K S Nair
@k-s-nair.bsky.social
Former schoolboy WW2 nut. Author, "Ganesha's Flyboys" (Anveshan 2012), "The Forgotten Few" (HarperCollins 2019), "December in Dacca" (HarperCollins 2022); & two more forthcoming. Interested in India & other under-reported areas. DP courtesy Steve Smith
4: An excerpt from my book, "The Forgotten Few", briefly describing the day, and the battlefield investiture by Lord Mountbatten a few weeks later:
May 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
4: An excerpt from my book, "The Forgotten Few", briefly describing the day, and the battlefield investiture by Lord Mountbatten a few weeks later:
2: For original source nerds among us (which definitely includes me!!), part of the Form 540 page reproducing Sir John's signal …/3
May 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
2: For original source nerds among us (which definitely includes me!!), part of the Form 540 page reproducing Sir John's signal …/3
#OTDin1944 No 1 Sqn #IAF took a brief break from ops over #Imphal to celebrate. Signal from Air Marshal Sir John Baldwin, AOC 3rd TAF, announced DFC to CO, then-Sqn Ldr Arjan Singh. Pic, nicked as often from bharat-rakshak.com, shows Fg Off Talwar reading out signal …/2
May 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
#OTDin1944 No 1 Sqn #IAF took a brief break from ops over #Imphal to celebrate. Signal from Air Marshal Sir John Baldwin, AOC 3rd TAF, announced DFC to CO, then-Sqn Ldr Arjan Singh. Pic, nicked as often from bharat-rakshak.com, shows Fg Off Talwar reading out signal …/2
So what should arrive in my corner of Hyderabad, India but a generously autographed copy of @philmcraig's funny, thoughtful "1945: The Reckoning" - thank you, Phil!! Not a great photo, but against a pic of another fine Indian WW2 veteran, much like those in the book!!
May 6, 2025 at 4:25 AM
So what should arrive in my corner of Hyderabad, India but a generously autographed copy of @philmcraig's funny, thoughtful "1945: The Reckoning" - thank you, Phil!! Not a great photo, but against a pic of another fine Indian WW2 veteran, much like those in the book!!
On the eve of #AnzacDay2025, sharing pix of IAF-connected antipodeans Sqn Ldr GS Sharp DSO, CO 4 Sqn IAF; Flt Lt CV "Ketchil" Bargh DFC, 67 Sqn RAF who escorted Jumbo Majumdar DFC of 1 Sqn IAF; & Sqn Ldr Robert Hayes, CO 273 Sqn RAF, which flew wing-to-wing with 4 & 9 Sqns IAF:
G'dAnzacDay folks!!
G'dAnzacDay folks!!
April 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
On the eve of #AnzacDay2025, sharing pix of IAF-connected antipodeans Sqn Ldr GS Sharp DSO, CO 4 Sqn IAF; Flt Lt CV "Ketchil" Bargh DFC, 67 Sqn RAF who escorted Jumbo Majumdar DFC of 1 Sqn IAF; & Sqn Ldr Robert Hayes, CO 273 Sqn RAF, which flew wing-to-wing with 4 & 9 Sqns IAF:
G'dAnzacDay folks!!
G'dAnzacDay folks!!
11: ... that our poor, crowded Third World can be fixed by our own selves, without white saviours - even if no-one built global narratives out of it, the way they have about the World Wars.
And if I may be forgiven a moment of publicity, thanks to @harpercollins.bsky.social, I say more on this:
And if I may be forgiven a moment of publicity, thanks to @harpercollins.bsky.social, I say more on this:
March 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
11: ... that our poor, crowded Third World can be fixed by our own selves, without white saviours - even if no-one built global narratives out of it, the way they have about the World Wars.
