It was the year 1944. The Royal Indian Air Force, having recently acquired some Spitfire aircraft from Britain, was testing out its squadrons. Dilbagh Singh, born 10th of March 1926, had graduated from the RAF Day Fighter’s Leader course and Staff College Course in the UK, and he was raring to go.

The Dassault Mystere IVs were one of the first jets in Indian service. Fast fighter-bombers, Dilbagh Singh would get to fly one above the speed of sound - creating the first sonic boom in Delhi. From there on, it was a love story with the jet.

Wing Commander by 1963, Dilbagh Singh got the most difficult task of his career - leading up a new MiG-21 squadron. While the MiGs, Soviet built fighters, were capable of extremely high speed at extremely manageable costs, they were a pain to fly in slow, subsonic speeds. It was Singh’s duty to ensure that Indian pilots both come to love the smooth high rough low speed performance of these steel birds.

This he did with distinction, and even though the MiGs were too low in numbers to make much difference in the 1965 conflict, they served in the 1971 conflict with ease and distinction - under his command, striking Karachi Harbour.

Dilbagh Singh credited 4400 hours of flying, with over 1000 on jet planes. Boasting of exceptional skill, devotion to duty, and raw talent - Dilbagh Singh would be appointed the Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force in 1981. His tenure saw the Air Force acquire MiG 25, MiG 23 and Mirage 2000 air vehicles, and Dilbagh Singh would acquire numerous commendations throughout his career, including the highly coveted Param Vishisht Seva Medal, and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.