A M Engineer | |
|---|---|
 Air Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer | |
| 6thAmbassador of India toIran | |
| In office 6 December 1964 – 6 December 1966 | |
| Preceded by | M. R. A. Baig |
| Succeeded by | K. V. Padmanabhan |
| 9thChairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
| In office 4 June 1962 – 24 July 1964 | |
| President | Sir S. Radhakrishnan |
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda (acting) |
| Preceded by | Ram Dass Katari |
| Succeeded by | Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman |
| 5thChief of Air Staff | |
| In office 1 December 1960 – 31 July 1964 | |
| President | Rajendra Prasad |
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Preceded by | Subroto Mukerjee |
| Succeeded by | Arjan Singh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1912-12-15)15 December 1912 Lahore,Punjab Province,British India |
| Died | 1 May 2002(2002-05-01) (aged 89) Mumbai,Maharashtra,India |
| Relations | Minoo Merwan Engineer (brother) |
| Alma mater | RAF Cranwell |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross |
| Later work(s) | Founder, California Zoroastrian Center |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  British India (1933–1947) India (1947–1964) |
| Branch/service |  Royal Indian Air Force Indian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1933–1964 |
| Rank | Air Marshal |
| Unit | No. 1 Squadron IAF |
| Commands | No.1 Operational Group Air Force Station Kohat No.2 Squadron |
| Battles/wars | Waziristan Campaign Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 Annexation of Goa Sino-Indian War |
Air MarshalAspy Merwan EngineerDFC (15 December 1912 – 1 May 2002) was an officer in theIndian Air Force who rose through the ranks to become independent India's secondChief of the Air Staff, succeedingSubroto Mukerjee in 1960 and precedingArjan Singh.
His flying career began in 1930 at the age of 17, when as aco-pilot he accompanied his friendR. N. Chawla toCroydon Airport,London fromKarachi inBritish India, by flight and were the first Indians to do so. Shortly afterwards, he won theAga Khan contest for being the first Indian to fly the journey between England and India, solo and within a one-month time frame.
Engineer subsequently joined theIndian Air Force, trained atRAF Cranwell, saw action on theNorth Western Frontier Provinces (NWFP) and atBurma and as a result was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross (DFC). By the end of theSecond World War he becameWing Commander.
Following retirement, he served asIndia's ambassador toIran and later spent time living in California, before his last days inMumbai.
Engineer was born Aspy Merwan Irani on 15 December 1912 inLahore,Punjab Province,British India[1][2] to Meherwan Irani and Maneckbai. Meherwan was a Divisional Engineer for theNorth Western Railway.[3] His interest in mechanics led his friends to rename him Engineer.[1][4][5][6] Aspy was the eldest amongst eight siblings – two girls and six boys. His brothers,Minoo, Jungoo and Ronnie, also joined the Indian Air Force, while another brother, Homi, joined the Indian Army. Aspy, Minoo and Ronnie were recipients of the DFC, a unique feat where three brothers were decorated with gallantry awards.[3][5]
At the age of seven, Engineer witnessed aviatorsAlcock and Brown make an emergency aircraft landing on the Race Course grounds opposite his father's railway bungalow inHyderabad, Sindh.[5] He later recounted, "I dreamt of nothing else thereafter but aircraft landing on the roof-top of our spacious bungalow."[5]
He completed his early education from theBillimoria Parsi School,Panchgani,[5] and theDJ Science College inKarachi.[7] On his 17th birthday, his father presented him with a second-handde Havilland Gipsy Moth and after less than three months of lessons, he obtained his license to fly from theKarachi Aero Club.[5]
In November 1929, theAga Khan, 48th Imam of theIsmailai sect of Muslims[8] announced a prize of £500[8] to the first Indian who could fly solo between England and India within a one-month time-frame.[9]
Shortly after the announcement, Engineer asco-pilot and his friend R. N. Chawla set on a flight to England in March 1930, at a time lackingradio communications orair traffic control. On 21 March 1930, they flew intoCroydon Airport where theLord Mayor of London and the press greeted them with garlands.[5][10]
The other contestants included;J. R. D. Tata, who later foundedTata Motors andAir India, and another Bristol trained pilot,Man Mohan Singh.[9][11] Engineer left Croydon on 25 April 1930, crossing paths with Tata in Cairo. Tata gave Engineer the spare much neededspark plug which allowed Engineer to complete the journey from Croydon Airport, England, toRAF Drigh Road,Karachi, now inPakistan, in his Gipsy Moth and was awarded the prize, winning over Man Mohan Singh by one day.[1][6][12]
In response,Sir Frederick Sykes,Governor of Bombay, arranged for a public reception atBombay and theLegislative Council of India awarded Engineer 10,000 rupees. However, as a result of an aircraft accident atBhuj, he instead flew to his old school and landed on its playing field.[5]
In 1931, Engineer entered theRoyal Air Force College Cranwell.[5][13] At Cranwell, he was awarded the Grove's Memorial Flying prize for the best all-round pilot during his term. He was commissioned as a pilot and joined the newly formedNo. 1 Squadron IAF. The No. 1 Squadron had only oneflight and was then stationed inDrigh Road,Karachi. The flight was equipped with four Westland Wapiti biplanes. As part of the 'A' flight of the squadron, Engineer flew aWestland Wapiti and saw action in theWaziristan campaign (1936–1939).[5][14] In 1938, for action against the tribals, he became the first IAF officer to bementioned in dispatches.[15] In July 1938, three flights of the No. 1 Squadron IAF were formed and Engineer took command of the flight. He was one of the three flying officers of the three flights of No. 1 Squadron, the other two beingSubroto Mukerjee andKarun Krishna Majumdar.[15]
In 1941, theNo. 2 Squadron IAF was formed atPeshawar under the command of Squadron Leader A B Awan.[16] Engineer was one among seven pilots to be deputed to form the squadron and served as the squadronadjutant.[15] In June 1941, he was promoted to the acting rank ofSquadron Leader and took over as theCommanding Officer of No. 2 Squadron. The squadron converted from Wapitis to theHawker Audax in September, and later to theWestland Lysander, under him.[17] Engineer led the squadron in operations in theTochi Valley. In December 1942, Engineer was mentioned in dispatches for the second time and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for distinguished services in Waziristan.[18][19][20] In late 1942, he relinquished command of No. 2 Squadron, handing over to Squadron Leader Habib Ullah Khan. He subsequently held staff appointments at Air Headquarters.
