1. Subroto Mukerjee was an Indian military officer who was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force.
48 Facts About Subroto Mukerjee
1. 2.
Subroto Mukerjee was awarded several honours during the course of a three-decade-long career, ended by his untimely demise in 1960.
3.
Subroto Mukerjee joined the Royal Air Force and later was one of the first recruits of the Indian Air Force in 1933.
4.
Subroto Mukerjee flew with the No 1 Squadron IAF from 1933 to 1941.
5.
Subroto Mukerjee saw extensive action in the North-West Frontier Province during this stint and was mentioned in dispatches.
6.
Subroto Mukerjee attended the Staff College, Quetta in 1941 before returning to command No 1 Squadron in 1942.
7.
Subroto Mukerjee commanded the RAF Station Kohat from 1943 to 1944 before moving to Air HQ as director of flying training.
8.
Subroto Mukerjee oversaw the transformation of IAF into an all-jet force.
9.
Subroto Mukerjee died while on a visit to Tokyo in 1960.
10.
Subroto Mukerjee had many firsts to his credit: the first Indian to command a flight, in 1938, the first Indian to command a squadron, in 1939, the first to command a station, in 1943, and finally, the first Indian to command the Service itself, in 1954.
11.
Subroto Mukerjee was born in Calcutta on 5 March 1911 in a well-known Bengali Brahmin family.
12.
Subroto Mukerjee's father was Satish Chandra Mukherjee of the Indian Civil Service, and his mother, Charulata Mukherjee, was a social worker.
13.
Subroto Mukerjee's paternal grandfather, Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee, pioneered several social and educational reforms in India and was a member of the Brahmo Samaj.
14.
Subroto Mukerjee's maternal grandmother, Sarala Roy, was an educationist and social worker who founded the Gokhale Memorial Girls' School.
15.
Subroto Mukerjee's elder sister Renuka Ray was a prominent freedom fighter, who became a member of the Indian parliament, cabinet minister and ambassador.
16.
Subroto Mukerjee attended the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.
17.
Subroto Mukerjee was educated at Nainital Diocesan Boys' High School in Nainital, at Loreto Convent in Calcutta, at Howrah Zilla School, and at a school in Hampstead in England.
18.
Subroto Mukerjee completed his secondary education at Birbhum Zilla School in 1927.
19.
Subroto Mukerjee then attended Presidency College, Calcutta for year, before studying at the University of Cambridge.
20.
Subroto Mukerjee sat for the Cranwell entrance examination, becoming one of the first six Indians selected to undergo two years of flying training at the college.
21.
Subroto Mukerjee served with the No 16 Squadron RAF for about a year before returning to India.
22.
Subroto Mukerjee was one of the five Indian pilots who made up the flight.
23.
On 15 February 1934, Subroto Mukerjee was promoted to the rank of flying officer.
24.
Subroto Mukerjee was one of the three flying officers of the three flights of No 1 Squadron.
25.
Subroto Mukerjee took command of the No 1 Squadron on 16 March 1939, the first Indian officer to command a squadron.
26.
Subroto Mukerjee led the squadron into action at Miramshah in NWFP.
27.
Subroto Mukerjee was the senior Indian commissioned officer in the IAF.
28.
Subroto Mukerjee was promoted to the acting rank of squadron leader on 25 August 1939.
29.
In June 1941, Subroto Mukerjee handed over command of No 1 Squadron to Squadron Leader Karun Krishna Majumdar.
30.
Subroto Mukerjee was selected to attend the Staff College, Quetta.
31.
In March 1942, Subroto Mukerjee took command of the squadron for the second time.
32.
In December 1942, Subroto Mukerjee was mentioned in dispatches for his distinguished service during the operations in the NWFP.
33.
Subroto Mukerjee commanded RAF Station Kohat from 28 August 1943 to December 1944, becoming the first Indian officer to command an airbase.
34.
Subroto Mukerjee was appointed the Deputy Assistant to the Air Officer-in-charge Administration at Air headquarters.
35.
Subroto Mukerjee was appointed the Senior Air Staff Officer, in addition to being appointed Deputy Air Commander, RIAF.
36.
On 15 March 1948, Subroto Mukerjee took over as the officiating Chief of the Air Staff and Air Marshal Commanding RIAF when Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst left to the United Kingdom on deputation.
37.
Subroto Mukerjee remained in command of the RIAF for about a year.
38.
Subroto Mukerjee controlled and aided air operations in aid of the troops during the annexation of Hyderabad.
39.
Subroto Mukerjee attended the course during 1953, along with Captain Ram Dass Katari, the senior Indian naval officer at that time.
40.
On 1 April 1954, Subroto Mukerjee took over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force, with the rank of air marshal.
41.
On 22 July 1955, with the retirement of the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sir Charles Pizey, Subroto Mukerjee took over as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
42.
Subroto Mukerjee is the longest-serving such chairman in history, having served for more than five years, until his untimely death in 1960.
43.
In 1939, Subroto Mukerjee married Sharda Mukherjee, who was from a prominent Maharashtrian family.
44.
Subroto Mukerjee was the first woman governor of both states.
45.
Subroto Mukerjee's body was carried on a gun carriage to the Nigambodh Ghat, with servicemen lining the whole route.
46.
Subroto Mukerjee was paid a final tribute with a flypast of forty-nine aircraft, one for each of his forty-nine years.
47.
Subroto Mukerjee was a much-loved figure in the Air Force.
48.
Subroto Mukerjee issued a Special Order of the Day paying tribute to Mukerjee and called him the "Father of the Indian Air Force".