On a bright summer morning in July 1918, when the first world war was in full fow, a group of fighter planes belonging to the Royal Air Force of Britain was locked in a deadly aerial combat against enemy aircraft belonging to Germany’s Jagdstaffel 29. The site of the battle was in the skies over the town of Carvin in France.
The Fokker D.VII aircraft of the German air force outnumbered the British aircraft. The pilots of the RAF had to dodge and weave to avoid the heavy firing from the German pilots. But casualties were inevitable. One of the British planes that suffered severe damage was being piloted by an Indian officer named Indra Lal Roy.
The pilot himself was hit by bullets and his aircraft plummeted downwards to eventually crash on a vacant farmland. Thus ended the life of one of India’s bravest pilots who had been honoured with the title of Flying Ace by the Royal Air Force only a few days earlier. Later,he was posthumously honoured with the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) by the British government.
First Indian pilot to be conferred Flying Ace title
Indra Lal Roy was the first pilot from India to be given the title of Flying Ace. Since India was not an independent country then, all defence services personnel served Britain. While serving in the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force of Great Britain, he scored nine aerial victories.
Story of his life
This is the story of his brief but heroic life. Indra Lal who was born in Kolkata (then Calcuta) was the second son of Piera Lal Roy and Lolita Roy. Indra Lal was the grand uncle (grandfather’s brother) of Prannoy Roy, founder of NDTV.
The family was a distinguished one. His father was a barrister and Director of Public Prosecutions. Among those related to the family were Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee, who became Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force from 1954 to 1960.
When the First World War broke out, Indra Lal Roy was studying in London where he had been sent by his father for his education. On 4th April 1917 he joined the Royal Flying Corps and was commissioned with the rank of a Second Lieutenant in July. Soon after this Roy was seriously injured when his aircraft crashed. But he recovered and rejoined his unit.
Climbed the highest rungs of success
It was after rejoining that he climbed the highest rungs of success as a fighter pilot. Within a period of thirteen days in the month of July 1918, he shot and destroyed nine German aircraft and was hailed as the hero from India. But his career which had such a meteoric rise ended just as abruptly with a tragedy. He died at the young age of 19 but the feat that he achieved, that of nine aerial victories over enemy aircraft, has not yet been equalled.
Citation issued in his praise
A citation issued by the air force stated : “A very gallant and determined officer, who in thirteen days accounted for nine enemy machines. In these several engagements he has displayed remarkable skill and daring, on more than one occasion accounting for two machines in one patrol.”
In December 1998, to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Indian postal service issued a commemorative stamp in his honour. Indra Lal Roy remains the only Indian Flying Ace fighter pilot to this day.
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