(This article was originally published on 7 December 2015 and has been reposted from The Quint’s archives.)
Even in his eighties, Air Marshal (Retd) Denzil Keelor is modest about his achievements in service to the nation. Speaking to The Quint, he recalls his incredible dogfight over Sialkot in the 1965 war. The sector witnessed the greatest battle since the Battle of Kursk in World War II with thousands of men and hundreds of tanks involved.
Keelor, entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the ground troops, shot down a Pakistan Air Force Sabre aircraft in what was one of the first dogfights by the Indian Air Force. Just a few days earlier, his brother Trevor had also shot down a Pakistani fighter aircraft in what became independent India’s first air kill.
Keelor, arguably India’s oldest living MiG pilot, recalls his first dogfight and kill in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.
