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Erroll Chunder Sen: Difference between revisions
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{{Use dmy dates|date=March | {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} | ||
{{EngvarB|date=March | {{EngvarB|date=March 2022}} | ||
{{Infobox military person | {{Infobox military person | ||
| name = Erroll Suvo Chunder Sen | | name = Erroll Suvo Chunder Sen | ||
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==First World War== | ==First World War== | ||
Sen applied for a commission in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] in November 1916, but his application was rejected as he was under age.<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=20–49 |access-date=20 January 2019 }}</ref> After a period working in a bank,<ref name="cook"/> and having now turned 18, he made a second attempt in early 1917.<ref name="sopwith_hist"/> This time he was successful, and he was awarded a temporary honorary commission in the RFC as a [[second lieutenant]], with effect from 24 April 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30058|date=8 May 1917 |page=4449|supp=y}}</ref> He was ordered to report to the [[No. 1 School of Military Aeronautics]] at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] from the same date.<ref name="Richards"/> | Sen applied for a commission in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] in November 1916, but his application was rejected as he was under age.<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=20–49 |access-date=20 January 2019 }}</ref> After a period working in a bank,<ref name="cook"/> and having now turned 18, he made a second attempt in early 1917.<ref name="sopwith_hist"/> This time he was successful, and he was awarded a temporary honorary commission in the RFC as a [[second lieutenant]], with effect from 24 April 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30058|date=8 May 1917 |page=4449|supp=y}}</ref> He was ordered to report to the [[No. 1 School of Military Aeronautics]] at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] from the same date.<ref name="Richards"/> | ||
After two months at Reading, followed by 25 hours of elementary flying training and 35 hours in front line aircraft, Sen was posted to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name="sopwith_hist"/><ref name="Richards"/> He was assigned to [[No. 70 Squadron RAF|No. 70 Squadron RFC]], based at [[Poperinge]] in [[West Flanders]], [[Belgium]] and equipped with the [[Sopwith Camel]].<ref name="Richards"/> On 7 August 1917, he was appointed a Flying Officer in the RFC with the temporary rank of second lieutenant.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30257|date=28 August 1917 |page=8968|supp=y}}</ref> A month later, on 14 September, while taking part in an offensive patrol, Sen experienced engine failure and dropped behind the rest of his patrol. As he stated later in a deposition for the [[War Office]], "...in attempting to catch up [with the remainder of the patrol, I] was lost in a cloud. Coming out [I] was attacked by 4 enemy machines. Both [fuel] tanks [were] hit & [I] crashed outside [[Menen|Menin]]. Unwounded."<ref name="Richards"/> | After two months at Reading, followed by 25 hours of elementary flying training and 35 hours in front line aircraft, Sen was posted to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name="sopwith_hist"/><ref name="Richards"/> He was assigned to [[No. 70 Squadron RAF|No. 70 Squadron RFC]], based at [[Poperinge]] in [[West Flanders]], [[Belgium]] and equipped with the [[Sopwith Camel]].<ref name="Richards"/> On 7 August 1917, he was appointed a Flying Officer in the RFC with the temporary rank of second lieutenant.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30257|date=28 August 1917 |page=8968|supp=y}}</ref> A month later, on 14 September, while taking part in an offensive patrol, Sen experienced engine failure and dropped behind the rest of his patrol. As he stated later in a deposition for the [[War Office]], "...in attempting to catch up [with the remainder of the patrol, I] was lost in a cloud. Coming out [I] was attacked by 4 enemy machines. Both [fuel] tanks [were] hit & [I] crashed outside [[Menen|Menin]]. Unwounded."<ref name="Richards"/> | ||
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==Postwar years== | ==Postwar years== | ||
Following his repatriation, Sen was promoted lieutenant on 17 April 1919,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31332|date=9 May 1919 |page=5798|supp=}}</ref> and was transferred to the unemployed list of the RAF on 23 May.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31449|date=11 July 1919 |page=8857|supp=}}</ref> He returned to India and joined the [[Indian Imperial Police]] as an assistant superintendent (junior scale, on probation) with effect from 20 September 1921.<ref name="civil_list">{{cite book |date=1925 |title=The Combined Civil List For India: A List of the Civil Services and Higher European Services under the Government of India (July–September 1925) |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.168887 |location=Allahabad |publisher=The Pioneer Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.168887/page/n23 394] }}</ref> By 1925, he was serving in eastern Bengal in the [[Comilla District]] (now in [[Bangladesh]]).<ref name="civil_list"/> | Following his repatriation, Sen was promoted lieutenant on 17 April 1919,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31332|date=9 May 1919 |page=5798|supp=}}</ref> and was transferred to the unemployed list of the RAF on 23 May.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31449|date=11 July 1919 |page=8857|supp=}}</ref> He returned to India and joined the [[Indian Imperial Police]] as an assistant superintendent (junior scale, on probation) with effect from 20 September 1921.<ref name="civil_list">{{cite book |date=1925 |title=The Combined Civil List For India: A List of the Civil Services and Higher European Services under the Government of India (July–September 1925) |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.168887 |location=Allahabad |publisher=The Pioneer Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.168887/page/n23 394] }}</ref> By 1925, he was serving in eastern Bengal in the [[Comilla District]] (now in [[Bangladesh]]).<ref name="civil_list"/> | ||
Sen and his brother subsequently relocated to [[Rangoon]], [[Burma]], where they found work. Following the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, Sen re-enlisted in the RAF, but was unable to find a means to leave Burma. He tried to walk out of the country, and is believed to have died in the attempt.<ref name="cook"/><ref name="Holzminden_list"/> | Sen and his brother subsequently relocated to [[Rangoon]], [[Burma]], where they found work. Following the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, Sen re-enlisted in the RAF, but was unable to find a means to leave Burma. He tried to walk out of the country, and is believed to have died in the attempt.<ref name="cook"/><ref name="Holzminden_list"/> | ||
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[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]] | [[Category:Royal Air Force officers]] | ||
[[Category:Military personnel from Kolkata]] | [[Category:Military personnel from Kolkata]] | ||
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]] | [[Category:Bengali Hindus]] | ||
[[Category:People educated at Rossall School]] | [[Category:People educated at Rossall School]] | ||