The 11th death anniversary of “1965 War Hero” Muhammad Mahmood Alam, popularly known as M M Alam will be observed on March 18, 2024 (Monday). Pakistan Air Force (PAF) legendary war hero MM Alam’s record of shooting down five Indian war planes in less than a minute remains unbeaten. Alam, nicknamed as ‘Little Dragon’ popularly, while piloting an F-86 Sabre, shot down five Indian war planes in less than a minute during 1965 Pak-India war and altogether, downed nine war planes in the aerial fight. MM Alam was the first ever fighter pilot for PAF, listed on top in the hall of famers’ list at the PAF Museum in Karachi. Alam is considered as a national hero for Pakistan, most significantly, for his remarkable show of brilliance in the war of 1965 he was awarded the ‘Sitara-e-Jurat’ and also the BAR medal. The war hero was born on July 6, 1935, in Calcutta, India and was the eldest of 11 siblings. No one in his family before him had been part of the military, and in fact, he joined the armed forces against his father’s will.

In 1965, when India started war in the late mist dark night, Alam who was the first commanding officer of the first squadron of Assaults Mirage III, took his F-86 Sabre jet plane equipped with AIM-9 sidewinder missiles and fly over the skies of Sargodha to defeat the enemies who entered in Pakistani Air Space. Here, MM Alam made the unforgettable history by knocking down nine Indian Fighter Jets ‘Hawker Hunters’ in air to air combat despite Hawker Hunter superiority over F-86. He shot down as he sets an unbeaten world record by downing five Indian aircraft in thirty seconds. Alam announced to the radar controller that he had shot down nine IAF aircraft and when Radio Pakistan announced his brilliance, people of Pakistan started rising the slogans of “Allah o Akbar”. The Air Force legend was battling illness since December 2012, and was admitted to Pakistan Naval Station Shifa Hospital in Karachi. After a protracted illness, Alam died in Karachi on March 18, 2013 at the age of 77. He retired in 1982 as an Air Commodore.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)