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Ludhiana Personality :: Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon
Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon (aka Nimmy) was an officer of the Indian Air Force who became the recepient of the only Param Vir Chakra awarded to an Air Force Personnel for his lone and fatal defence of Srinagar Air Base during an air raid during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Fg Offr Sekhon was born on July 17, 1943 at Rurka Isewal village in Ludhiana District, Punjab. He was the son of Warrant Officer Hon. Flight Lieutenant Trilok Singh Sekhon. . As any normal Sikh child, his parents raised him with the virtue of gallantry and sacrifice. He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force on June 4, 1967 as a Flying Officer.
He was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest military award in India, for exemplary courage and heroism in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. During the war he was with the No. 18 Flying Bullets Squadron of Folland Gnat fighter aircrafts based at Srinagar. He remains the only air force pilot to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
On 14 December 1971, Srinagar airfield was attacked by a wave of six PAF F-86 jets. Flying Officer Sekhon was on readiness duty at that time. Soon the enemy aircraft started hovering over the airfield. Straffing of various targets on the ground followed. Attempting to take-off with enemy aircraft overhead was inviting mortal danger. However, Flying Officer Sekhon, unmindful of his safety, flew his Folland Gnat to engage the two attacking Sabres. In the air battle that ensued, he secured a direct hit on one Sabre and set another ablaze. The latter was seen heading away towards Rajauri, trailing smoke and flame.
At this juncture four more Pakistani Sabres came on the scene and surrounded his aircraft. He chose to give a fight again. In the dog fight that ensued at tree-top level, he held on against the numerically superior enemy for some time. Eventually, his aircraft was hit and he was killed. But Flying Officer Sekhon had achieved his objective. The Pakistani aircraft fled from the scene of the battle, without pressing home, the intended attack on Srinagar airfield and its surrounding areas. The bravery, flying skill and determination displayed by Flying Officer Sekhon, earned him the highest wartime gallantry medal, Param Vir Chakra. His skill was later praised in an article by the pilot who shot him down.
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