War veteran M. M. Alam passes away

[Friend786]

KARACHI: Air Commodore (retd) Mohammad Mahmood Alam passed away in Karachi this morning after a prolonged illness, DawnNews reported.

Alam, 78-years-old at the time of his death, is considered a hero of the 1965 Pakistan-India war.

Alam, popularly known as M.M. Alam, while piloting an F-86 Sabre, shot down five Indian war planes in less than a minute during the war and altogether, downed nine war planes in the aerial fighting. His record remains unbeaten.

Alam was later awarded the Sitara-i-Jurrat. He also became the first and only “Jet Ace” in one mission.

The war hero was born on July 6, 1935, in Calcutta, India and was the eldest of 11 siblings. No one in his family before him had been part of the military, and in fact, he joined the armed forces against his father’s will. He is popularly known as M.M. Alam and was nicknamed ‘Little Dragon’. He retired in 1982 as an Air Commodore.

In December 2012, the air force legend had been transferred to the Pakistan Naval Station Shifa Hospital in Karachi due to illness.

http://dawn.com/2013/03/18/m-m-alam-passes-away-in-karachi/

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

 

[Down2Earth]

This was sad news. A true pakistani hero may he rest in peace

 

[Bashira_taeli]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

 

[saeedhk]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un.

A true hero.

 

[Britstani]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

Rest In Peace

 

[Cricket_MN]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

Very sad news.

 

[thecricket]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

 

[Bashira_taeli]

 

[the Great Khan]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un


true mujahid..used to live near my house in karachi but I was too young and only found out after we had moved!!..

 

[Bashira_taeli]

Detail of 65 encounter i came across

Narrating eye-witness account of M.M. Alam’s encounter with the Indian Air Force (IAF), his comrades of 1965, proudly declared that they had the unique opportunity on 7th September, 1965, of seeing history being made by him. According to their account, the tension of the post Rann-of-Kutch period had increased progressively culminating in the outbreak of the Indo-Pak War of 1965. The PAF was in a high state of alert. It did not take a psychologist to analyze the state of mind of the PAF pilots. Calm and resolute, quite yet zealous, they were all too keen to their teach adversaries a lesson.

Seated in the cockpit of an F-104 aircraft, says one of the narrator, I was awaiting my turn to be launched into the air. On a warning of an approaching low-level raid, some of my colleagues had already got airborne. For a short span of about half a minute we were anxious, but it was not long before we realized that the enemy had failed to deliver a proper attack and had caused no damage except to chip off a corner of a transistor-radio. They had to pay a rather heavy toll for the damage they had caused on the personal property of an officer – 4 out of the 6 raiding aircraft were shot down.

“When a second in-coming raid was detected, four of my colleagues flying the F-80s and I in my F-104 were ordered to the air. In minutes we were airborne and were waiting to ‘greet-our friends.’ Squadron Leader M. M. Alam with his wingman was orbiting south-east of the airfield; the other pair of F-86s led by Flight Lieutenant Bhatti was further east of Squadron Leader M. M. Alam’s section and I was circling the airfield at a height of about 15,000 feet. While heading north, I spotted four enemy aircraft exiting in a south-easterly direction. I called out on the radio that I had visual contact with them and started turning in the direction of the enemy’s exist. By the time I had come behind the enemy aircraft, I saw that four F-86s – two of Alam’s formation and two of Bhatti’s – were already chasing the Indian Hunter aircraft.

“The Hunter is a faster aircraft than the Sabre and in order to close in to a firing range, the Sabres had to jettison their external fuel tanks and dive down from height. Bhatti tried to get rid of his external tanks but unfortunately one of his tanks failed to jettison. It was now practically impossible for him to close the gap between himself and his prey. So, he wisely decided to let the other pair of F-86s, led by Alam, tackle the Indian aircraft. Alam and his wingman started gradually to close in on the enemy. Thought I, in the F-104, would have had no problem getting into the firing range, I thought it appropriate and fair to let Alam try his hand first. I decided to keep the Hunters in sight and trail Alam, firstly to allow him more maneuvering area and, secondly, to be ready for any one of them who might decide to run away faster. In the heart of my heart, I feared that Alam, with his complete mastery of the F-86 and his determination to punish each one of the Indians for the liberty they had taken, would give me no opportunity. In a short while I realized that my fears were turning into facts.”

Alam had also spotted only four Hunters. He decided to engage the one on the extreme right first. It was then that he spotted a fifth Hunter further to the right. He changed his mind and switched his attack to this new find. Barely a couple of seconds must have lapsed before Alam’s six guns were spitting fire and fury at this Hunter and I saw a ball of fire hit the ground. Alam pulled his guns on to the next Hunter. A few seconds later, another ball of fire hit the ground. Then the Indians tried a half-hearted defensive maneuver. Alam was almost overshooting an enemy aircraft but by then he had destroyed it – a third ball of fire and the pilot of this Hunter managed to eject from his aircraft before it crashed. Alam was once again in a better position to tackle the two remaining Hunters. It was only a matter of moments before these two also turned into balls of fire and crashed into the ground.

This was the first time that a fighter pilot had attacked and destroyed five enemy fighters at almost
tree-top level in a short span of a minute or so. A new chapter was added not only to the history of the PAF, but also to that of military aviation.

