Remembering India’s First Flying Ace – Lt. Indra Lal Roy
Heroism is in the blood of some brave Indians. While we respect and celebrate the bravery, sacrifices, and invaluable contributions of many from the defence forces of India, few of them are not even known. With time their bravado has been forgotten. One such individual is Flight Lieutenant Indra Lal Roy.
According to various sources and a book by Shrabani Basu on “Indian Soldiers in World War I”, Indra Lal was born to Piera Lal Roy and Lolita Roy on 2nd Dec 1898 in Kolkata. His father Piera Lal was a Barrister and Director of Public Prosecution while his elder brother Paresh Lal Roy was a legend in Indian Boxing and is known as “Father of Indian Boxing”.
Indra Lal did his schooling from St. Paul’s school for boys at Hammersmith, London. His application to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) – a British Army air wing which later became Royal Air Force (RFA) after merging with Royal Naval Air Services, got rejected in the ‘eyesight’ test. But his perseverance paid off. He took a second opinion from a leading eye specialist and got himself treated. Soon he cleared the test and joined the force. He became a part of No. 56 Squadron of RFC which is known for flying S.E.5 – a superior fighter plane used by British in World War I.
On 6th Dec 1917, Lt. Indra Lal’s plane was shot down by German fighter plane and lost consciousness after the plane crashed. He was then declared as dead by the hospital authorities and was moved to a morgue room too. But then, he recovered from unconsciousness and started banging the doors of the room to help him let out. This was the incident when horrified hospital staff referred to him as a “boy who came back from the dead”. He could not fly the plane based on medical conditions but continued working on Aircraft designs until 19th June 1918 when he joined No.40 Squadron of RAF. On 22nd July 1918, his plane was shot down by German Fokker Airplanes over German-controlled territory and the sky lost one of its stars. He was buried in Estevelles Communal Cemetery in France.
According to the records, Lt. Indra had 170 hours of flying time and had shot down 10 German fighter planes in less than two weeks during World War I and was given the title ‘Ace Flyer’ – honour pilots received for striking down 5 enemy planes. His Service Record is AIR 76/438. Posthumously he was awarded Britain’s third-highest Gallantry award, the ‘Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)’. He was the first Indian to receive DFC. In Dec 1998, which marked Lt. Indra Lal’s 100th birth anniversary Indian Postal Services issued a stamp in his honour.
Indra was fondly called Laddie and was one of the legendary Indian pilots who started his career at the age of 18. Red Baron, the top German WW1 Flyer who is referred to as ace of aces with 80 aerial combat victories paid tribute to Lt. Indra Lal Roy by dropping the wreath from the skies at the spot where his plane had crashed.
On his 122nd Birthday, let’s commemorate the glorious life of a forgotten Indian Combat Pilot, Lt. Indra Lal Roy.
