The world's most widely used general-purpose military transport, the Douglas C-47 was military transport version of the commercial DC-3 airliner which first flew on December 22nd 1935 and entered service with the United States Army Air Force in 1941. Hundreds of C-47s entered the fourth decade of service in the 1970s and a total of 10,926 C-47s (Dakotas in RAF service) were manufactured in the USA, while licence production was also undertaken in the USSR and Japan. The C-47 could accommodate 28 troops or carry 7,500 lb. (3,406 kg.) of cargo and was powered by two 1200 h.p. Pratt and Whitney R-1830-90c radial engines.
More than any other type, the Dakota dominated in its service with the Indian Air Force, quite appropriately with its glorious record in the history of aviation. The establishment of a transport unit in the Royal Indian Air Force was considered soon after the Second World War and No. 12 Squadron earmarked for eventual conversion to the C-47 Dakota general purpose transport. In fact No. 12 had been raised with Spitfires in December 1945 at Kohat and was to have re-equipped with twin-engined fighter-bomber aircraft but as these were not to be available, the transport role was allotted to the formation which received ten C-47s at Panagarh towards the end of 1946. An inauspicious beginning, for most of these aircraft were badly damaged and written off in wake of a cyclonic storm which hit the sprawling airfield and replacement aircraft were only available some months thereafter. The Squadron briefly trained on twin-engined Oxfords at Bhopal and then moved to Mauripur for final conversion to Dakotas, RAF instructors being provided by Nos.10 and 31 Squadrons RAF. During their training period, No.12 Squadron's Dakotas flew passenger and freight runs from Karachi to Poona and Jiwani, carrying urgently needed water supplies in the drought-stricken area.
The Squadron moved to Chaklala (Rawalpindi) in mid-1947 with a flight detached at Drigh Road and was involved with the Paratrooper Training School which was expected to function under a joint India-Pakistan command for three years. In the event, No.12 was allotted to India and Pakistan was to receive Dakotas assigned to No. 6 Squadron which was converting to the transport role from fighters at Drigh Road. In August 1947, No.12 Squadron with ten Dakotas (VP series) was rapidly transferred to Agra which became its permanent base in independent India.
The Dakotas demonstrated their worth dramatically in the turbulent times, one of the first operational tasks facing the RIAF on partition being evacuation of almost 30,000 refugees from Pakistan. In October 1947 large bands of raiders poured across the border into Jammu and Kashmir; on the 25th the Maharaja sent an SOS, signing the instrument of accession leading to the momentous decision to send Indian military aid to Srinagar. By midnight on 26-27 October, 329 men of the 1st battalion, The Sikh Regiment had assembled at Palam airfield and three Dakotas of No.12 Squadron were airborne with the battalion headquarters at dawn, one company following' in civilian Dakotas from Wellingdon airport, the aircraft being landed at Srinagar unsure if the airfield remained in friendly hands.
As recorded, "in the whole story nothing is more astonishing than the airlift of 27 October which changed the course of history". Lord Louis Mountbatten has said that in all his experience of SEAC and over-the-hump flights to China he had never known of such an airlift being effected at such short notice. In less than 48 hours over a hundred civilian and RIAF. Dakotas had been assembled to fly troops, equipment and supplies to Srinagar. RIAF and civilian pilots and ground crew worked by day and night and 704 sorties were flown unabated from Delhi, staging through Jammu, till the 17 November.
No.12 Squadron distinguished itself through all phases of the fourteen-month campaign in Jammu and Kashmir. With one aircraft damaged in the first critical month, the strength was nine Dakotas, supplemented by another eight aircraft in 1948. The Dakotas played a valuable part in the recapture of Jhangar in March 1948, conveying tons of army requirements from barbe wire to rations and ammunition right upto the ground troops forward lines. Meanwhile the garrison at Poonch held out against repeated assaults and to facilitate regular flow of air supplies, 6000 refugees volunteered to work day and night in completing a rough airstrip in one week.
On 12 December 1947, the first Dakota of No.12 Squadron landed initiating operation 'Punching' which signified flying in the vital stores and flying out refugees and casualties. Although in December the RIAF had landed a section of 4th (Hazara) Mountain Battery, hostile guns had to be neutralised by 25-pounders. On March 21st 1948, seven Dakotas landed, the artillery and equipment both in day and by moonlight while the airstrip was being shelled. No.12 had a large share in the successful defence of Poonch, carrying out 73 sorties in six days, flying in 421000 lbs. (1,91,200 kg) of supplies and evacuating 35,000 refugees. In September, with the airstrip again damaged, the Dakotas free-dropped stores flying low over the airstrip. Dakotas not only operated from the difficult Poonch airstrip but from small semi-prepared Auster fields, particularly Potha, for evacuation of serious casualties.
The Dakotas pioneered the air route to Ladakh. As the raiders' threat to Leh became imminent, Air Commodore Mehar Singh undertook a flight to Leh on 24 May 1948, along an uncharted route at 25,000 feet (7,620 m.) and over the world's highest mountain ranges, landing at an improvised strip at Leh, 11,554 feet (3520 m.) a.s I. In June, two companies of the 2/4 Gurkha Rifles were flown to Leh from Srinagar in six Dakotas of No.12 Squadron fitted with improvised oxygen apparatus, the aircraft keeping engines running while unloading and reloading and so building up the Leh garrison energetically.
