Ajjamada B. Devaiah
{{short description|Indian Air Force officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Squadron Leader
| name = A. B. Devaiah
| honorific_suffix = Maha Vir Chakra
| image = AjjamadaB.DevaiahPic.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = 24 December 1932
| death_date = 7 September 1965 (aged 32)
| birth_place = Coorg district, Karnataka
| death_place = Pakistan
| placeofburial =
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|India}}
| branch = {{air force|India}}
| serviceyears = 1954 - 1965
| rank = 25px Squadron Leader
| unit = No. 1 Squadron IAF
| commands =
| battles = Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
| awards = 32px Maha Vir Chakra{{Cite web|url=https://indianairforce.nic.in/content/squadron-leader-ajjamada-bopayya-devayya-4810-vm|title=SQUADRON LEADER AJJAMADA BOPAYYA DEVAYYA (4810) VM|publisher=Indian Air Force official website}}
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Squadron Leader Ajjamada Boppayya Devayya MVC is the only Indian Air Force officer to be posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC). The Maha Vir Chakra is the second highest wartime gallantry award, below only to the Param Vir Chakra. During the 1965 India-Pakistan War, Devayya (called 'Wings of Fire') was part of a strike mission targeting the Pakistani airbase Sargodha when he was attacked by an enemy aircraft. He shot down the enemy pursuer's plane but in the process his aircraft was damaged and he went missing. Presumably he died in Pakistani territory. Twenty-three years later, in 1988, he was posthumously awarded the MVC award.{{cite web|title=Maha Vir Chakra awards (IAF)|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Awards/Gallantry/302-MVC.html|publisher=Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces)|accessdate=22 June 2014|archive-date=10 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710183004/http://bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Awards/Gallantry/302-MVC.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Maha Vir Chakra awards (1988)|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Awards/awards.php?qyear=1988|publisher=Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces)|accessdate=22 June 2014}}
Biography
Devayya was born on 24 December 1932 at Coorg, Karnataka. He was the son of Dr. Bopayya.
In 1954 he was commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a pilot.{{cite web|title=A B Devayya |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/HEROISM/Devayya.html |publisher=Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces) |accessdate=11 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425124828/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/HEROISM/Devayya.html |archivedate=25 April 2009 }} At the outbreak of the 1965 war, he was an instructor at the Air Force Flying College. He was posted to No.1 "Tigers" Squadron and flew the Mystere IVa fighter bomber.{{cite web|title=Maha Vir Chakra Awardee List|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/Awards/awards.php?qaward=MVC|publisher=Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces)|accessdate=11 April 2014}}
As a senior flying instructor, Squadron Leader Devayya was part of an aircraft strike mission which went to Sargodha airfield in Pakistan. Despite being a standby in case one of the first 12 aircraft dropped out, he joined the air battle. Devayya was intercepted by a PAF F-104 Starfighter flown by Pakistani pilot Flt. Lt. Amjad Hussain. Devayya successfully evaded the Starfighter's attacks. But the faster aircraft caught up with him and damaged his plane. Yet Devayya attacked the Starfighter and hit it. The Starfighter went down, while Hussain ejected and parachuted. It is not known what happened to Devayya. The IAF Mysteres were short on fuel and efficiency. Devayya's Mystere was destroyed, and it is assumed that he died on Pakistani soil.{{cite web|title=Devayya's Encounter - 1965 War - 7 September 1965|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Galleries/AviationArt/DebGohain/1965-Devayya-Encounter.jpg.html|publisher=Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces)|accessdate=11 April 2014}}
Aftermath
The IAF was not aware of what had happened to Devayya, first recording him missing and later declaring him dead. Later, a British writer, John Fricker, was commissioned by the Pakistani Air Force to write an account of the war derived from Pakistani sources in 1979. What led to Devayya's actual death still remains a mystery. It was revealed much later by Pakistan that Devayya's body was found almost intact by villagers not very far from Sargodha and buried.{{cite web|title=Squadron Leader Ajammada Boppaya Devayya|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/4810|publisher=Bharat Rakshak|accessdate=11 April 2014}}
From Fricker's work, the IAF realised what had truly happened and in 1988 announced that the Maha Vir Chakra was to be awarded to Devayya posthumously.