And if I may be forgiven a moment of publicity, thanks to @harpercollins.bsky.social, I say more on this:
And if I may be forgiven a moment of publicity, thanks to @harpercollins.bsky.social, I say more on this:
10: For those of us who were Indian schoolkids then (as I was), the 1971 war was like a fairy tale: evil & horror, redeemed by compassion, resistance & unmitigated heroism, culminating in a brilliant, spectacular victory of Good over Evil ... It validated the enormously optimistic belief ... /11
March 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
10: For those of us who were Indian schoolkids then (as I was), the 1971 war was like a fairy tale: evil & horror, redeemed by compassion, resistance & unmitigated heroism, culminating in a brilliant, spectacular victory of Good over Evil ... It validated the enormously optimistic belief ... /11
9: … Even if those other wars, too, involved the stopping of genocide, or near-genocidal brutality … /10
March 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
9: … Even if those other wars, too, involved the stopping of genocide, or near-genocidal brutality … /10
8: The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War should be better-remembered, & I argue, differently-remembered. WW2 is uncritically remembered as a justifiable war, and its young participants are deified as ‘the Greatest Generation’. How rarely is similar respect accorded to other wars ... /9
March 25, 2025 at 1:58 PM
8: The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War should be better-remembered, & I argue, differently-remembered. WW2 is uncritically remembered as a justifiable war, and its young participants are deified as ‘the Greatest Generation’. How rarely is similar respect accorded to other wars ... /9
7: Decades after the horrifying events which started OTD, its memory is in danger of being forgotten. It was never entirely acknowledged by Pakistan or its sponsors at the time, the United States and China, much less by the world at large #WhosToBlame ... /8
March 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
7: Decades after the horrifying events which started OTD, its memory is in danger of being forgotten. It was never entirely acknowledged by Pakistan or its sponsors at the time, the United States and China, much less by the world at large #WhosToBlame ... /8
6: ... In fact Bangladesh, as they all too painfully know, suffered most during the war, on a scale that arguably approaches that sometimes-misused word, genocide - the headline for courageous Bangladeshi journalist Anthony Mascarenhas's revelation in the UK's Sunday Times ... /7
March 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
6: ... In fact Bangladesh, as they all too painfully know, suffered most during the war, on a scale that arguably approaches that sometimes-misused word, genocide - the headline for courageous Bangladeshi journalist Anthony Mascarenhas's revelation in the UK's Sunday Times ... /7
4: Why more than the military victory & diplomatic success? Because ***India withdrew all her military forces from the new country within weeks *** – in contrast to the aftermath of many Western countries' military “successes”, throughout the twentieth century ... /5
March 25, 2025 at 1:50 PM
4: Why more than the military victory & diplomatic success? Because ***India withdrew all her military forces from the new country within weeks *** – in contrast to the aftermath of many Western countries' military “successes”, throughout the twentieth century ... /5
3: It was Bangladesh's moment of birth, & for India too, one of her finest achievements after Independence (recent issues notwithstanding). It was a military victory, a diplomatic success against odds, and in some still unappreciated but key ways more than either ... /4
March 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
3: It was Bangladesh's moment of birth, & for India too, one of her finest achievements after Independence (recent issues notwithstanding). It was a military victory, a diplomatic success against odds, and in some still unappreciated but key ways more than either ... /4
2: What began OTD ended with the famous (in India & Bangladesh, at least) surrender on 16 December 1971, at Ramna Racecourse in what was then Dacca ... /3
March 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
2: What began OTD ended with the famous (in India & Bangladesh, at least) surrender on 16 December 1971, at Ramna Racecourse in what was then Dacca ... /3
The Bangladesh Liberation War #1971War effectively began 54 years ago #OTDin1971, when the Pakistan Army initiated Operation Searchlight, the horrific crackdown in Bangladesh, on 25 March 1971 ... /2
March 25, 2025 at 1:44 PM
The Bangladesh Liberation War #1971War effectively began 54 years ago #OTDin1971, when the Pakistan Army initiated Operation Searchlight, the horrific crackdown in Bangladesh, on 25 March 1971 ... /2
It's 25 March. I’ve written before on its significance; no apology for repetition; it led to hugely significant events in India's & Bangladesh's history. So with thanks (& apologies) to several folks who gave me platforms, or listened to me before, on #Bangladesh1971, a 🧵:
March 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
It's 25 March. I’ve written before on its significance; no apology for repetition; it led to hugely significant events in India's & Bangladesh's history. So with thanks (& apologies) to several folks who gave me platforms, or listened to me before, on #Bangladesh1971, a 🧵:
3: ... And the cherry on the icing for me, the opportunity to meet & talk to 3 distinguished retired officers, Lt Gen Rana Kalita, Lt Gen Konsam Himalay Singh & Brig Ranjit Borthakur, + several serving officers who shall remain nameless, and was honoured to speak on a panel with some of them:
February 25, 2025 at 1:32 PM
3: ... And the cherry on the icing for me, the opportunity to meet & talk to 3 distinguished retired officers, Lt Gen Rana Kalita, Lt Gen Konsam Himalay Singh & Brig Ranjit Borthakur, + several serving officers who shall remain nameless, and was honoured to speak on a panel with some of them:
2: ... There was a focus on Africa, which plays to one of my interest areas, having lived & worked there. I listened in on every one of those sessions I could, learned a great deal about a fascinating continent, made some new friends with too many stories to fit into this medium ...
