Indra Lal Roy was India's only officially accredited air ace of the First World War, destroying 5 aircrafts in 170 hours of flying time, achieving ten 'kills' prior to his death in action in July 1918.
Roy was born in Calcutta on 2 December 1898. He was educated in England and was attending St. Paul's School in Kensington (since 1911) when war broke out in August 1914, then aged just 15.
In April 1917 Roy enlisted with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and was given a commission as 2nd Lieutenant on 5 July 1917. Within a week Roy was training at Vendome. Roy was assigned to 56 Squadron at the end of October 1917 after Gunnery practice.
While on a sortie in December 1917 over France and Germany, Indra Lal Roy's aircraft was shot down by Germans in 'No Man's Land'. After lying unconscious for three days, he was picked up by British troops and sent to a British military hospital in France. He was given up for dead and sent to the mortuary. At the mortuary, however, he regained consciousness.
Following a spell of recuperation - during which time he occupied himself sketching aeroplanes, many of which have survived - Roy underwent further remedial training in England. Nevertheless pronounced medically unfit Roy was successful in getting the verdict reversed before returning to France on 19 June 1918.
Assigned to George McElroy's 40 Squadron "Laddie" Roy amassed ten air victories (two shared) in a short period from 6-19 July, including three in a single day in under four hours, 8 July. Three days following his last victory, on 22 July 1918, Roy was killed in action, shot down in flames in the skies above Carvin while fighting German Fokker D.VII aircraft belonging to Jasta 29.
Roy was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in September 1918. To this date he remains the sole Indian air ace. He is buried at Estvelles Communal Cemetery.
Indra Lal Roy’s nephew Subroto Mukerjee was also a fighter pilot who became the first Indian Chief of Air staff of the Indian Air force.
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