All above images from Wikipedia
Air Marshal Mohinder Singh “Minhi” Bawa was yet another Air Force luminary that I met rather late in my service career. By the time I reached Adampur in December 1972 to join 101 Squadron, “The Falcons of Chhamb”, Minhi Sir had finished command of the other Su– 7/22 squadron colocated in Admapur, 26 Squadron, in late 1970 and had moved on in his career to Jaisalmer. However, I did hear some stories about his feats in Jaisalmer as the Station Commander during the 1971 War and Jaisalmer’s role in the Battle of Longewala. Since there was not much in writing about this battle, or even the entire 1971 War, by that time and one only heard stories by word of mouth in the old Indian tradition of the Guru giving gyaan to his disciples. Much later, I was to hear the story from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, from Minhi Bawa himself. Later, by the time I came to Jamnagar to TACDE for the FCL course in March 1978, he had just left for greener pastures in the UK for the RCDS course for senior officers. Our paths in the Air Force finally crossed when Minhi Sir took over as Chief Instructor (Air) in Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in late November1985. I had been on the staff at DSSC since October 1984 and had just got back in November after many months in Madras (as it was called those days) representing the Staff College for the court case in Madras High Court filed by some Air Wing students.
So, in our first meeting, Minhi Sir wanted to know all about this case and how we had won it. Thereafter, in the very first staff meeting of the Air Wing, Minhi Sir laid out his vision about what and how we should be conducting our instructions and exercises. Having done over a year as a teaching DS, I had been put in the training team under the well–known HOTT (Head of Training Team) Air, Gp Capt Vapilla “Vaps” Nair. Vaps and I had hit it off well and under his directions and the free hand he had given us, we were already working on revising the exercises with the objectives of moving away from the set solutions for the students, or the “Pinks”, thus encouraging original and out of the box thoughts and also free up their time for more self–study, time in the library for research as also greater interaction with the Army and Navy students to develop a better understanding of the ethos of the other services and their operations. While Minhi Sir largely agreed with these objectives laid out by Vaps, he did differ on a few modalities and, highlighting his experiences in Jaisalmer in the Battle of Longewala, wanted us to focus a little more on tactical air operations. I admired the way Minhi Sir let everyone have their say, without imposing his thoughts and ideas on us, even though many of us voiced differences with his approach and wanted the future generations to give due importance to strategic air operations and strategic thought. Minhi Sir also showed an open mind and finally accepted what most of us had to say.
Even within the air wing staff, Minhi Sir encouraged original thinking and free and frank voicing of opinions. I got a real taste of that when on 15 April 1986, the United States carried out a bombing raid on Tripoli, Libya in retaliation to the alleged terrorist bombing of a discotheque in Germany and/or the alleged Libyan retaliation to the sinking of two Libyan ships in the Gulf of Sidra a month earlier in March 1986. Whatever be the reason for President Ronald Reagan to order this raid, I was listening to the Voice of America while getting ready for work on the morning of 15 April, as was my habit for many years, when I heard this piece of news. When I went to work, I reported this to Vaps Nair as also the CI, Minhi Bawa. Minhi Sir heard me out and immediately took me to the Commandant Staff College, then Lt General Billimoria, and asked me to narrate what I had heard on the radio. Minhi Sir also volunteered to the Commandant that by the end of the day, he would give a detailed report on our assessment of how this air operation had been carried out. Quite obviously, he promptly handed out the task to me and asked me to give him the report by the evening. Imagine my plight in those days of limited information with no internet, social media reports or even TV channels broadcasting such news 24x7. I had to struggle through the day in Chanakya, the Library of Staff College, to piece together whatever information was available on the US Navy in the area as also US Air Force assets in the United Kingdom and then theorize on how they may have carried out such a raid successfully, without any major reported losses, the routing, refuelling enroute, the profiles as also the likely force package. Fortunately for me, my estimates submitted that evening were pretty close as revealed by reports later. I still have a copy of the routing chart with markings of the types of aircraft and estimated refuelling areas somewhere in my personal papers.
