Tremendous read : Review of India Pakistan 1965 Air War

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20 years 1 month

Posts: 100

The India - Pakistan Air War of 1965 by P V S Jagan Mohan and Samir Chopra
Published by Manohar Books , New Delhi. 2005
Pages: 378 pages with 66 black and white illustrations.
ISBN: 81-7304-641-7

Gents - books on India Pakistan air wars are very rare !!

I recently got a copy of The India - Pakistan Air War of 1965 and hav’nt been able to put it down. :) Here's a concise review which some folks requested .

Contents :

1. Indian Air Force in its preliminary years.
2. The Adversaries Prior to War
3. From the Kutch to Chamb: From Skirmishes to War
4. The Challenge: Flare up on September 6th
5. The Sargodha Raids and the Air Battles of September 7th
6. Missed Opportunity: The War in the Eastern Sector
7. The Second Week of the Air War.
8. The End of the War: September 15th to September 23rd.
9. Cease-fire & Post-Mortem
10. Epilogue

Appendices - Claims , losses , awards,order of battle
Bibliography
Index

1. This book has been written from Indian point of view on the major air war of 1965 between India and Pakistan ( a subject on which only Fricker's book largely influenced by the PAF exists) – in that context this provides a more balanced view.

2. The authors have interviewed more than 100 Indian air force staff incl the then chief - Air marshall Arjan Singh to get authentic and rare eyewitness nuggets on the air wars and incorporates 5 years of research.

3. The book covers the historical background of the air war and the events leading to the air war, brief technical descriptions of the combat aircraft , orders of battle and deployment. It covers a day by day chronological account of the war interspersed with thrilling first person accounts and rare gun camera shots of actual combat.

What I liked about the book –

new and hence unknown combat stories and unsung heroes like Wilson’s Canberra raid on Badin (will not spoil the suspense) , day by day accounts,
detailed account of the raids on Sargodha , Peshawar and Kalaikunda ,
classic story of Devayya’s Mystere shootdown of the F-104 ,
Alfred Cook’s breathtaking solo Hunter combat vs 4 Sabres at Kalaikunda (shades of Mohd Alam’s infamous 60 secs over Sargodha :x ) - with a more plausible aftermath and many more.Hope this work will form the basis of formal recognition of Cooke's feat.

What was the true story of Sikand's Pasrur's Gnat landing ? this work provides a rationale explanation.

The chapter on post mortem covering the air combat trends , aircraft and lessons learnt are quite incisive provoking and no doubt were imbibed by both air arms and the official version probably still remain classified .There are also detailed list of air combat kills , gallantry awards and future careers of the main protagonists.

The authors have listed detailed notes , credits and cross references of all their sources in every chapter and I admire their transparency .

The authors have expended tremendous leg work and effort to collate data over a five year period – unlike many of the arm chair authors of our times . IMHO is better than equivalent books on the Gulf and Falkland air wars and comparable to Tom's Iran Iraq Air war book and Shlomo Aloni's Israeli air aces.

It has a good collection of rare combat pictures and the printing quality and binding is very good .

Overall this is a book which is very readable and comprehensive and is a must for both the historian and mil av enthusiast with its attention to eyewitness detail and fast pace of action – check it out , grab a copy before it sells out !! :dev2:

copies available at : www.bharat-rakshak.com

Original post

Member for

21 years

Posts: 443

Hello Krishna_j,

I'm pretty close to being a neutral observer and you made the book sound interesting.
I have two questions before this thread turns into another "flame war" (I hope not).

1) Does the book include maps?

2) "Alfred Cook" doesn't sound like an Indian name. Was that a foreign instructor who got caught up in the fighting?

Best regards, Transall.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 258

A lot of Indians have Anglo names AFAICT, You'd think they either are from Britain, Portugal or Spain until you've actually met them.

PS: Isn't one of the admins an example?

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20 years 4 months

Posts: 511

Jee I didnt know that George Fernandes and George J were not Indian names, I tell you I have been duped.
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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 562

Krishna,

Thanks for the detailed review. I appreciate it.

Transall,

1. Unfortunately the book does not have maps. It requires two maps - one of the western border and the other of the eastern border. Unfortunately we could not get the out on time for publication.

While it is is a major drawback for anyone buying a book on India Pakistan the first time. But if you have had other India Pak books in your library before, the lack of maps wont be missed.

2. Alfred Cooke is an anglo indian name.

Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 100

Jagan - for international readers of the book maybe you couldhost a couple of maps with air bases and theatre of operations on your web site - from a geographical sense they can get a good appreciation .

Also any addl material , art works etc which came up after printing can also be hosted there.

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 2,264

yeah most textbooks have a website now for additional materials and solutions.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 562

Krishna, Thanks I think we can develop the existing book site along the lines - Certainly the Maps should go there.