The Editor
Defence Journal
Pakistan

Dear Sir,

I read with great interest an article in your current issue titled 'F-104 Starfighter in Combat'. Very interesting indeed! Since I happen to have spent time at PAF Base Sargodha in the early sixties and also fought the 1965 war from that base, I have had the opportunity to have observed the performance of the F-104 and the pilots flying them very closely.

The aircraft was, in my opinion most ill-suited for kind of combat the PAF was expected to get involved in with a war with India. Though the 104 was very fast (Mach 2), had an excellent rate of climb and acceleration its performance in close combat was extremely poor with a wing span of just 22 feet. What is most creditable, however, is that despite all these limitations the overall performance of No 9 Squadron, the only one equipped with the 104s, was exceptional to say the least.

The credit for its outstanding performance must be given to the supreme dedication and the fighting spirit of the No. 9 Squadron pilots, the 'Griffins' as they were then called. They were most outstandingly led by their Commander, Squadron Leader M.I. Middlecoat, pilots of the likes of Aftab Alam, his brother Mushtaq, Saleem Sundal, etc would have excelled on any type of aircraft because of his leadership and their collective dedication.

Through the columns of your esteemed journal I would like to illustrate the dedication and the fighting spirit of the pilots of No.9 Squadron during the war. One day I found Middlecoat very disturbed, which was not in his nature, and being very close to him I asked him as what was troubling him. His reply to me was that an 'outstanding pilot of his Squadron, Flt. Lt. Aftab Alam, had been awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat and he has refused to accept it saying that he was only doing his duty to the best of his ability.'

It was this spirit that made the pilots of No. 9 Squadron do the impossible, this was their 'ULTIMATE WEAPON'.

Yours sincerely.

CECIL CHAUDHRY, SJ, SBt
Group Captain (Retd)