Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar - Revision history

AntoniettaWhitco at 22:20, 16 October 2025

2025-10-16T22:20:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:50, 17 October 2025
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	{{short description\|Indian World War I pilot}}		{{short description\|Indian World War I pilot}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}
	~~{{Orphan\|date=August 2020}}~~
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| name = Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar		\| name = Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar
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	\| nickname =		\| nickname =
	\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1894\|10\|23\|df=yes}}		\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1894\|10\|23\|df=yes}}
	\| birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[Bombay Presidency]], British Raj		\| birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British Raj]]
	\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|1918\|06\|30\|1894\|10\|23\|df=yes}}		\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|1918\|06\|30\|1894\|10\|23\|df=yes}}
	\| death_place = [[Rouvroy-en-Santerre]], [[Somme (department)\|Somme]], [[Picardy]], France		\| death_place = [[Rouvroy-en-Santerre]], [[Somme (department)\|Somme]], [[Picardy]], France
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	\| unit = 3rd Gwalior Lancers<br />[[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]<br />[[No. 23 Squadron RAF]]		\| unit = 3rd Gwalior Lancers<br />[[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]<br />[[No. 23 Squadron RAF]]
	\| commands =		\| commands =
	\| battles = World War I~~<br />{{~~*}}[[Western Front (World War I)\|Western Front]]		\| battles =
			{{tree list}}
			* [[World War I]]
			** [[Western Front (World War I)\|Western Front]]{{KIA}}
			{{tree list/end}}
	\| battles_label =		\| battles_label =
	\| awards =		\| awards =
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	{{DEFAULTSORT:Welinkar, Shrikrishna Chandra}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Welinkar, Shrikrishna Chandra}}
			[[Category:1894 births]]
			[[Category:1918 deaths]]
			[[Category:Indian military aviators]]
			[[Category:Indian World War I pilots]]
			[[Category:Indian prisoners of war]]
	[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]		[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]
	[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]		[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
	~~[[Category:Military personnel from Mumbai]]~~
	~~[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]~~
	[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]		[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
	[[Category:~~Indian~~ military personnel of World War I]]		[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]]
	[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]		[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]
	~~[[Category:Indian aviators]]~~
	~~[[Category:Indian prisoners of war]]~~
	[[Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Germany]]		[[Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Germany]]
	[[Category:~~1894 births~~]]		[[Category:Military personnel from Mumbai]]
	[[Category:~~1918 deaths]]~~		[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
	~~[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I~~]]
	[[Category:Burials at Hangard Wood British Cemetery]]		[[Category:Burials at Hangard Wood British Cemetery]]

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2022-04-17T10:25:24Z

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← Older revision		Revision as of 15:55, 17 April 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{short description\|Indian World War I pilot}}		{{short description\|Indian World War I pilot}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}
	{{Orphan\|date=August ~~2022~~}}		{{Orphan\|date=August 2020}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| name = Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar		\| name = Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar
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	==Early life==		==Early life==
	Welinkar was born in Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]) in October 1894.<ref name="jesus_college">{{cite web \|url=https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/shrikrishna-chandra-welinkar \|title=Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar \|author=<!--Not stated--> \|website=Jesus College, Cambridge \|access-date=28 April ~~2022~~}}</ref><ref name="cwgc">{{cite web \|url=https://www.cwgc.org/history-and-archives/cwgc-archive/efiles/welinkar\|title=Lieutenant Shri Krishna Chandra Welinkar \|author=<!--Not stated--> \|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission \|access-date=28 April ~~2022~~}}</ref> A member of the Gwalior royal family's household,<ref name="remember">{{cite news \|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> \|title=SPECIAL: Remember the Indian Heroes of WWI \|url=https://asianlite.com/news/uk-news/special-remember-the-indian-heroes-of-wwi/ \|work=Asian Lite News \|date=10 November 2017 \|access-date=28 April 2020 }}</ref> he attended St. Xavier's High School in Bombay, after which he joined [[Jesus College, Cambridge]] in the Lent term of 1915 to read history and law.<ref name="jesus_college"/><ref name="cwgc"/>		Welinkar was born in Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]) in October 1894.<ref name="jesus_college">{{cite web \|url=https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/shrikrishna-chandra-welinkar \|title=Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar \|author=<!--Not stated--> \|website=Jesus College, Cambridge \|access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="cwgc">{{cite web \|url=https://www.cwgc.org/history-and-archives/cwgc-archive/efiles/welinkar\|title=Lieutenant Shri Krishna Chandra Welinkar \|author=<!--Not stated--> \|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission \|access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> A member of the Gwalior royal family's household,<ref name="remember">{{cite news \|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> \|title=SPECIAL: Remember the Indian Heroes of WWI \|url=https://asianlite.com/news/uk-news/special-remember-the-indian-heroes-of-wwi/ \|work=Asian Lite News \|date=10 November 2017 \|access-date=28 April 2020 }}</ref> he attended St. Xavier's High School in Bombay, after which he joined [[Jesus College, Cambridge]] in the Lent term of 1915 to read history and law.<ref name="jesus_college"/><ref name="cwgc"/>

