Muhammad Mahmood Alam
Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam SJ | |
---|---|
![]() Muhammad Mahmood Alam in 2010 | |
Native name | محمد محمود عالم |
Nickname(s) | MM Alam, Little Dragon |
Born | Calcutta, British India | 6 July 1935
Died | 18 March 2013 Karachi, Pakistan | (aged 77)
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Years of service | 1960–1982 |
Rank | ![]() |
Unit | No. 11 Squadron Arrows (1965)[1] No. 5 Squadron Falcons |
Battles/wars | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Soviet–Afghan War |
Awards | Sitara-e-Jurat and Bar[2] |
Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam SJ (Urdu: محمد محمود عالم; 6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013) was[3] a Pakistani fighter pilot officially claimed by the Pakistan Air Force for having downed three indian jets in under 1 minute
He was a F-86 Sabre flying ace as per Pakistan Air Force records. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat, the nation's third highest military award with Bar for his actions.
Early life
Alam was born on 6 July 1935 to a well-educated family of Calcutta, British India. Born and raised in Bengal, Alam was a fluent Bengali speaker, however his paternal line was of Urdu-speaking Bihari origin; having emigrated from Patna and settled in the Bengal province of British India for a long time.[4] The family migrated from Calcutta to eastern Bengal which became East Pakistan, now Bangladesh following the formation of Pakistan in 1947.[4] It was in East Pakistan, where Alam completed his secondary education, graduating from the Government High School in Dhaka in 1951. He joined the then Royal Pakistani Air Force (now Pakistan Air Force) in 1952, being commissioned on 2 October 1953.[5] Alam's brothers are M. Shahid Alam, an economist and a professor at Northeastern University,[6][7] and M. Sajjad Alam, a particle physicist at SUNY Albany.[8]
His family moved to Pakistan in 1971, after the secession of East Pakistan.[4] Being the eldest of his 11 siblings, Alam did not marry as he had to assume the responsibilities of the upbringing of his family.[citation needed] Some of his younger brothers became distinguished in various academic careers.[5]
Service with the Pakistan Air Force
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Alam claimed to have scored an "ace in a day" on 7 September 1965, with a total of 5 kills. His actions have placed him at the top of the hall of fame list at the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Museum in Karachi. During the war, he was posted at Sargodha.
According to the PAF, in a single sortie on 7 September 1965, Alam downed five aircraft with four in less than a minute, establishing a world record.[9][10][11][12] Regarding the last four, he stated: "Before we had completed more than about [sic] 270 degrees of turn, at around 12 degrees per second, all four Hunters had been shot down."[10] In 1978, when he gave a speech at a Karachi university, he said that he saw a spiritual force coming from the sky.[13]
His claims have been contested by retired PAF Air Commodore Sajad S. Haider and the Indian Air Force, which denied losing five Hawker Hunter aircraft on the said day,[12][14][15] Also, the fact that no verifiable gun camera footage of his kills was ever made public by the Pakistani authorities, further casts doubt on his claim.[16]
Later years
In 1967, he was appointed Squadron Commander of the first squadron of Dassault Mirage III fighters procured by the PAF. In 1982, he retired as an Air commodore and took up residence in Karachi.
