Mohinder Singh Pujji

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

British India
Died18 September 2010 (aged 92)
Gravesend, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
 British India
Service/branch
Years of service1940–1947
Squadron Leader
Service numberInd/1604[2]
UnitNo. 43 Squadron RAF
No. 258 Squadron RAF
No. 6 Squadron RAF
No. 4 Squadron IAF
Battles/warsWorld War II
– European theatre of World War II
– North African campaign
– Burma campaign
Awards
Other workCommercial pilot, aerodrome officer

Second World War.[1][3][4] He is one of the few Indian pilots to have also served in all three major theatres of the Second World War.[4]

Early life

Mohinder

British India, on 14 August 1918, the fourth son of Sardar Sohan Singh Pujji and his wife—Sant Kaur. His father was a senior government official who worked in the department of health and education.[5] He attended the Sir Harcourt Butler High School in Simla, then on his father's retirement to his home state of Punjab attended the Government College and later the Hindu College in Lahore.[1][6][7][8][9] He studied law at Bombay University.[10]

He learned to fly in 1936 as a hobby pilot at the Delhi Flying Club, where he fell in love with flying and in April 1937 achieved his "A" certificate of flying competency.[1] His first job was with Himalayan Airways as a line pilot, flying passengers between Haridwar and Badrinath, but soon after was offered a better job with Burmah Shell, where he worked as a refuelling superintendent in 1938.[1][6][7]

Pujji married his wife Amrit Kaur in November 1944. Their first daughter Veena was born in March 1946. The couple had two more children; Rita and Satinder.[11]

War service

In 1940, news of the unceasing German air attacks besieging Britain and civilian losses was reaching British India, Pujji's sense of duty and daring adventurism instinctively caused him to attend the advertised appeal for pre-qualified "A" licensed pilots at the fourth pilot's course of the Royal

Second World War.[1][4][6][7][12]

United Kingdom and Europe

Embarking for the United Kingdom aboard the troopship Strathallan, arriving in Liverpool on 1 October 1940, Pujji's first posting was on 8 October 1940 to No. 1 RAF Depot in Uxbridge.[clarification needed] Within a few days he was posted to No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School RAF at Prestwick in Scotland. From there the first 24 volunteer Indian pilots went on to No. 9 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit RAF at RAF Hullavington. From the first 24 volunteer candidates, 18 including Pujji, successfully completed the course and qualified as Royal Air Force pilots, receiving their RAF wings on 16 April 1941. A few weeks later Pujji and a handful of other pilots from the first 24 went on to the renowned No. 56 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Sutton Bridge, where they joined British and other foreign-allied pilots for advanced fighter pilot training on the Hawker Hurricane.[1][6][7]

Pujji flew

active service first with No. 43 Squadron RAF from 2 June 1941, the formidable 'Fighting Cocks' fighter squadron, before being posted later in the same month to No. 258 Squadron RAF.[1][6][7] Operating from RAF Kenley, Pujji escorted bomber offensives over occupied France, conducted Rhubarb patrols over Europe, coastal patrols and other operational sorties in defence of Britain.[1][6][7] He flew mainly Hurricanes, which he preferred to Spitfires, for their relative ease of flying.[13] He was forced down on several occasions; in one instance, his aircraft was disabled over the English Channel by a Messerschmitt Bf 109, but he managed to coax his aircraft to dry land, crashing near the White Cliffs of Dover. He was rescued from the burning wreckage and after a week in hospital returned to duty.[1][6][7][8]

He was treated well in England, experiencing as a volunteer RAF service-member favourable treatment at local cinemas and restaurants, often without payment.[3] He subsequently commented, "I felt very welcome indeed, I never felt different or an outsider and my experiences in this country made me keen to return some time after the War. I was made to feel very much at home by everyone I met"[8] and "I wrote back to my father saying that I did not mind if I was killed because the British people were wonderful and so brave, and I was being so well treated. I could not queue for a movie without being told to move to the front".[1][6][7][9]

