Muhammad Mahmood Alam

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Air Commodore

M.M. Alam


Sitara-e-Jurat & Bar[note 1]
Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military)

1965 Indo-Pak War.[2]

He was a F-86 Sabre flying ace as per Pakistan Air Force records. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat twice, the nation's third highest military award for his actions.

Early life

Alam was born on 6 July 1935 to an ethnic

SUNY Albany.[7]

His family moved to West Pakistan in 1971, after the Bangladesh Liberation War in erstwhile East Pakistan.[3] Being the eldest of his 11 siblings, Alam did not marry as he had to assume the responsibilities of the upbringing of his family.[citation needed] Some of his younger brothers became distinguished in various academic careers.[4]

Service with the Pakistan Air Force

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

MM Alam poses with his F-86 Sabre. Indian Flags as kill marks visible on the nose of the sabre. Large flags mean confirmed kills whole smaller ones refer to probable or damaged.

During the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Alam was posted at Sargodha with No. 11 Squadron PAF
.

According to the PAF and eyewitness accounts, in a single sortie on 7 September 1965, Alam downed five aircraft in less than a minute, it was claimed that he had downed 7 Hunters, but 2 of which were 'probable' kills.[8][9][10][11][12] Regarding his last four claims, Alam stated that while before he had completed "270 degrees of turn, at around 12 degrees per second ... four Hunters had been shot down."[10] With five claims on 7 September, Alam also effectively claimed to have achieved "ace in a day" status, in world record time.

Alam's claims have been contested by retired PAF

Air Commodore Sajad Haider, of which the context, is a rivalry between Alam and Haider. The Indian Air Force, denied losing five Hawker Hunter aircraft on 7 September.[12][13] In a 2009 memoir, Haider wrote that it was "tactically and mathematically very difficult" to reconstruct the downing of "five Hunters in a hard ... 270-degree turn in 23 seconds."[14] The fact that no verifiable gun camera footage of his kills was ever made public by the Pakistani authorities further casts doubt on his claim.[15]

The action of 7 September 1965 resulted in Alam being placed at the top of a Hall Of Fame list at the Pakistan Air Force Museum in Karachi.

Later years

In 1967, he was appointed Squadron Commander of the first squadron of Dassault Mirage III fighters procured by the PAF. In 1982, he retired as an Air commodore and took up residence in Karachi.

Death

Alam was admitted to Pakistan Naval Station Shifa Hospital in Karachi where he died on 18 March 2013, aged 77.[16] He was being treated for respiratory problems for 18 months. Alam's funeral prayer was performed at the PAF Base Masroor, where he served some of the significant years of his career. Alam was buried at the Shuhuda (Martyrs) Graveyard, located at PAF Masroor Airbase. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, Air Chief Marshal (Ret.) Farooq Feroze Khan, Sindh corps commander Lt. Gen Ijaz Chaudhry, Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Director-General Maj. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, Base Commander PAF Base Masroor Air Commodore Usaid ur Rehman, many war veterans of the 1965 war and Alam's closest colleagues attended the funeral. One of the younger brothers of the deceased, Zubair Alam, was also present.[4]

Memorials

flying ace of Pakistan Air Force, Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam, running from Main Market to Gulberg. The road runs parallel to famous Main Boulevard thus providing an alternate route and is a commercial hub with many restaurants, fashion boutiques, shopping malls, beauty saloons and décor stores. M.M. Alam Road hosts a variety of flamboyant restaurants in modern Lahore.[17] On 20 March 2014, on account of his first death anniversary, the PAF Airbase Mianwali was renamed after him as PAF Base M.M. Alam.[18][19][20][21]

Awards and decorations

Sitara-e-Jurat & Bar[note 1]

(Star of Courage)

1.

1965 War

2.

1971 War

 Sitara-e-Imtiaz

(Military)

(Star of Excellence)

Tamgha-e-Diffa

(General Service Medal)

1.

1965 War
Clasp

2.

1971 War
Clasp

Sitara-e-Harb 1965 War

(War Star 1965)

Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War

(War Star 1971)

Tamgha-e-Jang 1965 War

(War Medal 1965)

Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War

(War Medal 1971)

Tamgha-e-Sad Saala Jashan-e-

Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam

(100th Birth Anniversary of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

1976

Tamgha-e-Jamhuria

(Republic Commemoration Medal)

1956

Hijri Tamgha

(Hijri Medal)

1979

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e "Bar" refers to a second award of the same honour

References

  1. ^ "Events – M M Alam's F-86". Pakistan: Pakistan Air Force (official website). Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  2. ^ Dawn Newspaper, [1];
  3. ^ a b c "Knowing MM Alam". The Nation. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Iconic war veteran MM Alam passes away, The News International. Retrieved on 19 March 2013.
  5. ^ Institute for Policy Research & Development, Advisory Board Archived 4 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine; Dr. M. Shahid Alam Archived 4 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Cihan Aksan, State of Nature, On Islam: An Interview with M. Shahid Alam
  7. ^ Department of Physics, M. Sajjad Alam.
  8. ^ Iqbal, Arif. "Eye-witness to M.M. Alam's encounter with the IAF". PAKISTAN INSTITUTE FOR AIR DEFENCE STUDIES. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  9. Air Cdre M Kaiser Tufail. "Alam's Speed-shooting Classic". Defencejournal.com. Archived from the original
    on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9780711009295
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-59114-686-5
    . Mohammed Mahmood Alam claimed five victories against Indian Air Force Hawker Hunters, four of them in less than one minute! Alam, who ended the conflict with 9 kills, became history's only jet "ace-in-a-day."
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-87474-680-8
    .
  13. ^ Pakistan's Sabre Ace by Jon Guttman, Aviation History, Sept 1998.
  14. ISBN 9789694025261
    .
  15. ISBN 978-1-4738-7462-6
    .
  16. ^ M. M. Alam passes away in Karachi, Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved on 19 March 2013.
  17. ^ Haq, Shahram (11 December 2010). "Urban planning: MM Alam Road to be heart of new business district – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Pakistan not sending troops to Bahrain or Saudi: PM". Dawn. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  19. ^ Web Desk (27 February 2014). "PAF honours ace pilot MM Alam, renames Mianwali air base after him – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  20. ^ Imaduddin. "PAF Mianwali Base renamed as M.M. Alam Airbase". Brecorder.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  21. ^ "PM Nawaz Sharif names PAF base Mianwali after MM Alam". The News Tribe. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

Further reading

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