On the social front, the DS lot at that time in Staff College was a lively, and, perhaps a bit mischievous, one led on that front by Vaps Nair and Sunith “Su” Soares. The Bawas, however, participated in all our socials and did not ever mind the bit of rowdy fun that we indulged in. Mrs “Vimma” Bawa herself was a charming, warm hostess with all the diplomatic niceties, having recently returned from the UK after their Air Advisor stint in the High Commission in London. The Bawas were generous hosts and Malini and I enjoyed their hospitality on many occasions at “Cedar”, the home of the CI (Air). They were also very caring for their flock and looked after each one. I still recall an incident in mid–1986 when I had a nasty cut from a hang–glider’s wires, which had snapped, just below my left eye which required nine stitches and a few days of hospitalisation. The Bawas not only visited me regularly but also scolded me lovingly for indulging in such activities with risks towards medical fitness particularly when I was due for command of a squadron. Fortunately, I did not miss out on the command tenure because the wire had missed the eye by a few millimetres and just cut the lower eye lid. Soon thereafter, sometime in July 1986, my name came out for conversion to the MiG–29 in the USSR with likely command of 28 Squadron later on return. I do not know for sure how it came about but suspect that Air Vice Marshals Minhi Bawa in Staff College and “Suppi’ Kaul as DPO in Air HQ had something to do with it because of the remarks against me by “Lala” Dass earlier though neither of them ever talked about it then or later. Immediately, I was sent off to Coimbatore for my medical which was supposed to be a routine affair since I was hale and hearty without any ailments. Unfortunately, the doctors in Coimbatore found a small patch on my lung the size of 25 paise coin and suspected either TB or cancer. I knew about this calcified patch from childhood which was there even when I had done an earlier X– ray of the chest when joining the Air Force in 1965 and later in 1972 during the medicals before converting on supersonic aircraft. Unfortunately again, my medical documents in Med–7 at Air HQ went conveniently missing and the doctors had nothing to compare this patch with and sent me off to Command Hospital, Bangalore for further investigations.
Minhi Sir and Vimma came around to our house when I returned to Wellington to collect my stuff for a possible long stay in hospitals and told me not to lose heart at this turn of events, and particularly not worry about the strange case of the missing medical record at this crucial juncture in my career. After a few days in Bangalore where the doctors could not find anything positive, I was routed to CTC, Poona. To cut the long story short, two other benefactors entered my life then and saved me from a biopsy and low medical category for years. This meant cutting my chest open and as good as a death sentence for fighter flying for many years, and certainly a goodbye to the MiG–29. The first was an angel of a doctor named Wg Cdr Madhusudan Verma who suggested that I gamble Rs 2000/– or so on getting a CT Scan done, a procedure not yet recognised by the armed forces medical authorities. The second was the doctor at Ruby Hospital in Poona turned out to be another angel who took the trouble of finding the calcification value for the patch. This was accepted by the Commandant CTC as a temporary reprieve for me with a proviso that I come back for a review after I return from the USSR and move to Poona where the Squadron was to be re– equipped with the MiG–29.
Fortunately, there was no change in the patch, as expected, and I remained medically fit through my service career with this patch annotated in my medical documents. The point of this long story is that throughout this travail, Minhi Sir kept in touch with me almost every day and kept my morale up with his encouraging words and prayers. The Bawas also visited Malini regularly to keep her spirits high too. That showed the concern the Bawas had for their subordinates and their wellbeing. On the side, “Suppi” Kaul also helped by making sure that this vacancy was kept open and I was allowed to join the preparatory phase with the language course and briefings a little later than the rest of the batch in Delhi. The conversion to MiG–29 and subsequent turn of events actually shaped my future career for which I owe big time to Minhi Sir as well as Suppi Kaul. By the time I came back from the USSR in March 1987, Minhi Sir had moved to Jodhpur as SASO South Western Air Command (SWAC) and I soon followed him by moving to 2 Wing, Poona, which came under SWAC and where the MiG–29s were to be located. While we were still awaiting the aircraft to be assembled at Ozar and handed over to 47 and 28 Squadrons, AOC Poona, then Air Cmde JP Singh, was asked to participate in a paper exercise being conducted by SWAC in May 1987 wherein he was to act as the Pakistani counterpart as AOC Sindh and present a plan to counter SWAC in the event of hostilities. JP Sir naturally turned to me and handed over the task to me since I had been DS in Staff College. I formulated an out of the box solution and plan and presented the draft to JP Sir. In his usual style, JP Sir said, “Harish, you are going to get me killed” but accepted the plan. We presented this plan in Jodhpur at SWAC HQ in the presence of the Chief, Air Chief Marshal Dennis LaFontaine. Due to its radical approach to the air operations, the C– in–C, Air Marshal “Polly” Mehra, was quite upset but to his credit, Minhi Sir intervened, politely countered the C– in–C at the risk of his future career and said that we should consider such possibilities since these would only strengthen the capabilities of SWAC should the enemy adopt such an approach.