As a Sikh, Pujji insisted on retaining his dastar Sikh headwear—even while flying, upon which he had also attached his RAF insignia, even carrying a spare dastar, in case it was needed. The dastar, however, would interfere with use of the pilot flight headgear. On request, he was permitted to use a modified flight headgear, designing a special harness that would permit him to wear the dastar and still use his radio headphone receivers. Pujji's insistence on wearing the dastar inflight meant he could not attach the oxygen mask, it would later cost him an irreparably damaged lung caused by exposure to high-altitude flying.[13] Subsequently, in 1960, he ceased wearing the customary dastar Sikh headwear, "Times changed," he said.[6][7][13]

Mediterranean and Middle East

After serving four months of

Air Headquarters Western Desert in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II.[1][6][7] In late 1941, during the North African campaign, his aircraft was forced down in the West African desert, but luckily was found and picked up by British rather than German desert troops.[1][6][7][13] Desert living conditions were somewhat challenging, resulting in Pujji suffering from dietary problems, living often only on hardtack biscuits, since he could not eat the British staple issue service food bully beef for religious reasons, but was compensated by allowing him to fly at weekends to Cairo where he could enjoy a decent meal.[1][6][7]

South-East Asia

On 16 January 1942, Pujji embarked at Suez for Colombo, British Ceylon in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. From February 1942 through 1943, on transferring to No. 4 Squadron IAF of the Royal Indian Air Force at Kohat, Pujji would fly both the Hurricane and Westland Lysander over the North-West Frontier Province and other locations in British India.[1][6][7]

On 20 December 1943, Pujji was dispatched as

Burma, where the Japanese posed a threat to British India, moving with the squadron to the Buthidaung region which was the theatre of a major ground offensive. When some 300 US troops were lost without rations, food and radio contact, in the dense Burmese jungle swarming with Japanese soldiers, the US sent out a search party to locate them, however, after the US search party failed after 3-days to locate them, Pujji was personally requested by General William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim of the British Fourteenth Army to find them.[6][14] Pujji climbed into his plane and in adverse weather flew low over treetops across Japanese occupied territory into the suspected area—and with jubilation for everyone—Pujji found them.[6][7][14]

From April 1944, Pujji transferred as flight commander to

Third Arakan Offensive. In early 1945, Pujji was transferred on attachment to Command and Staff College in Quetta (then in British India). Pujji had spent almost four years on continuous operational flying duty, considered unusual even by standards of the Second World War.[1][6][7]

Distinguished Flying Cross

For his service bravery over Japanese occupied territory, Pujji was awarded the

Sir Keith Park,[15]
the DFC citation reads in part:

Acting Flight Lieutenant Mahinder Singh Pujji No. 4 (RIAF) Squadron

"This officer has flown on many reconnaissance sorties over Japanese occupied territory, often in adverse monsoon weather. He has obtained much valuable information on enemy troop movements and dispositions, which enabled an air offensive to be maintained against the Japanese troops throughout the monsoon. Flight Lieutenant Pujji has shown himself to be a skilful and determined pilot who has always displayed outstanding leadership and courage."

Post-war life

Plinth of Mahinder Singh Pujji Statue. Indian RAF pilot statue at Gravesend
Plinth of Mahinder Singh Pujji Statue at Gravesend

In late 1946, after suffering from a long illness of

Jackie Kennedy in 1962.[3][6][7]

Pujji returned and emigrated to England in 1974, where he worked as an

Borough of Newham.[3][6][7][9]

In 2005, Pujji protested the British National Party's symbolic usage of a Spitfire aircraft image in their political campaign literature. He was reported as saying,

"The BNP are wrong to use the Spitfire as representative of their party. They forget people from different backgrounds helped in the Second World War. I am proof of this - I was flying a Spitfire. I also met Winston Churchill. Even in those days, there were ethnic minorities fighting for the British. I would recommend the armed forces for young people, regardless of race."[17]

In August 2010, Pujji's autobiography For King And Another Country was released.

