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.