Fortunately for him, the Chief also supported this approach and JP Sir and I came back unscathed with a huge sigh of relief. Once again, this episode showed that the moral courage to differ with your seniors for one’s beliefs is an important quality in military professionals, particularly as you grow in service. As the SASO, Minhi Sir discreetly kept monitoring the formation and re–equipment of both MiG–29 squadrons in Poona and my work–up for the Low–Level Aerobatics displays on the MiG–29 through Vaps Nair, the Ops–1A, and always encouraged me to try new manoeuvres with due preparation and caution. As it happened, after I came back from Delhi for the planned display on Air Force Day on 7 October 1987, he was visiting Poona. Having received about 12 aircraft by then, including the two trainer aircraft, we had planned to commence flying for the Squadron on 16 October. I requested Minhi Sir to be the Guest of Honour, preside over the small inaugural ceremony with breaking of the usual coconut and then fly the first inaugural sortie with me in the trainer. While briefing him on the planned mission, I also told him that we would do a loop straight after take–off to announce the launch of the First Supersonics on this type with a bang. This was a manoeuvre that I had been earlier prevented from attempting on the borrowed 47 Sqn aircraft but which I had introduced in my on–base display routine while practicing for the Air Force Day display in Hindon. However, I had never done it on a trainer which had just a slight difference in the stick restriction for the maximum angle of attack. Without batting an eyelid, Minhi Sir agreed with the words, “Harish, with you I am in safe hands, show me whatever you want”. Needless to say, the whole flight went off without a hitch and Minhi Sir came back beaming after trying a few manoeuvres himself on the aircraft. The finale was, of course, the short landing with deployment of the tail parachute just before touch down on 28 dumbbell and clearing off the runway at the first exit for our squadron dispersal with all personnel and some families watching and cheering. That was another example of him leading from the front and trust in his subordinates to not let him down and do anything stupid or unsafe with his life on the line.
Soon after that, in December 1987, when we had barely completed the short operational syllabus for most of the pilots, the Command AD Officer, Gp Capt IJS “Bops” Boparai called me up and said that the SASO wanted our squadron to participate in an air defence exercise from Jamnagar. Bops wanted me to confirm that my pilots were sea–qualified since most of the exercise would be over the Gulf of Kutch. Bops should have known better and the answer since we had received the MiG–29 aircraft barely two months before but, realising that the SASO had, once again, reposed his trust in the squadron, I assured him that we were all sea–qualified on type, and went ahead with the exercise using it as the means to expose all my pilots to flying over the sea, including at extremely low levels in the MiG–29. Minhi Sir soon left on promotion as C–in–C Central Air Command in end February 1988 and we lost touch for a while since we were serving in different areas. However, we kept in touch, particularly after he retired and settled down in Safdarjang Enclave in New Delhi in early 1991. I was then attached to Air HQ for a long while preparing to go to Turkey as the Military Naval & Air Attache and called on the Bawas many times. That was the time I heard more of his stories including his fight in court over taking possession of his house at B–2/10 Safdarjang Enclave from a tenant. I also played golf with him a few times and enjoyed his competitiveness. Then and every time, Mrs Bawa and the Air Marshal were hospitality personified and always insisted that I/we stay back for a meal. My visits to them became more frequent when I was myself in Court in 2004–05 and both of them always sympathised with my predicament and supported my struggle. Later, when Outlook magazine published a false story about my aerobatics for a Bollywood starlet Mrs Bawa always joked and said I was doing these over the starlet’s house thus finding something to pull my leg in jest. That is when I remind her that in Staff College days, when Amitabh Bachchan and Meenakshi Seshadri had visited, the younger DS including me were kept away from Minhi Sir’s office and they were whisked off to the Commandant’s house for lunch without as much as an introduction to us. So, Minhi Sir was the one who never brooked any competition against such starlets. Such mutual leg–pulling carries on till date whenever we speak on the phone or I visit them. After retirement in 2006, I also got to read his book on Longewala as also Major General Atmaram’s account who, as the AOP pilot at that time, landed then Wg Cdr Minhi Bawa at Longewala after the rout of Pakistani armour by the Hunters based at Jaisalmer on 4th and 5th of December 1971. Minhi Sir also writes and recites a lot of poetry, particularly “shers” and whenever I visit them, I always get to hear some new ones. We were fortunate to have known the Bawas in the Air Force to learn a lot from them and to remain a friend in later retired life till date which has enriched our lives and further added to our experiences and memories.
