Brig Furdoon Mehta (retd) was commemorated
in both Indian and British Press on his passing at age 101
Farrokh Jijina
When the newly inducted Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot Furdoon Mehta took off early one morning in 1944 to locate Japanese guns positioned in the jungles of the Shan Hills of Burma "he had descended to 300 ft when he heard a loud crack. Something hit his head and the cockpit was sprayed with a red liquid. An artillery observer on the ground urged him over the radio to gain height as the whole Japanese position had opened fire on him. He landed in a nearby airstrip when he found that his Auster (light military aircraft) had taken a battering.......