	==First World War==		==First World War==
	After the outbreak of war, Welinkar was commissioned a lieutenant in the 3rd Gwalior Lancers, a [[Gwalior State]] regiment of the [[Imperial Service Troops]], and was on the staff of the [[Madho Rao Scindia\|Maharaja of Gwalior]].<ref name="jesus_college"/> Becoming interested in aviation, he took lessons at a flying school at [[Hendon]] and obtained a [[Royal Aero Club]] certificate in August 1916.<ref name="cwgc"/> With 50 hours of flying time,<ref name="service_record"/> Welinkar then applied for a commission in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 22 November 1916, but he was refused a commission due to his ethnicity and instead encouraged to be a member of aircrew as a mechanic.<ref name="Richards">{{cite journal \|last1=Richards \|first1=Clive \|year=2008 \|title=The Origins of Military Aviation in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force, 1910–1932 (Part Two: The RAF in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force, 1918–1932) \|url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/centre-for-air-and-space-power-studies/documents1/air-power-review-vol-11-no-1/ \|journal=Royal Air Force Air Power Review \|volume=11 \|issue=1 \|pages=28 \|access-date=28 April ~~2022~~}}</ref> After securing a recommendation from Brigadier-General [[Sefton Brancker]], Welinkar enlisted in the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] on 13 February 1917, and was posted to No. 6 Officer Cadet Battalion of the RFC from the same date.<ref name="Richards"/>		After the outbreak of war, Welinkar was commissioned a lieutenant in the 3rd Gwalior Lancers, a [[Gwalior State]] regiment of the [[Imperial Service Troops]], and was on the staff of the [[Madho Rao Scindia\|Maharaja of Gwalior]].<ref name="jesus_college"/> Becoming interested in aviation, he took lessons at a flying school at [[Hendon]] and obtained a [[Royal Aero Club]] certificate in August 1916.<ref name="cwgc"/> With 50 hours of flying time,<ref name="service_record"/> Welinkar then applied for a commission in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 22 November 1916, but he was refused a commission due to his ethnicity and instead encouraged to be a member of aircrew as a mechanic.<ref name="Richards">{{cite journal \|last1=Richards \|first1=Clive \|year=2008 \|title=The Origins of Military Aviation in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force, 1910–1932 (Part Two: The RAF in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force, 1918–1932) \|url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/centre-for-air-and-space-power-studies/documents1/air-power-review-vol-11-no-1/ \|journal=Royal Air Force Air Power Review \|volume=11 \|issue=1 \|pages=28 \|access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> After securing a recommendation from Brigadier-General [[Sefton Brancker]], Welinkar enlisted in the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] on 13 February 1917, and was posted to No. 6 Officer Cadet Battalion of the RFC from the same date.<ref name="Richards"/>