The author of this series, Air Marshal (R) Harish Masand, seen above.
AIR MARSHAL MS BAWA 16TH DECEMBER 1932 – 15 FEBRUARY 2024
On completion of Fsc, he joined the Indian Air Force in 1951 and was commissioned on 1 April 1953. During his illustrious long career of 38 years, he saw the Air Force grow from ‘Piston Engine’ to a ‘Modern Jet Force’. During his distinguished service, he held many prestigious Command and Staff appointments. As a Wing Commander, he commanded the first Sukhoi Su–7 Squadron and was awarded Vayu Sena Medal and later took over as Chief Instructor of Armament Training Wing. In the 1971 war, he commanded Jaisalmer Air Base which created history at the ‘Air Battle of Longewala’, and was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. After this, he returned to Jamnagar as a Group Captain to command the prestigious Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment and the Armament Training Wing. A Flying Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader, he did the Long Defence Management Course, is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College and obtained his MSc Defence Sciences degree from Madras University. He has the distinction of attending the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK and later returning there as Air Advisor and, concurrently, Military and Air Attache to Sweden. As an Air Commodore, he commanded Ambala, one of the important and foremost Fighter Stations in the Air Force and ‘reared’ the Jaguar force. ln the rank of Air Vice Marshal, he was appointed as Chief Instructor (Air) at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. On promotion to the rank of Air Marshal, he was appointed as Senior Air Staff Officer in an Operational Command. The Air Marshal, as first Commanding Officer of the first Su–7 squadron, was rightfully honoured as Commodore Commandant of No.26 Squadron, Air Force. He took over as Air Officer Commanding–in–Chief, Central Air Command and retired with distinction on 31 December 1990.On completion of Fsc, he joined the Indian Air Force in 1951 and was commissioned on 1 April 1953.
During his illustrious long career of 38 years, he saw the Air Force grow from ‘Piston Engine’ to a ‘Modern Jet Force’. During his distinguished service, he held many prestigious Command and Staff appointments. As a Wing Commander, he commanded the first Sukhoi Su–7 Squadron and was awarded Vayu Sena Medal and later took over as Chief Instructor of Armament Training Wing. In the 1971 war, he commanded Jaisalmer Air Base which created history at the ‘Air Battle of Longewala’, and was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. After this, he returned to Jamnagar as a Group Captain to command the prestigious Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment and the Armament Training Wing. A Flying Instructor and a Fighter Combat Leader, he did the Long Defence Management Course, is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College and obtained his MSc Defence Sciences degree from Madras University. He has the distinction of attending the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK and later returning there as Air Advisor and, concurrently, Military and Air Attache to Sweden. As an Air Commodore, he commanded Ambala, one of the important and foremost Fighter Stations in the Air Force and ‘reared’ the Jaguar force. ln the rank of Air Vice Marshal, he was appointed as Chief Instructor (Air) at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. On promotion to the rank of Air Marshal, he was appointed as Senior Air Staff Officer in an Operational Command. The Air Marshal, as first Commanding Officer of the first Su–7 squadron, was rightfully honoured as Commodore Commandant of No.26 Squadron, Air Force. He took over as Air Officer Commanding–in–Chief, Central Air Command and retired with distinction on 31 December 1990.
