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After the speed shooting by Sarfaraz Rafiqui & Bha

After the speed shooting by Sarfaraz Rafiqui & Bhatti, the next encounter was on 3rd September between six Gnats intercepted by two F-86s led by a good fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Yusuf (fondly called Tangewallah by his buddies). Even though an F-104 was sent to their rescue, Yusuf was shot at by the Indian Flight Lieutenant Keelor in a fierce air battle of virtually one versus six Gnats. During this air battle, Yusuf’s elevator was badly shot-up. The account of air battle differs in both the PAF histories, as well as the compilations by Indian historians. With the vantage of hindsight and availability of documentary information from both sides, facts need to be cleared. More importantly, the pilot, Yusuf needs to be paid highly deserved tributes for his professional excellence & courage which he displayed during one ofthe most spectacular air battles ofthe 1965 war. He was pitted against six enemy fighters (Gnats) in aggressor roles, not counting the four Mysteres which were used as bait. In fact, the Gnats were not on a CAS mission to start with as claimed in the PAF’s official history, but had been planned as a baiting mission to lure PAF fighters in the air and destroy them. This was explicitly given as the mission aim briefed by Squadron Leader Greene on the night of 2nd Sept. Factually, there were to be 12 aircraft involved in this preconceived “snare and shoot the Sabre” sortie. The Gnats attacked Yusuf while his wingman lagged behind. The facts are that Yusuf’s plane did not disintegrate as was claimed by Keelor but it was damaged; he single-handedly put up a tremendous fight even though hugely out numbered 1:6. It is to his credit that he managed to extricate himself and his wingman from six pursuing Gnats. Micky Abbas (who was flying F-104) played a crucial part in Yusuf’s escape because the sight of F-104 staggered the Gnats who did not press home their pursuit of two limping Sabres. IAF over reacted after this incident in branding the Gnat a ‘Sabre Slayer’, where in fact, commanders should have chewed their fighter pilots for letting two Sabres get away against six Gnats. Yusuf, on other hand, showed great modesty by telling the story as it was without any embellishment or exaggeration unlike some other cases of air combat which followed after war started on 6th September and were reconstructed later. What came as a hilarious outcome (read embarrassment) of this air battle was that Sqn Ldr Sikand, the Flight Commander of a Gnat Squadron,and a part of the eightship formation, had strayed after he broke-off, allegedly owing to electrical failure and low fuel. He claimed that he mistook Pasrur airstrip for Pathankot air complex and landed there, as a wideeyed Hakimullah watched him from his F-104, circling above in disappointment for not being able to take a shot at the Gnat. Hakim circled the strip till he saw the Pak Army men take the pilot. To say the least, it was amazing that a Flight Commander would mistake a scraggy airstrip with no hills around or any infrastructure for a huge complex like Pathankot. What stands out is that the six Gnats allowed two PAF Sabres, with an ineffective No 2 (wingman)and with a badly damaged aircraft (leader), to get away. This news made such incredible headlines and hullabaloo at the highest level, that the IAF Chief Arjun Singh, still smarting from the loss of 4 Vampires in one sortie,called the Defence Minister Chavan to give him the good news of Yusuf’s presumed destruction. Keelor was bestowed a gallantry award for presumably blowing a Sabre to smithereens. Yusuf, however, not only survived but did some good shooting, as admitted by Indian historians (awarded a kill – one Gnat destroyed on 13th Sept as noted in the Indo-Pak War of 1965 and Bharat Rakshak website). It is worth a mention that the Indian story of Flt Lt Pathania’s dog-fight with another two Sabres was also a fantasy as there were no other Sabres in the area. The Indian historians may like to correct their record, that it was one F-86 damaged, and not ‘disintegrated’. Also, there is little justification in calling the Gnat a ‘Sabre Slayer’, when six Gnats could not destroy even one F-86. In the same vein, it would be prudent to remark that the failure of the Starfighters to hunt and destroy the enemy was not entirely the fault ofthe pilots. They had simply lacked proper combat training. (Flight of the Falcon, S Sajad Haider) ©PK “𝐘𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞” #OnThisDay September 3, 1965 F/L Keelor claimed to have downed F/L Yusuf’s F-86 that was in a 1v6 scenario but the latter managed to land safely. Keelor got Vir Chakra, Abhinandan too in 2019. One IAF Gnat landed in Sialkot!!
