World War II (1939-1945)
During World War II, the IAF played an instrumental role in blocking the advance of the Japanese army in Burma, where its first air strike was on the Japanese military base in Arakan. It also carried out strike missions against the Japanese airbases at Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in northern Thailand.
During the war, the IAF went through a phase of steady expansion. New aircraft, including the U.S. built Vultee Vengeance and the British Hawker Hurricane and Westland Lysander, were added to its fleet.
Subhas Chandra Bose sent Indian National Army youth cadets to Japan to train as pilots. They went on to attend the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy in 1944.
In recognition of the services rendered by the IAF, King George VI conferred the prefix "Royal" in 1945. Thereafter the IAF was referred to as Royal Indian Air Force. In 1950, when India became a republic, the prefix was dropped and it reverted back to Indian Air Force.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Indian Air Force
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“Education is considered the peculiar business of women; perhaps for that very reason it is one of the worst-paid businesses in the world ...”
—Katharine Pearson Woods (1853–1923)
“This is not only a war of soldiers in uniform. It is a war of the people, of all the people, and it must be fought not only on the battlefield but in the cities and the villages, in the factories and on the farms, in the home and in the heart of every man, woman and child who loves freedom.”
—Arthur Wimperis (1874–1953)