	On 24 May 1917, Welinkar was commissioned a temporary [[second lieutenant]] in the RFC,<ref>{{London Gazette \|issue=30141\|date=19 June 1917 \|page=6149\|supp=y}}</ref> and was confirmed in his rank on 22 June with the appointment of flying officer.<ref>{{London Gazette \|issue=30183\|date=13 July 1917 \|page=7074\|supp=y}}</ref> He was injured in a crash the following month, but soon recovered and completed his flight training in early 1918,<ref name="remember"/> having 63 hours of flying experience with various aircraft.<ref name="service_record"/> In February 1918 Welinkar was passed fit by a medical board and posted to the Western Front.<ref name="Richards"/> He was promoted lieutenant in the newly established RAF on 1 April 1918.<ref name="service_record">{{cite web \|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8240090\|title=Name Welinkar, Shirikrishna Chunda Date of Birth: 23 October 1894 \|website=The National Archives (UK)\|publisher=UK Government \|access-date=29 April ~~2022~~}}</ref> Initially attached to [[No. 84 Squadron RAF]], on 10 April he transferred to No. 23 Squadron based at [[Bertangles]], which flew the [[Sopwith Dolphin]].<ref name="service_record"/>		On 24 May 1917, Welinkar was commissioned a temporary [[second lieutenant]] in the RFC,<ref>{{London Gazette \|issue=30141\|date=19 June 1917 \|page=6149\|supp=y}}</ref> and was confirmed in his rank on 22 June with the appointment of flying officer.<ref>{{London Gazette \|issue=30183\|date=13 July 1917 \|page=7074\|supp=y}}</ref> He was injured in a crash the following month, but soon recovered and completed his flight training in early 1918,<ref name="remember"/> having 63 hours of flying experience with various aircraft.<ref name="service_record"/> In February 1918 Welinkar was passed fit by a medical board and posted to the Western Front.<ref name="Richards"/> He was promoted lieutenant in the newly established RAF on 1 April 1918.<ref name="service_record">{{cite web \|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8240090\|title=Name Welinkar, Shirikrishna Chunda Date of Birth: 23 October 1894 \|website=The National Archives (UK)\|publisher=UK Government \|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> Initially attached to [[No. 84 Squadron RAF]], on 10 April he transferred to No. 23 Squadron based at [[Bertangles]], which flew the [[Sopwith Dolphin]].<ref name="service_record"/>

	==Death==		==Death==

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{{short description|Indian World War I pilot}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Orphan|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar
| image = Shrikrishna Welinkar portrait.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name =
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|10|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[Bombay Presidency]], British Raj
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1918|06|30|1894|10|23|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Rouvroy-en-Santerre]], [[Somme (department)|Somme]], [[Picardy]], France
| placeofburial = [[Hangard Wood British Cemetery]]
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial_coordinates =
| allegiance = {{flag|British Empire}}
*{{flag|British Raj}}
*{{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = [[Imperial Service Troops]] [[British Army]] ([[Royal Flying Corps]]) [[Royal Air Force]]
| serviceyears = 1916–1918
| rank = [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]]
| servicenumber = 
| unit = 3rd Gwalior Lancers [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] [[No. 23 Squadron RAF]]
| commands =
| battles = World War I {{*}}[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
| battles_label =
| awards =
| memorials =
| spouse = 
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}

'''Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar''' (23 October 1894 – 30 June 1918) was an Indian pilot who served in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] and [[Royal Air Force]] during the [[First World War]]. Among the first Indian military aviators, he was also the first to be killed in action.<ref name="Richards"/>

==Early life==
Welinkar was born in Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]) in October 1894.<ref name="jesus_college">{{cite web |url=https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/shrikrishna-chandra-welinkar |title=Shrikrishna Chandra Welinkar |author= |website=Jesus College, Cambridge |access-date=28 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="cwgc">{{cite web |url=https://www.cwgc.org/history-and-archives/cwgc-archive/efiles/welinkar|title=Lieutenant Shri Krishna Chandra Welinkar |author= |website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |access-date=28 April 2022}}</ref> A member of the Gwalior royal family's household,<ref name="remember">{{cite news |author= |title=SPECIAL: Remember the Indian Heroes of WWI |url=https://asianlite.com/news/uk-news/special-remember-the-indian-heroes-of-wwi/ |work=Asian Lite News |date=10 November 2017 |access-date=28 April 2020 }}</ref> he attended St. Xavier's High School in Bombay, after which he joined [[Jesus College, Cambridge]] in the Lent term of 1915 to read history and law.<ref name="jesus_college"/><ref name="cwgc"/>

==First World War==
After the outbreak of war, Welinkar was commissioned a lieutenant in the 3rd Gwalior Lancers, a [[Gwalior State]] regiment of the [[Imperial Service Troops]], and was on the staff of the [[Madho Rao Scindia|Maharaja of Gwalior]].<ref name="jesus_college"/> Becoming interested in aviation, he took lessons at a flying school at [[Hendon]] and obtained a [[Royal Aero Club]] certificate in August 1916.<ref name="cwgc"/> With 50 hours of flying time,<ref name="service_record"/> Welinkar then applied for a commission in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] on 22 November 1916, but he was refused a commission due to his ethnicity and instead encouraged to be a member of aircrew as a mechanic.<ref name="Richards">{{cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=Clive |year=2008 |title=The Origins of Military Aviation in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force, 1910–1932 (Part Two: The RAF in India and the Creation of the Indian Air Force, 1918–1932) |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/centre-for-air-and-space-power-studies/documents1/air-power-review-vol-11-no-1/ |journal=Royal Air Force Air Power Review |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=28 |access-date=28 April 2022}}</ref> After securing a recommendation from Brigadier-General [[Sefton Brancker]], Welinkar enlisted in the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] on 13 February 1917, and was posted to No. 6 Officer Cadet Battalion of the RFC from the same date.<ref name="Richards"/>

