History
Flying Sikhs: True Heroes of The World Wars
A 16-min video documentary by NAVDEEP SINGH KANDOLA
Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji, the last Sikh fighter pilot to have served in the Second World War, has died aged 92. Navdeep Singh Kandola looks back at the story of Mohinder Singh and other Sikh fighter pilots
Click on the following to view the 16-minute video documentary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/sep/29/world-war
September 30, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: Sandeep Singh Brar (Canada), October 01, 2010, 9:11 AM.
Navdeep's documentary is a beautiful film. I'm glad we got a chance to hear the Sikh hero Mohinder Singh in his own words. Mohinder Singh is not the last WWII Sikh combat pilot. Marshal Arjan Singh is still alive. He was commissioned from the RAF College Cranwell on December 23, 1939 and saw intense action during the war. In 1944, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), the first Indian pilot to be so honoured by the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Lord Mountbatten. He is presently the only living Indian military officer with a five-star rank.
2: N. Singh (Canada), October 01, 2010, 3:01 PM.
I thought the interview with the Sikh hero Malik Hardit Singh was also great. Hearing him talk about being a Sardar and what that meant to him was interesting and made me feel proud to be a Sikh. I was a little disappointed when Mohinder Singh repeated in the last line the silliness about Sikhs being originally Hindus. The whole idea is not correct because the Sikhs are a mixture of many backgrounds, but that is a different conversation ...