The persevering attempts made by 12 IAF officers (02 of them were repatriated earlier due to their severe injuries) caught as POW and locked inside Pakistani jails were again the show of strength and superiority of the pilotâs own judgement. Their undefeatable Indian spirit was clearly visible an year later, when they marched across the borders at Wagah on 01 December 1972. This is the saga of their escapade continued. Read second part @
The daring dozens included: Wg Cdr BA Coelho (OC No.7 Sqn-Hunters), Sqn Ldr DS Jafa (was ADC to the Chief of Air Staff but had returned back to his Sqn for flying duties), Sqn Ldr AV Kamat, Flt Lt Tejwant Singh, Flt Lt Bhargava, Flt Lt Dilip Parulkar, Flt Lt MS Grewal, Flt Lt Vikram Pethia, Flt Lt Harish Singhji (29 Sqn), Fg Offr Chati, Fg Offr K. C. Kuruvilla, Fg Offr HND Mulla Feroze.
With everything else set, now they started the actual work of removing the filling between the bricks. This was not as easy as all they had for their tools were the forks; spoons and knives instead of hammer and chisel âŚ..
Karmbhoomi: Number 3 Provo & Security Flight, Rawalpindi
The entire POWs were kept in a POW camp which was in fact the Number 03 Provost and Security Flight located at Rawalpindi. As any other P&S unit, this one was also a small one. But enough security measures were taken to convert the normal office rooms into cells to house the Prisoners. The doors and windows of each room were secured with new iron bars. The unit was located near the Mall road, a small road that turned off the Rawalpindi âPeshawar Road. The P&S flight gate could be seen on the left, about 100 yards after leaving the highway. As one entered the camp, one could see the PAF Police Corporal on duty sitting inside the Guards office on the left. There was an open lawn with Volleyball court in between where prisoners were allowed to play, sit or stroll during the daytime. A little ahead there were four Prisoner cells and a bathroom. The Camp Commandantâs office, Interrogation room, Airmen Mess and Kitchen were in a row adjoining the cells. The remaining three cells were further away from this wing on the other end of the camp.
Karmsthal: Cell Number Four
The freedom that the daring dozens sought was beyond the cell number four. Cell number Four was the largest of all the cells. The âgullyâ between the cell and the toilet was a narrow gap between the two buildings. The southern end of the gully had barbed wire. Beyond the barbed wire, there was a Recruiting office and Petrol Pump. From within, the guards were used to frequently looking into the gully during their patrolling rounds. As time passed and talks of repatriation were circulated by the guards, they realised the POWs were not thinking of any escapades. As a result, their security measures were relaxed. They bought the story told by the inmates about wanting to play cards till late in the night as they were unable to sleep. They allowed all of them to be together in Cell number four at night.
Around mid-July, the ordeal started with sham bridge sessions. They had selected the southern wall of the cell for the excavation. A bed with blankets was used to cover the rectangle cut out in the wall. Footwear was neatly kept under the bed in rows to fool the sweeper from discovering the dust underneath. Around 2200 hrs, they used to shift the bed and start removing the filling from the bricks. Flt Lts Parulekar and Grewal were tasked for this while the others like Flt Lt Harish, Sqn Ldr Kamat and Fg Offr Chati stayed alert looking for any signs of guards. They switched off the bulb and help the two excavators to pack the dust in empty gift cartons that they received from the Red Cross. After every two-three days they would get rid of these âdust hampersâ.
The work progressed well in spite of their meager tools such as the table knife, the barberâs scissors, a screwdriver and a piece of iron. When they reached the last piece of brick, they saw only a thin layer of plaster that was left. It could be knocked off and they would escape, they thought. But it was not so simple. The day they made the big hole, it started raining heavily and one of the Guards on duty, realised the turned off bulb. He became suspicious but voices of all the inmates of the cell killed his curiosity to check them further. Now they had a bigger problem at hand: they had made the hole but they were not yet going to make the flight soon. So, if the hole was discovered by the employees of Recruiting Office, on the other side of the barbed wire, while parking their cycles, all the effort would be wasted.