AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 5 – War Diary CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 84 of 332 hour was devoted to camouflaging, till satisfactory standards were reached. While the Radio and Navigational Aids rose to the occasion, the telephone communication with the rear base lagged far behind and remained unreliable for a long time. The phone call through civil could mature in a minute, while the service line did not respond for hours and days together. The Base Commander in one of the Station gatherings, in order to motivate his men, gave a fiery and belligerent speech, out-lining the purpose or their gathering at this Mini Wing. During his speech, he clearly stated that "Gentlemen we are here to restore those ten Million people back to their homes , who have been rendered homeless , who are deprived of their self-respect, honour, wives ,children, the near and the dear ones. If you do not react now, the coming generations will hold their heads in shame for lack of action on our part. We have come here to achieve this aim and whatever be the cost, we shall not return without it. I ask you all this but offer you nothing in return. I am more aware of your needs and the sub-standard facilities, but I assure you that I shall make every endeavour to provide you what I can, what cannot I shall not hesitate to project to higher authorities.” To Infuse the spirit of dedication the Base Commander summed it up by giving a slogan: “ SAR FAROSHI KI TAMANNA AB HAMARE DIL MAIN HAIN,DEKHNA HAI KITNA ZOR BAZUA KATIL MEN HAIN” (We have decided to lay down our lives In pursuit of our aim, now we have to see how much strength the enemy possesses to deny us our AIM). 17 Sep 71 The Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal PC LAL paid a visit, which was only a week after the Base Cmdr's arrival. He had little to point out, as far as work done was concerned. He paid a visit to the TUBE WELL which was to be inaugurated by him. He expected the water to come up and greet him, but the soil was far from generous. Some more drilling remained to be done and finally the water struck at 905 feet. The Station hummed with activity for a fortnight and the Sections gradually found their places of work. The fortnightly rotation of manpower posed a problem to the Base Cdr as he had to infuse the same spirit in the new arrivals. There was no choice for him but to meet every—one who came new to the Station, to infuse the same spirit to maintain the tempo of work required. While the technical side was getting its due the administrative side was staggering and lagging behind, as there were no reinforcements there. Our dependence on Class IV civilians was never so greatly felt, as they were required to run the essential services such as sanitary and messes. 15 Oct 71 The long-awaited detachment of 122 Sqn comprising of 2 Hunters arrived from AF Station, Jamnagar. The Ground Defence of the Airfield was the responsibility of 27 Madras Commanded by Major Jaitley.