Mohinder Singh Pujji

Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji DFC PCS BA LLB (1918 – 18 September 2010) was an Indian Sikh fighter pilot who joined the Royal Air Force in World War II and fought the Luftwaffe just after the Battle of Britain. He later served in North Africa and Burma.

Early life
Mohinder Singh was born in Simla in 1918. His father was a senior government official. Mohinder Singh received a law degree, went to school and college in Lahore, and earned a law degree from Bombay University. After graduation, he worked for Shell. In 1936, he learned to fly at the Delhi Flying School, where he fell in love with flying.

War service
In 1940, Mohinder Singh was one of 18 qualified Indian pilots who volunteered for the Royal Air Force, despite his parents' fears. Officially he flew just after the Battle of Britain, joining 43 Squadron, the formidable 'Fighting Cocks' fighter squadron. He flew Hurricanes, which he preferred to Spitfires, for their relative ease of flying. He was forced down twice; in one instance, his aircraft was disabled over the English Channel by a Messerschmitt, but he managed to coax it to dry land, where he crashed. He was rescued from the burning wreckage and after a week in hospital, Mohinder Singh returned to duty.

He was treated well in England, getting preferential treatment at local cinemas and restaurants, often without payment. He subsequently commented, "I felt very welcome indeed, I never felt different or an outsider and my experiences in this country made me keen to return some time after the war. I was made to feel very much at home by everyone I met" and "I wrote back to my father saying that I did not mind if I was killed because the British people were wonderful and so brave, and I was being so well treated. I could not queue for a movie without being told to move to the front." As a Sikh, he insisted on retaining his dastar (Sikh headdress), with RAF insignia, even while flying, even carrying a spare, in case it was needed. The dastar interfered with use of his oxygen mask and resulted in damage to his lungs. (Subsequently, in 1960, he gave up wearing the dastar.)

After the Battle of Britain, Mohinder Singh was sent to the Middle East where, in 1941, he was forced down, for the second time, in the North African desert and was picked up by British troops. He had dietary problems, as he could not eat the standard issue bully beef for religious reasons. He returned to south Asia and served in Afghanistan and Burma, where he was awarded a DFC.

Post-war
After returning to India, Mohinder Singh became a champion air race pilot and held gliding records. He had a career in India as an airline pilot. In 1974, he returned to Britain and became an air traffic controller.

Mohinder Singh moved to East Ham after retirement and he became an active member of the local community. Later, he settled in Gravesend, Kent. On 12 October 2000, he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Newham.

In 2005, Mohinder Singh protested against the British National Party's use of an image of a Spitfire in their campaign literature. He was reported as saying, "The BNP are wrong to use the Spitfire as representative of their party. They forget people from different backgrounds helped in the Second World War. I am proof of this - I was flying a Spitfire. I also met Winston Churchill. Even in those days, there were ethnic minorities fighting for the British. I would recommend the armed forces for young people, regardless of race. In August 2010, his autobiography For King And Another Country was released.

Mohinder Singh Pujji died of a stroke at Darent Valley Hospital on 18 September 2010, aged 92. The local authority Gravesham Borough Council, celebrated his life and heroism with an exhibition.

In 2011 the short film The Volunteers was dedicated to Mohinder after he contributed to the making, but died before the films completion.

Recognition
Despite the high respect that he experienced during the war, Mohinder Singh believed that war films presented a "white-only view of the RAF". He campaigned to have the Sikh contribution to the British war effort, which he believed had been ignored, more widely recognised. He was never invited to any of the many events in Britain that marked the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II in 2010, or any other year, he says. He is quoted as saying, "As far as I think, no one in authority remembers that we are here and we were a part of World War II".

In an effort to redress the balance, the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford opened a permanent exhibition in January 2009 ("Diversity in the Royal Air Force"), intended to "challenge negative perceptions, by celebrating the racial diversity of its history". Mohinder Singh was the guest of honour at the opening.