Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Part 1: Pictorial History of Pakistan Air Force From the Brush Strokes of Hussaini - - Pre-1947 (Before PAF)


Size: 2ft x 3ft Oil Date: May-1940
Artwork Located:
Chief of the Air Staff's Office

Description:
Flight Lieutenant A B Awan leads three Westland Wapitis of "A" Flight, No I Squadron, IAF from Drigh Road (now Faisal) air base on a coastal patrol in the Arabian Sea, As World War 11 raged in Europe, Allied air forces in Asia also prepared for possible operations against Germany and Japan - Hailing from Dera Ismail Khan, Wing Commander A B Awan was the first Muslim military aviator of the subcontinent. He died in 1989, having made a pioneering contribution to what would eventually become the Pakistan Air Force.







Size: 2ft x 3ft Oil
Date: 20-May-1940

Artwork Located:
Air Guest House PAF Faisal

Description:
Flying Officer M Nur Khan of No 7 Squadron, IAF carries out a high angle dive bombing attack in his Vultee Vengeance in the Burma theater of war against the Japanese.

In the rear seat is Sergeant Harrington, his gunner. Twenty-one years later Air Marshal M Nor Khan, who opted to transfer to Pakistan in 1947, was to lead the Pakistan Air Force in his country's war with India.



Size: 2ft x 3ft Oil
Date: 20-May-1946
Artwork Located:
Private Collection

Description:
During World War II, Squadron leader M Asghar Khan - later the first Pakistani C-in-C of the PAF - commanded No 9 Squadron at the Burma front. While on the Fighter Leaders' Course in England before Independence, he became the first pilot from the subcontinent to fly a jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor Mark III, the only jet employed by the Allies during the last stages of the War.



Size: 2ft x 3ft Oil
Date: Jan-1946
Artwork Located:
Officer's Mess PAF Sargodha

Description:
To keep their aircraft in top shape, it was a normal practice in the IAF fighter squadrons to assign each plane to the care of a pilot. Flying Officer Zafar A Chaudhry of No 7 Squadron (later to be one of the PAFs air chiefs) proudly 'owned' RN-183, the Spitfire Mark XVI which he named "Nilofur", inspired by the beautiful Turkish princess who had married a son of the Nizam of Hyderabad.



Size: 2ft x 3ft Oil
Date: 1945
Artwork Located:
Air Headquarters Breifing Room

Description:
No 9 Squadron (after Independence becoming a Pakistani Unit) had converted onto the famous WW II Spitfire in 1945. It was powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin 66V 12-Cyliner liquid-cooled engine. Armed with 4 x 20 mm cannons, it could fly at a maximum speed of 404 mph. It flew in the Battle of Britain, in Africa and Asia during the War. No 9 Squadron continued to fly this aircraft from August to December 1947.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice post!!!!!

please visit me back....

Culture of Indonesia

thanks friend....

Shamood said...

thanks dear,

such comments add positivity in our enthusiasm of posting the best for our readers.

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