I have read the item "Memories of Mistry” (Events and Personalities, Parsiana, March 7-March 20, 2021) about Mahavir Chakra awardee Sqn Ldr Jal Manecksha Mistry. I happened to be a student of his older brother Nariman, a professor of physics from Dadar Parsee Colony. While trekking in the Sikkim Himalayas in April-May 1968 with the professor and Bombay High Court advocate Earuch Sethna, we took the Calcutta Mail from Bombay and broke journey at Allahabad. There we were entertained by Mistry’s younger brother Jal and his family who were stationed at an Indian Air Force (IAF) base.
In 1971, after Jal had been killed in the Indo-Pak war, Nariman told me this story:
Sq Ldr Jal Mistry and a Hunter fighter aircraft (top)
During the operations against Pakistan in December, 1971, Jal was a senior pilot in a Hawker Hunter fighter-bomber squadron. On December 4, he carried out a daring daylight air counter deep penetration mission to Kohat, Pakistan, and caused extensive damage to the airfield there. The next day, on December 5, he was leading a formation of two aircraft on a strike mission to Sakesar Radar Station, which was very heavily defended. The two single-seat Hunter aircraft attacked their target. After the initial attack, Jal told his wing man to return to base because he had one last bomb left and intended to use it to destroy the radar station completely. Turning his jet around, he singly attacked the radar station at low altitude and succeeded in damaging and rendering it totally out of action. Unfortunately, his Hunter fighter jet was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He could have bailed out but tried to bring his crippled jet back to base and crashed inside Pakistan. He did not survive. He was listed as "missing” but the next day Radio Pakistan announced the name of the deceased IAF pilot.
Dr ARDESHIR B. DAMANIA
Davis, California
abdamania@yahoo.com