AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 5 – War Diary CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 101 of 332 Aggressive postures were being taken on both sides and little skirmishes kept the situation hot. "On December 2, 1971, we moved bag and baggage to Kailashahar (Tripura, near the border), a small airstrip with almost no infrastructure." Having landed after the usual low-level runs, they were met by the Air Observation Post pilots of the Indian Army who flew the vintage Auster aircraft and were tasked to direct artillery fire on to the enemy as our forces advanced. "The space on the tarmac to manoeuvre the aircraft was minimal. And the space available for us to live was even worse! "As per the pecking order, since I was the junior-most, I got to live in the passenger hall of the terminal building where a few rooms were occupied by the seniors. "After rolling out my bed on the floor, I got some sleep. In the morning, I used to load up my little household onto my Dakota, not knowing where I would be by the end of the day. I practically lived in my flying overalls. "The food was simple. Our only cook produced dal, roti and a vegetable dish from whatever was available locally. We ate the hot food happily, without cribbing. "Later, well into the war, when the Chetak helicopter operated from our base, it would land in enemy territory and get us some good fish and other stuff to spice up our lives!" In the evenings, when there was some breathing time, the pilots and other crew sat down together and listened to the radio to understand the larger picture. Some of them had seen the war of 1965 and had stories to tell from that war too. "From the '65 experience, we would often conjecture where all this fighting would lead to and what would be the endgame. "As the war progressed and the situation became clearer, we were now sure that East Pakistan would soon be a separate nation... it was just a matter of time before we had a brand-new neighbour. "The balloon finally went up on December 3 and we were quite excited to be the soldiers fighting for our nation."