Jeejeebhoy Piroshaw Bomanjee Jeejeebhoy (9 November 1891, Mumbai, India–9 April 1950,

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

, Essex) was the first Indian military pilot, briefly serving in the

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during World War I. Born into a minor aristocratic Parsi family, Jeejeebhoy was elected a Fellow of the

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in 1912. Generally, the Indian Army officers who fought as pilots during World War I were of European rather than Indian descent. Before WWI it was the policy of the War Office to deny commissions to applicants not of pure European descent on the grounds that "a British private will never follow a half-caste or native officer." However, a shortage of pilots resulted in a change in policy and a handful of Indian military pilots served during that war as officers of the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force, rather than as officers of the Indian Army. Jeejeebhoy held an FAI accredited Aviator Certificate while undergoing training with the RFC. He completed his flying training at Stinson School at San Antonio, Texas on 2 May 1916 and held American Aviator certificate #495. Record of 2/Lt Jeejeebhoy - 'Indians Over Flanders'
/ref> The first of five Indian military pilots, on 6 November 1916 Jeejeebhoy was promoted to temporary Honorary 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps on the General List. However, Lieutenant Jeejeebhoy’s active career with the RFC was brief as his papers in The National Archives show that he fell ill in January 1917 while training at the RFC's Oxford School of Instruction and he was suspended from training to convalesce. In May 1917 a medical board decided that he was permanently unfit for further service, and an entry in '' The London Gazette'' of 29 May 1917 announced that "Temp Hon 2nd Lt Jeejeebhoy Piroshaw Bomanjee Jeejeebhoy relinquishes his commission on account of ill health". He was given an honorary commission of 2/Lt at the time of discharge. In 1920 he was given an honorary commission as Captain and may have served in the Air Ministry of the British government in the early 1920s.Richards, Clive ''Air Force, 1910 - 1932 - Part Two: The RAF in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force 1918-1932'' - ''Royal Air Force: Air Power Review'', Vol. 11 No. 1 Spring 2008 pg 27
/ref> Jeejeebhoy died in 1950 aged 58 and is buried in the Parsi section of Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey.Jeejeebhoy P Jeejeebhoy in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007

References

External links

Record of 2/Lieutenant Jeejeebhoy RFC
in The National Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeejeebhoy Piroshaw Bomanjee Jeejeebhoy 1891 births 1950 deaths Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Royal Flying Corps officers Indian military personnel of World War I Parsi people from Mumbai Military personnel from Mumbai Indian aviators Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Parsi people