Indian pilots

[Paul Hederer]

Excuse what might seem a dumb question. I got to wondering about this today.

Were there any Indian pilots during the war??

Paul

[Dolphin]

Paul

Yes, a small number of Indians did fly with the RFC/RAF. The best known is the only Indian fighter ace, to date, 2Lt Indra Lal Roy DFC, who flew with Nos 56 and 40 Sqns before his death in action on 22 July 1918, at the age of 19. He was credited with 10 victories, all were achieved while flying SE 5a B180 with No 40 Sqn RAF.

I hope this helps.

Gareth

[Paul Hederer]

Paul

Yes, a small number of Indians did fly with the RFC/RAF. The best known is the only Indian fighter ace, to date, 2Lt Indra Lal Roy DFC, who flew with Nos 56 and 40 Sqns before his death in action on 22 July 1918, at the age of 19. He was credited with 10 victories, all were achieved while flying SE 5a B180 with No 40 Sqn RAF.

I hope this helps.

Gareth

Gareth,

Thanks, that's very interesting! Do you know of any books on the subject?

Best Regards,

Paul

[MikeW]

Paul,

you will find theses sources of interest:

Indra L Roy - Cross & Cockade International Vol 5 1975 No.1

Hardit Singh Malik - Cross & Cockade International Vol 6 1975 No.4

- Barker VC, Wayne Ralph, pub Grub Street.

Malik flew with Billy Barker and I believe became Indian Ambassador to Canada.

Mike

[zooloo]

www.firstworldwar.com/bio/malik.htm

and

www.firstworldwar.com/bio/roy.htm

zoo

[Dolphin]

Do you know of any books on the subject?

Paul

I don't know of any books specifically on Indian fliers, but 2Lt I L Roy is mentioned in Above the Trenches by Shores, Franks and Guest [iSBN 0 948817 19 4]. His career is also summarised at: http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/india/roy.html

Another Indian flier, Lt Shri Krishna Chunda Welinkar of No 23 Sqn, has several pages in Mike O'Connor's Airfields & Airmen - Somme [iSBN 0 85052 864 X].

I hope this helps you

Gareth

[Paul Hederer]

Thanks to everyone for the great information!

Paul