![]() | Older people - Care - New South Wales - Broken Hill - History. ![]() Southern Cross Care (Broken Hill) Ltd - History. Includes index and bibliographical references. "The Knights of the Southern Cross, Branch 14"-cover. : acorn to mighty oak / Rhonda Rigg Book Bib IDīook, Online - Google Booksīroken Hill, NSW : Southern Cross Care (Broken Hill) Ltd., 2014ģ77 pages : illustrations (chiefly colour), portraits (chiefly colour) 24 cm On the night of December 5, 1971, he led a formation of his bombers, this time to attack enemy positions in the Haji Pir Pass in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.The story of Southern Cross Care (Broken Hill) Ltd. Again, on the next night, he led another raid to the same target and succeeded in causing further heavy damage in the face of intense enemy ground fire. In spite of very heavy enemy ground fire, he pressed home the attack, and caused severe damage to the target. His citation for the Maha Vir Chakra reads: “Commanding Officer of an operational squadron, led a group of heavy bombers of his squadron to attack an important enemy fuel and ammunition dump at Changa Manga forest on the night of December 3. Incidentally, Wing Commander Vashisht received the MVC as well as a Vayu Sena Medal during his tenure as CO of 44 Squadron, a rare accomplishment. Apart from Wing Commander Vashisht being awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, Squadron Leader (later Group Captain) Gursaran Singh Ahluwalia and Squadron Leader (later Wing Commander) PB Kalra, navigator, were awarded Vir Chakras. The accomplishments of the squadron in the 1971 war led it to be the first transport squadron to be awarded Battle Honour for the war. Air Vice Marshal Subramaniam has specially mentioned a raid on Skardu airbase by Canberra aircraft which was led by an AN-12 of 44 Squadron as pathfinder-cum-lead bomber and which was piloted by Wing Commander Vashisht. On the third consecutive day, the CO 44 Squadron led a bombing mission of the squadron’s aircraft to Haji Pir pass in Jammu and Kashmir, causing degradation of the Pakistan Army’s artillery brigade located in that area.Īmong the targets that 44 Squadron engaged during the war were the Sui Gas Plant in Balochistan, Fort Abbas near Bahawalnagar in Pakistan’s Punjab and Suleimanki headworks near Okara in West Punjab. The attack was repeated the following night despite heavy anti-aircraft fire causing widespread damage to the dump. While the unit has had its share of missions in disaster relief operations, sudden induction in overseas operational commitments like IPKF in Sri Lanka, Operation Cactus in Maldives and supporting the Army in troop build-up in northern area, no mention of its history can be complete without referring to its bombing role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.Īir Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (retd) has written a detailed account of the exploits of Wing Commander Vashisht and 44 Squadron in the 1971 war, beginning with the attack on Pakistan Army’s fuel and ammunition dump in the Changa Manga forest near Kasur in West Punjab on December 3, 1971. And the day is not too far away when these mighty jets will have to be put to rest after the completion of their glorious service. ![]() The American C-17s are now more commonly seen taking to the skies from Chandigarh to transport men and material to Ladakh than the IL-76. The squadron’s diamond jubilee comes at a time when the Soviet-era warhorses of the IAF are giving way to newer technologies from the West. Not long after the first batch of aircraft of AN-12s were inducted into 44 Squadron, the first unfortunate accident took place in August 1961 when the nose gear of an aircraft collapsed upon landing and the aircraft caught fire. The squadron was initially named ‘The Himalayan Geese’ (the bird is on the Squadron’s crest) but it was changed to ‘Mighty Jets’ when the changeover to IL-76 aircraft happened. Six AN-12 aircraft formed part of the newly formed 44 Squadron in the turbulent period of 1961-62.
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