A research report carried by Defence Journal gives more detailed account of M M Alam’s achievement. It says that the rear pair of Hunters kept a good lookout and on spotting Alam’s Sabre, did a sharp defensive turn into him. Alam pulled up to avoid an overshoot and then repositioned again. Still out of gun range Alam pressed on, but with the Hunters doing a full power run, he settled for a missile shot against the last man. Firing a Sidewinder from a dive at very low altitude, Alam was not surprised to see it go into the ground. The best way of launching the early model Sidewinders at such altitudes was to get below the target and fire with a cooler sky for a background, thus easing the missile seeker’s heat discrimination problem. However, with the Hunters skimming the treetops, going any lower was out of question. The predicament was soon resolved when the Hunters pulled up to clear a stretch of high-tension cables. In good range, dead line astern and hearing a loud ‘growl’ that signaled a positive heat source, Alam couldn’t have asked for better firing conditions. He let go his second Sidewinder, but didn’t see it hit directly. With an apparent proximity detonation, the missile warhead had dangerously ruptured the Hunter’s fuel lines. Jog’s formation members heard desperate messages of illuminated warning lights and engine rough-running from the stricken pilot. Overshooting the crippled Hunter, Alam noticed with amazement that its canopy was missing and there was no pilot inside.

With other Hunters as well as his own wingman to keep an eye on, Alam had obviously missed the ejection sequence. Looking around, he noticed the pilot coming down by parachute. Sqn Ldr Onkar Nath Kacker had come down near Burjlal, a village (now abandoned) by the bank of Chenab River, about 25 miles south-east of Sargodha. Alam had lost sight of the other Hunters, but with ample fuel he was prepared to fly some distance to catch up with them. Soon after crossing the Chenab River, his wingman Akhtar called out, “Contact, Hunters one o’clock.” They were flying at 100-200 feet and around 480 knots. As Alam closed into gunfire range, the Hunters did a half-hearted defensive turn which did nothing to spoil his aim; rather, it set them up in line astern for easy shooting in a row.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14256604-obituary-war-hero-m-m-alam-passes-away

Another one

Alam’s Speed-shooting Classic

Columnist Air Cdre M Kaiser Tufail has conducted a detailed research of MM Alam’s 1965 feats.

http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/september/alam.htm

 

[pakistanalltheway]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

 

[Zarrar]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

Love those Nine kills (Indian Flags) on his Sabre...

The first fighter Ace and one of two from the Subconitent, the other also being from Pakistan...

 

[youboy]

Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid

While most the people know this great man as a fighter pilot only, I knew him much more closely and intimately as a Mujahid in Afghanistan also. Here, we present a brief extract from my book From Indus to Oxus where his intro has been mentioned. This is his secret dimension hardly anyone knows about. His departure is a personal loss to me as he was one of my mentors, elder, friend and a comrade in arms. Stay blessed Alam sahib. May Allah’s barakah be upon you always.

<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View M M Alam -- In loving memory of. on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/131046353/M-M-Alam-In-loving-memory-of" style="text-decoration: underline;" >M M Alam -- In loving memory of.</a> by <a title="View BTghazwa's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/BTghazwa" style="text-decoration: underline;" >BTghazwa</a></p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/131046353/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-103129gvb9yxtmtynd3o" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.772922022279349" scrolling="no" id="doc_92974" width="100%" height="1250" frameborder="0"></iframe>

 

[ddss]

Very sad to hear this, he's a true hero.

 

[MenInG]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Illahi Rajiyoon

Uncle Alam to me and a dear colleague of my father - this news is too distressing to be told to my father as he will be heartbroken.

May ALLAH grant him an abiding place in Jannah, Ameen

 

[Radiance Of Australis]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raajioon.

 

[ecstatic_freak]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajihoon

 

[kamz]

inna lillah wa inna ilahi rajiyon

 

[PakistanPaindabad]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'yon

May Allah grant him the highest level in Jannah Insha Allah

 

[ahmedzee]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Illahi Rajiyoon

Uncle Alam to me and a dear colleague of my father - this news is too distressing to be told to my father as he will be heartbroken.

May ALLAH grant him an abiding place in Jannah, Ameen

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Illahi Rajiyoon
MIG, I am distressed as well for our Loss as he was not only your uncle but the uncle of the nation's youth. May Allah grant him Jannah.

Also, your father, being in the Air Force is also our hero and I hope and pray Allah gives him and you sabar after this news.

 

[TimurKhan]

[utube]p75HkIxgZBA[/utube]

 

[LethalSami]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajihoon

 

[akamaka]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Rajihoon

 

[HaMmy FinE LeG StriKeR]

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

 

[ecstatic_freak]

Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Illahi Rajiyoon

Uncle Alam to me and a dear colleague of my father - this news is too distressing to be told to my father as he will be heartbroken.

May ALLAH grant him an abiding place in Jannah, Ameen

I told my dad soon after reading the news from here and he broke down. Was your dad in 14 squardron as well?

 

[WebGuru]

Today is M.M Alam's 4th death anniversary...

 

[ExpressPacer]

What a legend.