Dakotas also lent a hand in offensive action and some aircraft were fitted with four 250 lb. (114 kg) bombs. In March 1948, RIAF Dakotas loaded with 500 lb. (227 kg) and 1000 lb. (454 kg) bombs to be rolled out by hand, bombed hostile positions in the Rungad Nullah area of Poonch, this unnerving the hostiles. In the Hyderabad police action, as part of ‘Caterpiller’ Air Task Force, two Dakotas of No.12 Squadron were moved from Agra to Poona and, carrying 500 lb. (227 kg) bombs, scored two direct hits on Bidar airfield runway on 13 September 1948, despite machine gun and small arms fire. On 13-14 September night, Dakotas flew over Hakimpet and Begumpet airfields dropping leaflets with the call-to-surrender.
Meanwhile more Dakotas were being made available to the Air Force. The end of the Second World War saw hundreds of aircraft formerly with the 3rd Tactical Air Force and US 10th Air Force and lacer surplus to requirement scattered at a number of maintenance depots. HAL, Bangalore was involved with overhauling and refurbishing of over one hundred of these Dakotas for the IAF during the period 1949-51 (HJ, BJ, LI series.) In later years, about 12 aircraft were fitted with Wright Cyclone engines, and known as Hyper Dakotas, continued in service till 1967. Some other Dakotas were procured from the civil airlines and state royal flights and No.11 Squadron subsequently formed in September 1951 as the IAF's second transport unit. In 1954, No.12 Squadron was to receive C-119G Packets, becoming a composite unit as the C-47s were retained for some years till they were passed on to the newly-formed No. 43 Squadron. The third C-47 transport formation was No. 49 Squadron, flying Dakotas in Eastern India.
On 5 October 1947, the IAF procured a Dakota of standard 21-seat configuration from Tata Airways and this aircraft (HJ 205) became the first of many in the HQ Communication Squadron, additional Dakotas, fitted out in the VIP configuration, forming part of this unit; other Command communication flights were to receive numbers of the Dakota as well. Dakotas transported VIPs and delegations far and wide. In December 1952 the retiring air chief was flown to the UK in a Dakota escorted for some distance by six Spitfire PR Mk.XIXs an in September 1956, a Military Goodwill mission flew in a Dakota from Palam to Peking via Barrackpore, Hanoi, Canton and Hankow.
In 1948, coastal flight training was conducted on Dakotas and many a crew on maritime patrol duties in a B-24 recalled their orientation on the versatile and ubiquitous Dakota. Yellow-painted Dakotas were given to the Conversion and Training Squadron at Agra which moved to Begumpet during December 1956, subsequently expanding into the Transport Training Wing and being split between Begumpet (as No.1) and Yelahanka (as No.2 TTW) In 1949, the Navigators Training School was established at Jodhpur as part of the AFFC the Dakotas being fitted-out with six navigational-signal consoles for the purpose. The Paratroop Training School at Agra had its complement of Dakotas while traditionally black-and yellow striped Dakotas served with Nos.1 and 2 Target Towing Units at Cochin and Palam, towing sleeves for army and naval anti-aircraft gunners, this function being carried out till the present day. The Dakota has also been engaged in photographic and other surveys of India with No. 106 (Strategic Reconnaissance) Squadron.
Dakotas have been employed for aid-to-civil authority tasks for years and missions of mercy carried out from Rajasthan to Assam. In 1950-52, Dakotas dropped food and supplies to areas devastated by floods in Assam and Manipur, urgent medical supplies were dropped over Gyantse in 1954, food and material airdropped in Orissa, Gurdaspur, the Palwal area, Chamba, Lahoul valley and Nepal in 1955, food supplies rushed to Pangi valley and flood relief in Ceylon in 1956 and so on into the sixties, with airdropping of rice in Mizo hills, flood relief in UP and North Bengal, the Dakota has been the common factor. The main function has, however, remained tactical transport support to troops and para-military forces in the difficult jungle and mountain terrain of NEFA and the Naga Hills. With formations concentrated in Assam and detachments based at a number of airfields, the Dakotas have airdropped ammunition and supplies, flying low in valleys and between hill tops, often facing hostile fire when flying in assistance to beleaguered posts in Nagaland. A Dakota was shot down while supply dropping onto a beleaguered Assam Rifles post at Purr on 26th August 1960, and the crew kept in captivity for some years thence.
In the 1962 operations against the Chinese, IAF Dakotas, assisted by some from Indian Airlines, flew in troops and supplies to forward airstrips and evacuated casualties, a note-worthy effort being free-dropping of supplies at Walong even as Chinese artillery straddled the airstrip. In March 1962, a Dakota `freighter' (VT-CGP) was bought from Air India and in March 1963, six ex-RCAF. Dakotas were received as part of the aid from Canada making up some attrition. And so into the seventies, it has been difficult to select a replacement aircraft which will fulfil the same requirements. Although spares have gradually become more difficult to procure, the venerable Dakota continued to serve as a tactical transport, VIP communication aircraft and a multi-engine trainer. The Transport Training Wing, combined at Yelahanka in 1970, was however to be discontinued from 1973 and the Navigation and Signal School at Begumpet supplanted the Dakota with the HAL-built HS 748.
In December 1971, Dakotas formed Part of the fleet which airdropped paratroopers and stores in Bangladesh while in the West, an Air Delivery Flight (A.D.F.) using Dakotas flew 207 sorties conveying vital spares and stores from Equipment Depots to operational units, this ensuring a high rate of serviceability amongst combat squadrons. The Dakota thereafter continued to make its contribution for some three decades of service with the Indian Air Force.
[Extracted from ‘Aircraft of the Indian Air Force, 1933-73’ by Pushpindar Singh]