On 24 May 1917, Welinkar was commissioned a temporary [[second lieutenant]] in the RFC,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30141|date=19 June 1917 |page=6149|supp=y}}</ref> and was confirmed in his rank on 22 June with the appointment of flying officer.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30183|date=13 July 1917 |page=7074|supp=y}}</ref> He was injured in a crash the following month, but soon recovered and completed his flight training in early 1918,<ref name="remember"/> having 63 hours of flying experience with various aircraft.<ref name="service_record"/> In February 1918 Welinkar was passed fit by a medical board and posted to the Western Front.<ref name="Richards"/> He was promoted lieutenant in the newly established RAF on 1 April 1918.<ref name="service_record">{{cite web |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8240090|title=Name Welinkar, Shirikrishna Chunda Date of Birth: 23 October 1894 |website=The National Archives (UK)|publisher=UK Government |access-date=29 April 2022}}</ref> Initially attached to [[No. 84 Squadron RAF]], on 10 April he transferred to No. 23 Squadron based at [[Bertangles]], which flew the [[Sopwith Dolphin]].<ref name="service_record"/>

==Death==
At 9:45 a.m. on 27 June 1918, Welinkar took off from Bertangles on a patrol, flying his Dolphin (No. D3691).<ref name="cwgc"/> He was last seen flying east at 11:15 a.m. fighting a two-seater German aircraft near [[Péronne, Somme]] at an altitude of 300 to 400 feet.<ref name="cwgc"/> Having failed to return from his patrol, Welinkar was declared missing the same day.<ref name="service_record"/> On 14 November 1918, three days after the Armistice, British authorities received a report that Welinkar had been shot down on 27 June. Having sustained bullet wounds and a leg fractured below the knee, he had died at a German field hospital in a town named "Rouvroy" on 30 June 1918.<ref name="cwgc"/><ref name="service_record"/> On 19 May 1919, Welinkar's record was updated, with his death "accepted for official purposes as having [been] caused in action."<ref name="service_record"/>

In March 1920, an RAF wing commander named Hilton unsuccessfully attempted to locate the exact "Rouvroy" where Welinkar had been buried. The following month, G. B. Barton, a retired [[Royal Engineers]] colonel acting on behalf of Welinkar's family, informed the British government that Welinkar had initially been buried in a cemetery at [[Rouvroy-en-Santerre]] under the name "Oberleutnant S.C. Wumkar" and that believing Welinkar to have been a German officer, the French authorities had reinterred his body in Maucourt German Cemetery.<ref name="service_record"/> On 7 September 1920, the grave believed to be Welinkar's was opened. Colonel Barton observed the exhumation and tentatively identified the remains as belonging to an RAF flying officer, based on the corpse wearing an airman's boots and watch. The body was reinterred in Hangard Communal Cemetery Extension, and in February 1921 was conclusively identified as that of Welinkar after a search of German military burial records.<ref name="service_record"/>

In March 1921, Welinkar's family solicitors posted a notice in the ''[[London Gazette]]'' on behalf of Welinkar's mother in Gwalior, advising creditors of Welinkar's death.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32270 |supp=|page=2436|date=25 March 1921}}</ref> He left effects in England with a value of £136 0s. 6d. (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|136.025|1918|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}) which remained unclaimed as late as 1927.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33261 |supp=|page=2056|date=29 March 1927}}</ref> In May, Colonel Barton wrote the War Graves Commission with a request from Welinkar's mother that a suitable gravestone be placed on his grave with the inscription: "To the honoured memory of one of the Empire's bravest sons who made the great sacrifice."<ref name="service_record"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welinkar, Shrikrishna Chandra}}
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Indian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Indian aviators]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners of war]]
[[Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Germany]]
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:Burials at Hangard Wood British Cemetery]]