacrilage! over my dead body :D I am a book maniac , I treat them with white gloves.. :)
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Anthony Hines »

Jagan Garu - I finished the book. Great details and great research.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by rohitvats »

Jagman, got the book...and leafing through the same tells me that this is going to become THE REFERENCE book on 71 air war in times to come...mark my words on that. On a side note, picked up the book from a small, though very well stocked, mom & pop type book store. So, good distribution on part of the publisher. Best of luck...
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

rohitvats wrote:Jagman, got the book...and leafing through the same tells me that this is going to become THE REFERENCE book on 71 air war in times to come...mark my words on that. On a side note, picked up the book from a small, though very well stocked, mom & pop type book store. So, good distribution on part of the publisher. Best of luck...
Thanks Rohit.

Yes it is a surprising thing isn't it. That there is no book that can be called a one stop reference - and its 42 years since the war. The thing is that there are several good accounts, but all scattered all over.

-Jagan
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Reviewed in today's Hindu by Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramanian (A serving officer)

http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-rev ... 797038.ece
The book clearly focuses on how a rejuvenated IAF played a critical role along with the Indian Army in pulverising the East Pakistani politico-military leadership into submission. It is a must read for not only air power enthusiasts, but anyone interested in India’s modern military history.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by jamwal »

I finished the book 2-3 weeks back. A great effort with some very good results.
Now waiting for another one for the western theatre.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Review from Asian Age

http://www.asianage.com/books/flying-machines-266
The flying machines
Mar 30, 2014 - Gautam Chintamani

.........Traditionally books on military history in India are left to experts, historians or, at best, enthusiasts, but Eagles Over Bangladesh manages to break away from this to a large extent.

.....One of the biggest strengths of Eagles Over Bangladesh is the extensive research that allows the writers to draw out detailed descriptions of every single event across the IAF’s entire operation during the wa

....The details are a treat but can be daunting and even for a military child fed on tales from his artillery officer father who fought on the ground in the Eastern sector, I found the specificity overwhelming at places. Additionally, the authors’ desire to give equal prominence to all squadrons that took part makes some portions sound less interesting, for want of a better term, and as a result, I found myself jumping portions

.........Irrespective, Eagles Over Bangladesh has riveting portrayals, often first-person accounts, of dogfights, bombing missions and sorties that one rarely gets to read about. Interestingly, the timing of the book makes it compelling as it coincides with Bangladesh’s War Crime Tribunal’s high profile sentences in 2013 and makes a good companion piece to Gary J. Bass’ The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide, a detailed rendering of Pakistan’s atrocities on its Bangla population.

And the epaper version
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by vsunder »

Congratulations Jagan. All very well-deserved. This is in the perfect tradition
which I admire very much, of someone who has a "day job"
and then pursues something outside with an ardor of the professional
scholar. It is similar to those old time IAS officers, who did
whatever they did and at night had time to write the definitive
account of say the flora of the Nilgiris with lavishly illustrated
plates. Only the cognoscenti may appreciate, but the appreciation
is truly heartfelt. Bravo!!!
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

vsunder wrote:Congratulations Jagan. All very well-deserved. This is in the perfect tradition which I admire very much, of someone who has a "day job" and then pursues something outside with an ardor of the professional scholar. It is similar to those old time IAS officers, who did whatever they did and at night had time to write the definitive account of say the flora of the Nilgiris with lavishly illustrated plates. Only the cognoscenti may appreciate, but the appreciation is truly heartfelt. Bravo!!!
Thanks vsunder - now that you put it that way, I understand how the old time IAS officers kept their lives sane :)..

Meanwhile Daily Pioneer published a review by Maj Gen D Banerji. Mostly positive..
http://www.dailypioneer.com/book-review ... -1971.html
This collaboration between an Air War historian and a philosophy professor in the United States, has resulted in a remarkable story of the Air War in 1971 over Bangladesh. The authors’ meticulous research detailing almost every sortie flown during the war makes for a riveting reading; as if the reader is present in the cockpit with the pilots sharing their trials and tribulations.
Yet, it is not quite military history. There isn’t enough analyses as to what happened and why. Or how might the Indian Air Force respond in different circumstances?
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Our first review was published in Bangladesh in the Daily Star

http://www.thedailystar.net/battles-in-the-sky-26631
Battles in the skyShahriar Feroze goes back to the air wars of 1971
The book is a treasure-trove prepared over a period of eight years of painstaking efforts undertaken by the Indian authors..... Some of the black and white pictures of the book lead one to nostalgia. On top of everything it is available in Dhaka, within the price range of a thousand taka.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Sanju »

Jagan, I did buy the (signed) Hardcover edition, it is waiting to get to me..in the meantime I was looking it up on Amazon for a Kindle edition and didn't see one. Any particular reason why it is not there as a Soft edition?
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by shiv »

Jagan - because I had many other books in the queue I did not start reading the book till I got on a flight to Guwahati en route to Shillong on holiday. That was very appropriate as it turned out because the book itself deals with air bases in the region - including Guwahati and Kolkata.