Death
Alam was admitted to Pakistan Naval Station Shifa Hospital in Karachi where he died on 18 March 2013, aged 77.[17] He was being treated for respiratory problems for 18 months. Alam's funeral prayer was performed at the PAF Base Masroor, where he served some of the significant years of his career. Alam was buried at the Shuhuda (Martyrs) Graveyard, located at PAF Masroor Airbase. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, Air Chief Marshal (Ret.) Farooq Feroz Khan, Sindh corps commander Lt. Gen Ijaz Chaudhry, Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Director-General Maj. Gen. Rizwan Akhter, Base Commander PAF Base Masroor Air Commodore Usaid ur Rehman, many war veterans of the 1965 war and Alam's closest colleagues attended the funeral. One of the younger brothers of the deceased, Zubair Alam, was also present.[5]
Memorials
M. M. Alam Road, a major road in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan is named in honour of the flying ace of Pakistan Air Force, Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam, running from Main Market to Gulberg. The road runs parallel to famous Main Boulevard thus providing an alternate route and is a commercial hub with many restaurants, fashion boutiques, shopping malls, beauty saloons and décor stores. M.M. Alam Road hosts a variety of flamboyant restaurants in modern Lahore.[18] On 20 March 2014, on account of his first death anniversary, the PAF Airbase Mianwali was renamed after him as PAF Base M.M. Alam.[19][20][21][22]
See also
References
- ^ "Events – M M Alam's F-86". Pakistan: Pakistan Air Force (official website). Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ Singh, Pushpindar; Rikhye, Ravi; Steinemann, Peter (1991). Fiza'ya: psyche of the Pakistan Air Force. Society for Aerospace Studies. pp. 28, 31. ISBN 9788170020387.
- ^ Dawn Newspaper, [1];
- ^ a b c "Knowing MM Alam". The Nation. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Iconic war veteran MM Alam passes away, The News International. Retrieved on 19 March 2013.
- ^ Institute for Policy Research & Development, Advisory Board Archived 4 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine; Dr. M. Shahid Alam Archived 4 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cihan Aksan, State of Nature, On Islam: An Interview with M. Shahid Alam
- ^ Department of Physics, M. Sajjad Alam.
- ^ Air Cdre M Kaiser Tufail. "Alam's Speed-shooting Classic". Defencejournal.com. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ a b Fricker, John (1979). Battle for Pakistan: the air war of 1965. pp. 15–17. ISBN 9780711009295.
- ^ Polmar, Norman; Bell, Dana (2003). One hundred years of world military aircraft. Naval Institute Press. p. 354. ISBN 978-1-59114-686-5.
Mohammed Mahmood Alam claimed five victories against Indian Air Force Hawker Hunters, four of them in less than one minute! Alam, who ended the conflict with 9 kills, became history's only jet "ace-in-a-day."
- ^ a b O' Nordeen, Lon (1985). Air Warfare in the Missile Age. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 84–87. ISBN 978-0-87474-680-8.
- ^ 30 Seconds Over Sargodha – The Making of a Myth: 1965 Indo-Pak Air War, Chapter 5 Archived 7 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Bharat Rakshak
- ^ Pakistan's Sabre Ace by Jon Guttman, Aviation History, Sept 1998.
- ^ Haider, Sajad S. (2009). Flight of the Falcon- Demolishing Myths of Indo Pak Wars 1965-1971. Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books Pvt Ltd. pp. 69. ISBN 9789694025261.
It is tactically and mathematically very difficult to resurrect the incident in which all five Hunters in a hard turn were claimed to have been shot down in a 270-degree turn in 23 seconds.
- ^ Bowman, Martin W. (30 January 2016). Cold War Jet Combat: Air-to-Air Jet Fighter Operations, 1950–1972. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-7462-6.
- ^ M. M. Alam passes away in Karachi, Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved on 19 March 2013.
- ^ Haq, Shahram. "Urban planning: MM Alam Road to be heart of new business district – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
- ^ "Pakistan not sending troops to Bahrain or Saudi: PM". Dawn. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- ^ Desk, Web (27 February 2014). "PAF honours ace pilot MM Alam, renames Mianwali air base after him – The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
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has generic name (help) - ^ Imaduddin. "PAF Mianwali Base renamed as M.M. Alam Airbase". Brecorder.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- ^ "PM Nawaz Sharif names PAF base Mianwali after MM Alam". The News Tribe. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
Further reading
- History of PAF – Government of Pakistan
- "Laying the Sargodha Ghost to rest." Vayu Aerospace Review. November 1985
- 1935 births
- 2013 deaths
- Pakistan Air Force officers
- Pakistani flying aces
- Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
- Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat
- Military personnel from Karachi
- Military personnel from Kolkata
- Pakistani aviation record holders
- People from Dhaka
- Pakistani people of Bihari descent
- Pakistani test pilots
- Pakistani Muslims