Pujji died of a stroke at Darent Valley Hospital, England, on 18 September 2010, aged 92. He is survived by two daughters, one son, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The local authority, Gravesham Borough Council, celebrated his life and heroism with an exhibition.[16]

Recognition

Despite the high respect that Pujji experienced during the War, he believed that war films presented a "white-only view of the RAF".[13] He campaigned to raise awareness of the Indian contribution to the British war effort, which he, like many veterans, believed had been largely ignored.[4] In 2009, Pujji acknowledged he had received no invitations to any of the many commemorative events in Britain that marked the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, or any other year, he says. He is quoted as saying, "As far as I think, no one in authority remembers that we are here, and we were a part of World War II".[4][18]

In an effort to redress the balance, the

Royal Air Force Museum Cosford opened a permanent exhibition in January 2009 ("Diversity in the Royal Air Force"), intended to "challenge negative perceptions, by celebrating the racial diversity of its history". The museum's curator—Al McLean, is quoted as saying: "Too many of our visitors are white, over 50 and middle class. I want to appeal to more than just those people. This exhibition explains a side of our story that isn't recognised – that the RAF is not just a white public schoolboy occupation". Pujji was the guest of honour at the opening.[13]

Shortly before his death on 18 September 2010 aged 92, Pujji was invited to attend a wreath-laying ceremony by Philip Sidney, 2nd Viscount De L'Isle, at a memorial outside the former RAF Station Gravesend Airport, to commemorate "The Few" on the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.[19]

In 2011 the short film The Volunteers was dedicated to Pujji after he contributed to its making but died before the film's completion.

Statue

Mahinder Singh Pujji Statue, Gravesend, London

A statue of Pujji, by English sculptor

gurdwaras in the UK, raised £70,000 for the statue in a month.[4][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Nair, K S. "Sqn Ldr M S Pujji DFC, "Then whose battle was it?"". Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "No. 37036". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 April 1945. p. 2029.
  3. ^ a b c d e f King, Jon (15 July 2018). "RAF 100: Incredible Indian pilot with a taste for adventure". Barking: Newham Recorder. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sharma, Manimugdha (29 November 2014). "World War II Indian pilot honoured with statue in UK". The Times of India. New Delhi. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ^ Rozina Visram, "Pujji, Mahinder Singh (1918–2010)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, January 2014; online edition, May 2014 (accessed 14 August 2014; requires subscription)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Somerville, Christopher (1995). "Pujji, Mahinder Singh (Oral History)". Imperial War Museum (Interview). No. 18373. London: Imperial War Museum.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Somerville, Christopher (September 2005). "Pujji, Mahinder Singh (Oral History)". Imperial War Museum (Interview). No. 28591. London: ASA Production (UK) Ltd.
  8. ^
    Memorial Gates Trust
    . 15 January 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  9. ^ a b c "Pilots always knew they might not return" (PDF). The Newham Mag - VE Day Special. London Borough of Newham. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  10. ISBN 978-1-4081-8623-7
    .
  11. ^ Rozina Visram,"Pujji, Mahinder Singh (1918–2010)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, January 2014; online edition, May 2014 (accessed 14 August 2014; requires subscription)
  12. ^ a b c d "Monument to squadron leader Mahinder Singh Pujji DFC to be unveiled in St Andrew's Gardens, Gravesend". Kent Online. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Weaver, Matthew (15 January 2009). "RAF wartime exhibition celebrates the forgotten fewest of the Few". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ a b Singh Kandola, Navdeep (29 September 2010). "The last of the second world war Sikh RAF fighter pilots". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Sqn Ldr M S Pujji DFC - Middle East, Burma, India". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Life of WWII Indian flying ace celebrated in Gravesend". BBC. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  17. ^ Moore-Bridger, Benedict (23 November 2009). "Spitfire is not BNP's to use, says Sikh pilot who fought the Nazis". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  18. Institute of Race Relations
    . Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Statue unveiling of Squadron Leader Mahinder Singh Pujji DFC, 28th November, 2014". Maidstone: The Lord Lieutenancy of Kent. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Gravesend unveils statue of fighter pilot Mahinder Singh Pujji". BBC. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2020.

Further reading

External links
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