Andrew Thomas reveals some of the rich and proud history of the Indian Air Force’s 3 Squadron in this, its 80th anniversary year...
At the start of World War Two, the nascent Indian Air Force (IAF), which was established in 1933, began a gradual expansion to assume greater responsibility from the RAF for the defence of India. Thus, on October 1, 1941, 3 Squadron was formed at Peshawar under the command of the RAF’s Sqn Ldr Norman Arthur Napier Bray, with Flt Lt Diwan Nanda and Plt Off Om Prakash Mehra chosen as his flight commanders. Informally known as the ‘Cobras’, it was to take on the role of army co-operation and aerial policing duties over India’s fractious North West Frontier Province (NWFP) – in what is now Pakistan – with six antiquated Hawker Audax biplanes transferred from 28 Squadron RAF.
