On November 27, 1944, Dinshaw Eduljee was assigned to lead a two-plane reconnaissance mission over the Shwegyin-Sizwe area some five miles to the south-east of Kalewa - just east of the Chindwin River. The follow logs recorded by No. 1 Squadron very briefly recount what happened that day.
No. 1 Squadron Flight Logs - November 26-28, 1944
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Summary of Events on November 26 to 28, 1944:
November 26th: “The AOC India Command visited the unit which he visited thoroughly – in fact minutely. The same evening he came to dinner – in a somewhat more relaxed mood. The opportunity thus presented for a general ‘piss-up’ was at once seized and the merriment lasted far into the night.”
November 27th: “F/O Eduljee and F/O Codanda Machia Cariappa (*see note below) took off at 0700 hrs on a reconnaissance of Sizwe-Shwegyin. While strafing camouflaged bashas F/O Eduljee crashed at RU 929661 at about 0830 hrs. the weaver circled for three minutes but could not see the crashed aircraft due to thick jungle. He had seen smoke issuing from the plane as it crashed but no flames [our notes: the language used here may convey that smoke was seen before the plane crashed. Alternatively, it could mean after the crash].
[*Note: We are informed by Air Marshal Nanda Cariappa that Codanda Machia Cariappa "would have been my Mother's first cousin. He was known as 'Bunny'. After leaving the Air Force he joined a civil aviation firm and was later killed in a crash near Cairo (I think). He would have been General Thimayya's brother-in-law. Bunny married Zee who is I think still with us. Their son, Farhad lives in Whitefield. He has an estate here in Kodagu."]
“At 0935 Chatterjee and Dass went up to investigate but saw nothing except a few pieces of metal lying near trees at RU 929661.
“F/O Eduljee was the only AFC in the Indian Air Force. He had obtained this award for outstanding service as instructor at FTS Ambala. Many of the younger pilots in the Indian Air Force may have been his pupils - si monumentum requiris, circumspice. [Our note: this translates to ‘If you seek his monument, look around you’. Perhaps this meant that though Eduljee would possibly never be found or have a tombstone placed over his remains, his monument nevertheless was his work – represented by the many successful pilots of the Indian Air Force.]”
“Eduljee is the ninth pilot lost by the unit since the commencement of operations in February. The text of a letter from the AOC (Air Officer Commanding) 221 group to the Squadron Commander is reproduced here: ‘I am so sorry to hear of the loss sustained by the squadron of F/O Eduljee. Having been speaking to him only the night before myself, I feel I can share the loss with you, and I hope that the squadron finishes this intensive phase of operations without any more bad luck.’”
[Our note: The squadron was part of 221 Group under Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Air Vice-Marshall S. F. Vincent. In addition to reconnaissance and tactical air support, Group 221 was also tasked with supplying the ground forces when needed. Vincent was appointed to this position on February 17, 1944.]
Operations Record Book page for November 27 1944
14 sorties (flown)
(a) F/O Eduljee AFC (LE804) and F/O Cariappa (LE764); Tac/R (tactical reconnaissance); 07.00 - 08.50 [the notes transcribed above state that the crash took place at about 0830 hrs.].
Summary of Events: Shwegyin-Sizwe. Own troops at RU 903817 (about 7 m to the north of Sizwe and the crash-site) and 2.20 ft boats RU 871630 (about 3 m south-west of the crash site on the Chindwin River). Bashas at Sizive (Sizwe misspelled?) strafed. While strafing, F/O Eduljee AFC crashed at RU 929661 at 0830 hrs. He failed to come out of a dive, the port wing hit trees and came off and smoke was seen issuing from a/c (aircraft – this report reads that the smoke was seen after the crash, however, does this mean the second pilot could see the aircraft or just the smoke that he presumed was coming from the aircraft?) but no fire.
(b) F/Lt Chatterjee (LE764) and F/O Dass (LF129); Contact/R (contact reconnaissance?); 09.35. 11.15. (This mission devoted exclusively to search the crash site took off about 45 min. after Cariappa had returned to Imphal and presumably reported the crash).
Summary of Events: RU 929661 for crashed a/c. a/c not seen owing to dense jungle. Some pieces of metal seen south of road near small hillock at RU 929661. Bivouac or bunker position overlooks bridge from hillock – much track activity (80 x 20 mm).
Arjan Singh's Letter & Hoshang Patel's Notes
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| Dinshaw Eduljee was flying a Hurricane when he crashed in the jungles of Burma. Shown above is a Hurricane PR Mark IIB, BM969, of ‘S’ Flight, No. 3 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, based at Dum-Dum, India, in flight over Bengal. Image credit: Imperial War Museums |
Wing Commander Hoshang K. Patel (Retd.), in his memoirs states that, "I remember his (D. F. Eduljee's) death (this should read crash); he was making multiple passes at a ground target. During one of them he was coming out of a roll quite close to the ground, misjudged it and flew straight in." [H. K. Patel, was a colleague of Dinshaw Eduljee as a Flying Officer in 1 Squadron. Patel did not observe Eduljee's crash and is likely recounting what he learnt of the crash at the base. From the squadron logs we see that Patel flew two sorties on the day before Eduljee flew crashed i.e. on November 26.]
"Coming out of a roll" can mean "rolling out of a turn". It does appear from the statements above, that Dinshaw was diving towards the target and "rolling" to take evasive action presumably to avoid incoming fire from the camp. During one such diving and rolling pass, the wing of Dinshaw's aircraft wing hit the trees causing the wing to detach and the plane to crash. Arjan Singh has the crash on the second strafing pass. Major E. F. Eduljee (retd.) has Dinshaw crashing on the third strafing pass at the Japanese camp. Hoshang Patel has "multiple" passes". Dinshaw's wing-man circled the scene, saw the wing but could not see the plane that would have ploughed into the dense jungle close to the camp. The wing-man also didn't see any visible movement presumably on the part of Dinshaw or the Japanese. We can assume the Japanese were aware of the crash and they would have spared no effort to arrive as quickly as possible on the crash scene and capture the pilot if still alive.
Missing Believed Killed
The letter from Sqn Ldr Arjan Singh to Dinshaw Eduljee's father also states, "Before you get this letter you must have received a telegram stating that your son is 'Missing believed killed' from operational sortie over Kalwa (likely Kalewa) area." The letter goes on to say, "We all express deepest sympathy in your great anxiety and pray that he is safe. Any further information, which we hope to obtain through various sources, will be conveyed to you immediately when it is received." However, the family received no further intimation on Dinshaw and since then have assumed that Dinshaw died either during or sometime after the crash.
Dinshaw Eduljee's service record states that his service with the IAF ended when he "Died in Service 27 Nov 44". However, no one saw him killed nor has a grave been found. The circumstances of his death: where, when and how are not known.
According to Dinshaw Eduljee's brother, Major (Retd.) Erauch (Eddie) Eduljee, not too long after the crash, Phiroze Nobel (of the Sikh Regiment?) came across Dinshaw's crashed Hurricane with its left wing detached. There were no bullet holes, no fire damage, no blood stains and no signs of any struggle. A helmet was on the seat as if placed there – not thrown there.
Memorial but no Closure
While Dinshaw Eduljee's name is inscribed under "Missing in Action" on Column 445 in Singapore's Kranji War Memorial that stands beside the Kranji War Cemetery, his final resting place is listed as unknown.
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