In August 2026, Aleph Book Company released a series of books on six battles that Indian military fought since 1947. Here are brief extracts from them.

Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar with Shiv Kunal Verma

On 2 September 1965, a formation of four Gnats from No. 23 Squadron landed at Pathankot at approximately 1100 hours to counter the Sabre threat. Neither the Vampires nor the Mysteres could match the performance of the F-86 Sabre, and the arrival of the Gnats was, therefore, both timely and necessary. By sunset, another formation of four Gnats from the same squadron flew in directly from Ambala.

The eight Gnat pilots were Squadron Leaders B.S. Sikand, Johnny Greene, Trevor Keelor, A.S. Sandhu, Flight Lieutenants. V.S Pathania, M. Murdeshwar, A.S. Gill, and S. Krishnaswamy (later Chief of the Air Staff).

That night, the Officer-in-Charge Flying, Wing Commander Verghese Kuriyan, briefed the pilots. Their primary mission was simple and unambiguous: shoot down Sabres. How they were to accomplish this, however, was left to the ingenuity of the Gnat pilots.

Although Squadron Leader Johnny Greene was the station flight safety officer at Ambala and not a regular squadron pilot, he commanded great respect within the Gnat community—and indeed across the fighter fraternity—owing to his exceptional flying skills and the fact that he had completed the prestigious Day Fighter Leaders Course in the United Kingdom.