File:Battle for Pakistan by John Fricker.jpg
File:Movie Skyforce and John book.jpg
This is the only posthumous Maha Vir Chakra that the IAF has awarded.
Mrs. Devayya accepted the posthumous Maha Vir Chakra in 1988, nearly 23 years after the war.{{cite web|title=Epilogue : Where are they now? |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/Photos-10.html |publisher=Bharat Rakshak |accessdate=11 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050505074406/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/Photos-10.html |archivedate=5 May 2005 }} On 7 September 2009, the private bus stand circle in Madikeri in Kodagu was named after him.{{cite news|last=Correspondent|first=Special|title=Tributes paid to war hero Devayya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/tributes-paid-to-war-hero-devayya/article5106521.ece|accessdate=3 January 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=8 September 2013}}{{cite web|last=Coorg|title=Kodagu blog|url=http://coorgblog.blogspot.in/2010/07/category-military-service-indian-army.html|work=coorgblog|publisher=blogspot|accessdate=3 January 2014}}{{cite news|last=Dinesh|first=B C|title=Dedicated to nation's defence|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/article172390.ece?service=print|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417215550/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/article172390.ece?service=print|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 April 2014|accessdate=16 April 2014|date=20 December 2010}}{{cite news|author=Staff Correspondent|title=Circle named after A.B. Devaiah|url=http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/09/stories/2009090950610200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914094853/http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/09/stories/2009090950610200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2009|accessdate=16 April 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=9 September 2009}} Kodava Makkada Koota installed Devaiah's statue in Madikeri.{{cite news |title=‘Instal bronze statue of Sqn Ldr Ajjamada Devaiah’ |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/instal-bronze-statue-of-sqn-ldr-ajjamada-devaiah-759834.html |access-date=6 January 2025 |work=Deccan Herald |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Martyr’s statue ready for installation in Madikeri |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/martyrs-statue-ready-for-installation-in-madikeri/article32515059.ece |access-date=6 January 2025 |work=The Hindu |date=3 September 2020 |language=en-IN}} In 2023, a bus crashed into the statue as part of a suspected conspiracy by miscreants.{{cite web |last1=Raghuram |first1=M. |title=One More War Hero’s Statue Crashed in Madikeri, 'Conspiracy Is Certain,' Says CNC Chief |url=https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/bengaluru/one-more-war-heros-statue-crashed-in-madikeri-conspiracy-is-certain-says-cnc-chief-818175 |website=www.thehansindia.com |access-date=6 January 2025 |language=en |date=25 August 2023}}{{cite news |title=One more war hero's statue damaged in Madikeri |url=https://starofmysore.com/one-more-war-heros-statue-damaged-in-madikeri/ |access-date=6 January 2025 |work=Star of Mysore |date=26 August 2023}}
In popular culture
Sky Force is based on the attack on Sargodha now renamed PAF Base Mushaf on 7 September 1965 by 13-aircraft contingent led by Group Captain O.P Taneja who is portrayed in this film by Akshay Kumar, Veer Paharia played Devayya, whose character is named T Vijaya, while Sara Ali Khan appeared as his wife.{{Cite news|title=Sky Force Real Story: Akshay Kumar, Veer Pahariya's Film Is Based On These True Events Of 1965|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/sky-force-real-story-akshay-kumar-veer-pahariyas-film-is-based-on-these-true-events-of1965|publisher=Free Press Journal|access-date= 6 January 2025}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/1153-Rajkumar-Sargodha.html Tigers Over Sargodha] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812015536/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1965War/1153-Rajkumar-Sargodha.html |date=12 August 2019 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devaiah, Ajjamada B}}
Category:1960s missing person cases
Category:Aviators killed by being shot down
Category:Indian Air Force officers
Category:Indian military aviators
Category:Indian military personnel killed in action
Category:Missing person cases in Pakistan
Category:People from Kodagu district