February 25, 2025 at 1:28 PM
2: ... There was a focus on Africa, which plays to one of my interest areas, having lived & worked there. I listened in on every one of those sessions I could, learned a great deal about a fascinating continent, made some new friends with too many stories to fit into this medium ...
Earlier this month, had the privilege of attending & speaking at #DibrugarhUniversity's Int'l LitFest. Not the best-known of India's many litfests, but should be better known - sylvan location, great weather & AQI, bright-eyed univ students 😊
I know, I know; I am *always* late to these posts!! ...
I know, I know; I am *always* late to these posts!! ...
February 25, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Earlier this month, had the privilege of attending & speaking at #DibrugarhUniversity's Int'l LitFest. Not the best-known of India's many litfests, but should be better known - sylvan location, great weather & AQI, bright-eyed univ students 😊
I know, I know; I am *always* late to these posts!! ...
I know, I know; I am *always* late to these posts!! ...
5/5: Fg Off Verma was awarded a DFC, one of about 25 awarded to IAF personnel during WW2, and the first for an air-to-air kill since Lt Indra Lal Roy in 1918 (citation via @vayusena):
February 15, 2025 at 6:57 AM
5/5: Fg Off Verma was awarded a DFC, one of about 25 awarded to IAF personnel during WW2, and the first for an air-to-air kill since Lt Indra Lal Roy in 1918 (citation via @vayusena):
4/5: The next day the Army's Observer Corps reported that Fg Off Verma's victim had been seen to crash. Japanese historian Hiroshi Umemoto suggests the victim was Cpl Tsuneo Nabeta of 204th Sentai, IJAAF. Reconstructed Japanese records confirm:
February 15, 2025 at 6:56 AM
4/5: The next day the Army's Observer Corps reported that Fg Off Verma's victim had been seen to crash. Japanese historian Hiroshi Umemoto suggests the victim was Cpl Tsuneo Nabeta of 204th Sentai, IJAAF. Reconstructed Japanese records confirm:
3/5: But Verma, after a long chase, had managed, by unexpectedly throttling back, to get the Oscars to overshoot him - just long enough for him to open fire, and damage one. As the ORB shows, it was a busy day; Verma was on his 3rd sortie of the day; but claimed "DAMAGED ONE" ...
February 15, 2025 at 6:55 AM
3/5: But Verma, after a long chase, had managed, by unexpectedly throttling back, to get the Oscars to overshoot him - just long enough for him to open fire, and damage one. As the ORB shows, it was a busy day; Verma was on his 3rd sortie of the day; but claimed "DAMAGED ONE" ...
2/5: At the low levels Tac/Rs were flown, it was not possible to execute the diving escape that Hurricanes needed, to evade Oscars. Plt Off Bhattacharji was shot down. Luckily an Indian Army patrol found & evac'd him, and he survived. Pic shows him after recovery ... /3
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 AM
2/5: At the low levels Tac/Rs were flown, it was not possible to execute the diving escape that Hurricanes needed, to evade Oscars. Plt Off Bhattacharji was shot down. Luckily an Indian Army patrol found & evac'd him, and he survived. Pic shows him after recovery ... /3
1/5: It's 15 February. In keeping with my interest area, #OTD in 1944, Fg Off (later Air Cmde) JC Verma of 6 Sqn, #IndianAirForceinWW2 & Plt Off Inder Bhattacharji, on a Tac/R sortie in support of encircled 7 Indian Div on the Arakan front, were bounced by Japanese Oscar fighters ... /2
February 15, 2025 at 6:52 AM
1/5: It's 15 February. In keeping with my interest area, #OTD in 1944, Fg Off (later Air Cmde) JC Verma of 6 Sqn, #IndianAirForceinWW2 & Plt Off Inder Bhattacharji, on a Tac/R sortie in support of encircled 7 Indian Div on the Arakan front, were bounced by Japanese Oscar fighters ... /2