On 6th September, 1965 General Choudhary, the Indian Corps Commander of XI Corps, issued invitations to his staff officers for a cocktail party at Gymkhana Lahore that evening. Since it was midnight his orders were to capture Lahore within the day. Three hours later at about 0300 hours the Corps moved towards Lahore. All that lay between them and the Gymkhana were a handful of unaware Pakistani troops at the border.
Incidentally the first Pakistani unit to confront the invaders was a vigil PAF MOU (mobile observer unit) detachment on the border. The news of the invasion reached the PAF C-in-C (Commander-in-Chief) through the PAF Lahore Station Commander. AM Nur Khan informed President Ayub Khan of the same with the words, "This means war!"
One can be proud of the Air Battles fought by the PAF against a four times larger enemy. The spirit of which can be described by just one account. On 6 September, 1965, Squadron Leader Sarfaraz Ahmad Rafiqui led a formation of 3 F-86 aircraft on a strike against Halwara airfield. The formation was intercepted by about 10 Hunter aircraft out of which Squadron Leader Rafiqui accounted for one in the first few seconds. But then his guns jammed due to a defect and stopped firing.
However, Rafiqui refused to leave the battle area which he would have been perfectly justified to do; instead he ordered his No. 2 to take over as leader and continue the engagement while he tried to give the formation as much protection as was possible with an unarmed aircraft. The end for him was never in doubt but he chose to disregard it and in the process his aircraft was shot down. He embraced shahadat but not before enabling his formation to shoot down 3 more Hunters. Such valour and professionalism was exhibited by the PAF pilots that even the IAF historical account acknowledges the same to this day.
Indian Defence writer, Ravi Rikhye in the book, The Psyche of the Pakistan Air Force, appropriately states that, "The 23-day conflict in September 1965 represented the zenith of the Pakistan Air Force and could justify claims to be its country's crowning glory."
During a strike over Pathankot, No 19 Squadron of the PAF, destroyed MiG-21s parked on the tarmac. This latest war machine was the pride of the IAF which was never to be seen again in days to come. Enemy airfields at Halwara, Adampur and Jamnagar were also struck by the PAF with devastating results. This enabled Pak Army to operate without the fear of enemy's air force. The PAF attacked IAF airfields in the Eastern Sector the following day. The raid on Kalaikunda was a heroic effort and once again the IAF lost 8 aircraft on the ground.
Thanks to the PAF when the first day of the war came to an end, Lahore was safe, and the skies over Pakistan were clear of any IAF intruders as many Indian airfields lay burning. Every Pakistani must know and feel proud of the acts of courage, valour, professionalism and bravery demonstrated by its Air Warriors on that day. When the IAF sought revenge the next day, they were challenged by men like Squadron Leader M M Alam. He shot five Hunters (an aircraft claimed to be superior to the F-86 flown by him) in a single engagement. Three enemy aircraft were shot within a span of 30 seconds, a record in the history of air warfare that stands to date.
Records compiled after the war from reports from Indian sources put the total number of enemy aircraft destroyed at 50, including 22 in air combat, nine shot down by ground fire and 19 on the ground from PAF strikes. PAF was able to fly virtually its entire post-war air strength, then comprising 85 F-86Fs, 10 F-104As and about 20 B-57s, over a victory parade in Karachi. After the victory parade, all the PAF airbases were opened for general public and for foreign military officials to visit and count the neatly lined up aircraft.
While defending the country in September that air superiority over a four times bigger enemy was established by the PAF. "The Battle for Pakistan" was fought against all odds by our Air Force and the nation feels proud of the Air Warriors of 1965, whose conduct was clearly beyond the call of duty and conformed to the highest traditions of leadership and valour in battle against overwhelming odds. As a consequence, no toasts were raised by the Indian Army at Lahore Gymkhana that September evening in 1965.
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