After the speed shooting by Sarfaraz Rafiqui & Bhatti, the next encounter was on 3rd September between six Gnats intercepted by two F-86s led by a good fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Yusuf (fondly called Tangewallah by his buddies). Even though an F-104 was sent to their rescue, Yusuf was shot at by the Indian Flight Lieutenant Keelor in a fierce air battle of virtually one versus six Gnats. During this air battle, Yusuf’s elevator was badly shot-up. The account of air battle differs in both the PAF histories, as well as the compilations by Indian historians. With the vantage of hindsight and availability of documentary information from both sides, facts need to be cleared. More importantly, the pilot, Yusuf needs to be paid highly deserved tributes for his professional excellence & courage which he displayed during one ofthe most spectacular air battles ofthe 1965 war. He was pitted against six enemy fighters (Gnats) in aggressor roles, not counting the four Mysteres which were used as bait. In fact, the Gnats were not on a CAS mission to start with as claimed in the PAF’s official history, but had been planned as a baiting mission to lure PAF fighters in the air and destroy them. This was explicitly given as the mission aim briefed by Squadron Leader Greene on the night of 2nd Sept. Factually, there were to be 12 aircraft involved in this preconceived “snare and shoot the Sabre” sortie. The Gnats attacked Yusuf while his wingman lagged behind. The facts are that Yusuf’s plane did not disintegrate as was claimed by Keelor but it was damaged; he single-handedly put up a tremendous fight even though hugely out numbered 1:6. It is to his credit that he managed to extricate himself and his wingman from six pursuing Gnats. Micky Abbas (who was flying F-104) played a crucial part in Yusuf’s escape because the sight of F-104 staggered the Gnats who did not press home their pursuit of two limping Sabres. IAF over reacted after this incident in branding the Gnat a ‘Sabre Slayer’, where in fact, commanders should have chewed their fighter pilots for letting two Sabres get away against six Gnats. Yusuf, on other hand, showed great modesty by telling the story as it was without any embellishment or exaggeration unlike some other cases of air combat which followed after war started on 6th September and were reconstructed later. What came as a hilarious outcome (read embarrassment) of this air battle was that Sqn Ldr Sikand, the Flight Commander of a Gnat Squadron,and a part of the eightship formation, had strayed after he broke-off, allegedly owing to electrical failure and low fuel. He claimed that he mistook Pasrur airstrip for Pathankot air complex and landed there, as a wideeyed Hakimullah watched him from his F-104, circling above in disappointment for not being able to take a shot at the Gnat. Hakim circled the strip till he saw the Pak Army men take the pilot. To say the least, it was amazing that a Flight Commander would mistake a scraggy airstrip with no hills around or any infrastructure for a huge complex like Pathankot. What stands out is that the six Gnats allowed two PAF Sabres, with an ineffective No 2 (wingman)and with a badly damaged aircraft (leader), to get away. This news made such incredible headlines and hullabaloo at the highest level, that the IAF Chief Arjun Singh, still smarting from the loss of 4 Vampires in one sortie,called the Defence Minister Chavan to give him the good news of Yusuf’s presumed destruction. Keelor was bestowed a gallantry award for presumably blowing a Sabre to smithereens. Yusuf, however, not only survived but did some good shooting, as admitted by Indian historians (awarded a kill – one Gnat destroyed on 13th Sept as noted in the Indo-Pak War of 1965 and Bharat Rakshak website). It is worth a mention that the Indian story of Flt Lt Pathania’s dog-fight with another two Sabres was also a fantasy as there were no other Sabres in the area. The Indian historians may like to correct their record, that it was one F-86 damaged, and not ‘disintegrated’. Also, there is little justification in calling the Gnat a ‘Sabre Slayer’, when six Gnats could not destroy even one F-86. In the same vein, it would be prudent to remark that the failure of the Starfighters to hunt and destroy the enemy was not entirely the fault ofthe pilots. They had simply lacked proper combat training. (Flight of the Falcon, S Sajad Haider) ©PK “𝐘𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞” #OnThisDay September 3, 1965 F/L Keelor claimed to have downed F/L Yusuf’s F-86 that was in a 1v6 scenario but the latter managed to land safely. Keelor got Vir Chakra, Abhinandan too in 2019. One IAF Gnat landed in Sialkot!!
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