In December 1944, he was promoted to the acting rank ofWing Commander and took command ofAir Force Station Kohat fromSubroto Mukerjee. After commanding the airbase for over a year, Engineer was selected to attend theRAF Staff College, Bracknell. On his return to India in November 1946, he was promoted to the acting rank ofGroup Captain and then moved to Air HQ as the Air Officer-in-Charge Administration (AOA).[21]
On 15 August 1947, with thepartition of India, a new Air Headquarters of theDominion of India was formed. Engineer was promoted to the acting rank ofair commodore and continued as AOA. After Mukerjee, he was the second air commodore to be appointed in the RIAF.[21] The assets of the Indian Air Force (like other branches of the military) had to be divided between the Dominions of India and Pakistan. Subroto Mukerjee and Engineer led the air force part of this committee.[6]
In September 1948, he assumed command of theNo. 1 Operational Group (later rechristened Western Air Command) from Air CommodoreMehar Singh.[22][23][24] As theAir Officer Commanding (AOC), he led thegroup to support ground troops inJammu and Kashmir during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1947.[6] In July 1949, the group was renamed Operational Command.[22] He was selected to attend theImperial Defence College and embarked for theUnited Kingdom in late 1950. After the year-long course, he returned to India and was appointed Air Officer-in-Charge Technical & Equipment Service at Air HQ.
In 1952, Engineer took over as theDeputy Chief of the Air Staff and Deputy Air Commander, IAF.[25] He was promoted to the rank ofair vice marshal on 1 October 1954. In November 1954, he led the Air Force in a goodwill mission toIndonesia.[26] Engineer was deputed to theHindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) for a period of three years in 1958. On 28 May, he took over as theGeneral Manager of HAL. On 23 May 1959, he became the second Indian to be promoted to the rank of air marshal.[27]
In November 1960,Air India inaugurated its service toTokyo,Japan. Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, CAS and Air Commodore (laterACM)Pratap Chandra Lal, thenGeneral Manager of theIndian Airlines Corporation were passengers on this flight. After landing in Tokyo, on 8 November 1960, Mukerjee was having a meal in a restaurant with a friend, an officer in theIndian Navy. A piece of food got lodged in hiswindpipe,choking him to death before a doctor could be called for. The next day, his body was flown toPalam Airport,New Delhi.[28]
After Mukerjee's untimely demise, Engineer was appointed the next Air Chief in late November. On 1 December 1960, he took over as the second Indian Chief of the Air Staff.[8][29]
   | |||
 |  |  |  |
| General Service Medal 1947 | Indian Independence Medal | Distinguished Flying Cross | |
| India General Service Medal | 1939–1945 Star | War Medal 1939–1945 (withMID oak leaf) | India Service Medal (1945) |
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Pilot Officer | Royal Indian Air Force | 15 July 1933 |
 | Flying Officer | Royal Indian Air Force | 15 January 1935[32] |
 | Flight Lieutenant | Royal Indian Air Force | 15 January 1940[33] |
 | Squadron Leader | Royal Indian Air Force | 1 June 1941 (acting) 30 April 1943 (substantive)[31] |
 | Wing Commander | Royal Indian Air Force | 15 December 1944 (acting)[31] 2 May 1947 (substantive)[31] |
 | Group Captain | Royal Indian Air Force | 2 November 1946 (acting)[31] |
 | Air Commodore | Indian Air Force | 15 August 1947 (acting)[31] 15 August 1948 (substantive)[31] |
| Air Commodore | Indian Air Force | 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[34] |
 | Air Vice Marshal | Indian Air Force | 1 October 1954 |
 | Air Marshal | Indian Air Force | 23 May 1959 (acting)[31][27] 1 December 1960 (substantive)[35] |
He retired from the Indian Air Force on 31 July 1964, after which he served as India's ambassador to Iran.[5] Around 1990, he moved toSouthern California where he founded the California Zoroastrian Center.[5]
He died on 1 May 2002.[5]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by A B Awan | Commanding OfficerNo. 2 Squadron IAF 1941–1942 | Succeeded by Habib Ullah Khan |
| Preceded by | Commanding Officer,RAF Station Kohat 1944–1946 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Air Officer CommandingNo. 1 Operational Group 1948–1950 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1952–1958 | Succeeded by |
| Chief of the Air Staff (India) 1960–1964 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee 1962–1964 | Succeeded by Vice AdmiralBhaskar Sadashiv Soman |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Ambassador of India toIran 1964–1966 | Succeeded by K V Padmanabhan |
| Air Marshal Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947–1948) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948–1950) | ||
| Chief of the Air Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950–1955) | ||
| Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present) |
| |
(**Seconded from theRoyal Air Force) | ||
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