Start Date : 06 Jan 44 End Date : 04 Sep 44
26 Pilot Course - 86 Cadets reported to ITW Pune on 6 January 1944 and 85 of them moved to next stage on 15 May 1944. 42 were sent to Secunderabad (1 EFTS) and 43 to Jodhpur (2 EFTS) to train on the de-havilland and Tiger Moth. Midway through the course the Fairchild Cornell was also introduced. Successful Cadets reported to 1 SFTS (Ambala) on 4th Sep 1944 and were awarded Commission as Pilot Officers and commenced advanced training on the Harvards. On completion of training they were awarded Wings. For 26 Pilot Course the Wings award Passing out parade was not held and wings were given out in the mess. Due to backlog at 151 OTU Peshwar, the conversion to Hurricane aircraft for the course was done at Ambala itself. Subsequently they were sent to 151 OTU at Peshwar (on Hurricanes) for conversion/ gunnery training which ended in may 1945.
2986 GD(P) (Later F(P))Wing CommanderJagdish Ranganath Bankapur | 2987 GD(P)Flying OfficerMuthukumarasami Balan | 2988 GD(P)Wing CommanderCecil Hugh Lawrence Digby | 2989 GD(P)Flying OfficerLawrence Aubrey Frank Elkins | 2990 GD(P)Flying OfficerRajah Venkat Goday |
No Image Available2991 GD(P)Pilot OfficerDavid Smith GreenhornDied in Service on 03 May 45 | No Image Available2992 GD(P)Pilot OfficerSajjad Hasain Jeddy | No Image Available2993 GD(P)Flying OfficerJoseph Anthony MartinDied in Service on 11 Jun 47 | 2994 GD(P)Wing CommanderNedyam Bhaskar Menon | 2995 GD(P)Group CaptainWilbur Desmond McNeill |
No Image Available2996 GD(P)Flying OfficerAshim Kumar Paul Choudhuri | 2997 GD(P)Flying OfficerAndrew Browne Wiseman | 2998 GD(P) (Later F(P))Air Chief MarshalDilbagh Singh | No Image Available2999 GD(P)Flying OfficerLeslie Spencer Edwards | No Image Available3000 GD(P)Flying OfficerMansur Niaz-Faruki |
3001 GD(P)Air CommodoreMasroor Hosain | 3002 GD(P)Air CommodoreFuad Shahid Hussain | No Image Available3003 GD(P)Flying OfficerInayatullah Jan | 3004 GD(P)Flying OfficerDevendra Shamsher Jang | 3005 GD(P)Flying OfficerRana Bahadur Singh KarkiDied in Service on 03 Jul 46 |
3006 GD(P)Flying OfficerRashid Khan | 3007 GD(P)Air CommodoreZafar Mahmud | No Image Available3008 GD(P)Pilot OfficerHari Krishan Sachdev | 3009 GD(P) (Later F(P))Air CommodoreSurinder Singh |
Read more at http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/ww2/veterans/1062-balan.htmlCaptain M Balan's Story of Training with 26 Pilots Course | Read more at http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/history/ww2/veterans/1047-digby01.htmlWg Cdr C H L Digby's Training stories of 26 Pilots Course |