My compliments to you on an excellent book. You and Samir have managed to put in all the names of people and units - which is necessary for a history book, while retaining the human element - the excitement and suspense of a narrative that one would expect from a storybook. Thank you and hoping you can do the same for the Western front. If this is the sort of book you are going to bring out I will do all that I can to help you gather information- just ask.

As one reviewer said - if one does not want to read the names of people and units involved but just skip ahead and read the story of the air war like a storybook - it is possible to do that and I must admit that this book evoked the same feelings in me as your 1965 war book - the feeling that i used to have as a little boy reading Biggles. Only your books are true stories.

In another thread, and at another time I was having a flaming argument with a forum member about the connection between the Iliad's "kleos aphtiton" and the Rig Veda's "sravas akriti"- both meaning "fame unwilting". The narrator of a tale helps to being unwilting fame to the person or people he writes about. In turn he too gets unwilting fame. So while I praise you and Samir, I must also remark on how well you have brought out the IAF's methods of achieving and maintaining air dominance. The manner in which raids were conducted again and again and again against targets, including airfields to ensure that the army had a free run is as awe inspiring as it is evocative of pride for an Indian. Brave pilots headed right into heavily defended targets from the most dangerous angles and some lost their lives as they pounded and pulped the much hyped pride of Pakistan into a miserable begging, quivering, weeping mess. The true purpose of air action is to make a difference on the ground. Air combat simply does not cut it - no matter how romantic it is made out to be by buzz words like "Top Gun" and dream boys like Tom Cruise.

Thank you Jagan.
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Sanju,

Kindle edition will have to wait. I am a traditionalist and would have gone for Kindle only after an year or two with the print.

Shiv,

Thanks for the kind words. I will save all my thoughts on it for the next visit! Lots to discuss. Yes, I hope we will live upto the expectations with the Western SEctor book .. the mere thought of attempting it scares the bejeezus out of me. I am sure Samir shares the same feelings!
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Re: New Book - Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in 71 war

Post by Jagan »

Latest VAYU has a five page Review cum Rejoinder by Air Marshal H Masand.

"Rejoinder" because we apparently got quite a few details about his participation wrong (mostly in the description of the airbattle, and also in a particular narration of the Governor House strike, where we got the armament wrong). The article also has extra details and experiences from AM Masand's point of view and it is a must-read if you are trying to research the 71 air ops in the east.
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Re: Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in the 1971 Liberation

Post by member_28640 »

Saar read you book, ordered from Flipkart on 1-day delivery. Got it in time for my birthday. Enjoyed your factual analysis and dissemination of the war and refusal to pick sides. Also little peeks into the human side of the war, for example the Indian Pilot who thought he downed an entire column of Indian tanks only for his sadness to erupt into Joy when he found out that the tanks were indeed Pakistani. The jubilation in the liberation of Dhaka.
But couldn't help notice some spelling mistakes and misprints.
I guess enough time has passed since you released it, Please do tell us about your next publication.
Awaiting eagerly.
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Re: Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in the 1971 Liberation war

Post by Manish_P »

Wooahh :shock:

From the log book of Air Cmde KK Bhadwar, Vir Chakra.

Check the last entry..

Photo courtesy - Air Marshall (Retd) Anil Chopra, on twitter

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Re: Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in the 1971 Liberation war

Post by Pratyush »

Was the enterprise in the strike range of IAF during 71?

I was always under the assumption that the Pakistani army surrendered before the enterprise even entered the Indian Ocean.
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Re: Eagles over Bangladesh : The IAF in the 1971 Liberation war

Post by Manish_P »

No. They probably didn't enter the Bay of Bengal. But they went close past the Andaman and Nicobar islands en route to take station off Sri Lanka. Maybe the retd. Air Marshall was referring at a time when they were within striking range at either points ?
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