An apology from me ....

by Growler Thu 26 Aug 2010, 01:36

....... to all for my part in taking the Battle of Britain thread into a personal scrap with The One. He excercised his right (as pointed out by a couple of posters) to express an opinion. However much I disagreed with it, with hindsight I wish I'd just ignored it. The thread was started as atribute to fallen warriors, and ended up way off topic.

The One

I feel I owe you an apology as an individual. I attacked you on a personal level, and it's to your credit that you didn't reply in kind.

You said that my original post about losses was focussed on whites, and overlooked the contribution from our non-caucasian allies. Please be assured, no offence was intended to you or any other Indian/Pakistanni forummer.

Thank you for the link to Sqn Ldr Pujji DFC. I wasn't aware of any Indian aircrew over here - and as pointed out by others, those men didn't fly combat sorties until the B of B was over. As Allan D pointed out, the majority of Indians joining the forces served in the army .... that service growing well over tenfold from about 200,000 pre-war to 2.5 million or so.

It's interesting to note that Indias Air Force wasn't formed until 1933 (compared with SA in 1912, RAAF in 1921, RNZAF in 1923, and RCAF a year later 1924). Having only one squadron in 1939, India couldn't have contributed to the air war. By 1954 however, a further 8 squadrons were raised - all fighter or fighter/bomber units, conducting ops in the Eastern theatre. Among other honours, their crews were awarded no less than 22 DFCs - a not inconsiderable achievement for a small force.

Whilst I'm aware you feel that Britain has never fully acknowledged the sacrifices made by your people, King George authorised the title "Royal Indian Air Force" to be used from 1945 - the prefix only being dropped in 1950 post-independance. I think that's the highest honour Britain could give in recognition of Indias contibution to the war.