Yunus Hussain

Flight Lieutenant Yunus Hussain SJ (1 June 1935 — 6 September 1965) was a Pakistan Air Force officer who shot down 2 Hawker Hunters, one being flown by F/O AR Gandhi of the Indian Air Force over Halwara. Shortly after, Yunus was shot down in the same area by F/L Vinod Neb after making a mistake by turning to the left into Nebs range. He is considered one of the greatest war heroes of Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Yunus Hussain received the green endorsement award twice from C-in-Chief Pakistan Air Force Asghar Khan. This recognition was in honor of his passion for flying, which led him to achieve the fastest 500 and then 1000 flying hours in the PAF.

The Tempest House at the PAF College Sargodha was renamed to Yunus House in 1967 and again on 26 March 2015 in his honour. Yunusabad project at PAF Base Samungli is also named after him.

In a December 2020 podcast, former Air Commodore Sajad Haider said that Kaiser Tufail falsely told the Indian Air Force to credit Cecil Chaudhry instead of Yunus for Gandhis plane getting shot down. Sajad's Indian counterpart confirmed that Yunus had originally been credited before Kaiser Tufail had come to him. When Sajad questioned Kaiser Tufail on the lie, he said he wanted Cecil to be credited because Cecil was his senior. Sajad also added that Cecil Chaudhry had been lying his whole life and claiming Yunus' success for his own for 40 years. Further stating that the lie was concoted in order to glorify Sargodha pilots.

Early life and education
Yunus was born on 1 June 1935 in Panipat, British Raj 18 years after the marriage of his father, Khawaja Yusuf Hussain, a businessman. The only child of his parents, Yunus had a very modest upbringing due to the families weak financial position. The early days of his life were stories of hardships and struggle for acquiring the basic of amenities of life, in particular education.

His family moved to Jhang after the Partition of British India. He was enrolled into the Government High School Jhang City where he did his Matriculation examination. Afterwards, he did his FSc from Multan. He wasn't able to continue further education and was forced to take a job in Lahore which during the early years he was restless and dissatisfied with his job. He eventually ended up at the PAF Selection Centre in Lahore but was rejected for being overage.

Personal life
Yunus married Surayya Jabeen in 1961, she was the sister of Mushaf Ali Mir and oldest daughter of the Kashmiri family from Lahore. Their first child Sajad was born in 1962 and Fawad on 22 August 1965. Fawad was 15 days old when his father lost his life.

In their father's footsteps they both joined the Pakistan Air Force. Sajad Yunus Hussain became an Air Defence Controller and retired as an Air Commodore. Fawad Yunus Hussain SI(M) joined as an Aeronautical Engineer and retired as an Air Vice Marshal.

Pakistan Air Force career
As tensions grew between Pakistan and India, the Pakistan Air Force began asking for volunteers under slightly relaxed rules. Yunus Hussain once again applied and this time he was successful and joined the RPAF College in 1956.

He was known as a brilliant and hardworking student. Due to his outstanding performance during training, he eventually became the Squadron Under Officer in his last year at PAF Academy. He was commissioned on 25 June 1958 as part of the 26 GD(P) course.

Bajaur Campaign
Yunus participated in the skirmishes of the Dir-Bajaur Campaign in 1960-62 for which he was awarded the Tamgha-e-Diffa.

1965 war and death
At 1715 hours, Sarfaraz Ahmed Rafiqui led a formation of 3 F-86 Sabres with Yunus Hussain as his No. 2 and Cecil Chaudhry as No. 3. The formation took off from PAF Base Sargodha heading towards Halwara. On the way there, they met up with MM Alams formation who was returning from an aborted raid on the Indian Air Force Adampur Air Force Station. Alam informed them about his encounter with four Indian Hawker Hunters over Tarn Taran (Alam had shot down one of them, while the rest managed to escape). Rafiqui's formation continued on and reached the Halwara base in the evening, where the remaining three Hawker Hunters were taxiing after landing. Just as Rafiqui was positioning himself for a strafing run, two IAF Hunters (flown by F/O P.S. Pingale and A. R. