Page 15 - Seniors Today Dec 2019

‘Murder, Murder, Murder’

Based on the excerpts of the narration by Gp Capts Bagchi, Soares, Don Lazarus and
Air Marshal Sharad Savur, this is the buildup for the dogfight over Boyra

Intrusions by Sabres
The first intrusion of four F-86 Sabres was picked up in the Jessore area by our radar
at 8.11am. These were the Sabres operated by No.14 PAF squadron. No.22 Squadron
scrambled four Gnats from Dum Dum. However the Sabres had flown back to their
territory by the time the Gnats could make it to Boyra. A second raid by the Pakistanis
followed at 10.28am. An interception could not be carried out in time and the Sabres went
off unscathed. However the third strike was not to have the same luck for the Pakistanis.

The Pick-up
At around 1448 hours, the radar picked up the four Sabres as they pulled up in a north
westerly direction to about 2000’ AGL. Within a minute, the ORP at Dum Dum was
scrambled. Four Gnats took off by 1451 hours, less than three minutes from the time the
Sabres were detected by the radar.
The Fighter controller in the sector was Flg Offr KB Bagchi. He told the formation leader,
Flt Lt Roy Andrew Massey, “One O’Clock, 10 Nautical Miles”. Massey Replied “Contact, I
can see them pull up”.
The Sabres seemed to have already carried out several passes in the eight minutes it took
the Gnats to reach the Boyra Salient. The Sabres were commencing another dive - they were
at about 1800 feet altitude and diving down to 500’ in an attack run.
“Right Wing over attack”. Shouted Bagchi, “half twelve, thousand yards”
Contact” replied Massey.
“Request type,” said Bagchi.
“Sabres.”
“Shoot” was the command from the Fighter Controller.
The Indian Air Force Gnats then commenced their superlative action.

Action by the Gnats
It was 2.59pm.
The four Gnats dived into the attack to bounce the Sabres. The first section of Gnats was
of Massey and Flg Offr SF Soares as his No.2. The second section consisted of Flt Lt MA
Ganapathy and Flg Offr Don Lazarus. As the Gnats dived in, a section of two Sabres pulled
out of the attack and placed themselves in an awkward position, just in front of Ganapathy
and Lazarus. Ganapathy called out on the R/T ‘Murder Murder Murder’. Both the pilots
did not waste time on this perfect opportunity. Cannon shells slammed into the pair of
Sabres and both the Sabres were badly damaged. The Pakistani pilots promptly ejected
from their Sabres and drifted down to Boyra by parachute. The wreckage fell near Bongaon
village.
Massey in the meantime pulled up over Ganapathy and Lazarus to latch onto another
Sabre. The Sabre broke into Massey’s attack forcing him to take a high angle-off burst. The
burst missed the target. Massey took another well aimed burst at 700 yards and hit him in
the port wing. By that time, Massey’s starboard cannon had stopped firing. But the Sabre
streaked back into Pakistani territory trailing smoke and fire. Massey himself realised
that he was well over East Pakistani airspace in the chase to hit the Sabre. He then turned
around and rendezvoused with the rest of his formation.
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