Air Commodore Ramesh Sakharam Benegal MVC AVSM (9 October 1926 – April 2003) was an ex-officer of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

and a recipient of Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest gallantry Award and the

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

Early life

Ramesh Sakharam Benegal was born on 9 October 1926 in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

, Burma, which was then part of undivided British India to Shri Benegal Sakharam Rao and his wife Kalyani. He was the youngest of his family, with two elder brothers, Dinker and Sumitra. While in high school, he was an enthusiastic member of the

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

organisation.

Military career

Indian National Army (INA)

In his youth, during the Second World War, Benegal joined the

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...

and was chosen to join the Tokyo Boys to train as a fighter pilot. He went on to attend the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy in 1944. However, before he could complete his training and join active operations, the war ended. Held as a prisoner of war after the fall of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Benegal was released in 1946.

Indian Air Force

In May 1950, he joined the Patna flying club to learn flying and earn a commercial flying license. While there, he got the opportunity to try out for the Air Force during an IAF recruitment drive and was selected for IAF training at Air Force Academy Jodhpur. He was commissioned into the

in 1952. After joining the Indian Air Force, he saw action in both the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

and 1971 Indo-Pakistan War. During the 1971 war, as Wing Commander, he was the Commanding Officer of the No. 106 Squadron IAF, an operational reconnaissance squadron operating Electric Canberras. He carried out a large number of missions over enemy territory in both the western sector as well as eastern sector and obtained vital information about enemy installations and troop formations. These missions required flying unarmed and unescorted deep into enemy territory for reconnoiter and aerial photography of heavily defended targets. The information brought obtained from these missions facilitated the planning of Army, Air Force and Naval operations and directly contributed to the success of the war effort. He was also known to have never returned from any of these missions without having fully achieved his objectives. For the bravery and leadership displayed in repeatedly flying deep into enemy territory in an unarmed aircraft, Wing Commander Ramesh Sakharam Benegal was awarded the Ati Vishist Seva Medal and the Mahavir Chakra. He later rose to the rank of Air Commodore before retiring.

References

External links

Fiery Fighter
– An obituary by Maj Gen S.G. Vombatkere (Retd) in '' Sainik Samachar''.
Service Record of Air Cmde R.S. Benegal
at bharat-rakshak.com
IAF Awards for 106 Squadron
at bharat-rakshak.com 1926 births 2003 deaths Indian Air Force officers Indian aviators Indian National Army personnel Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Indian military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Konkani people {{India-mil-bio-stub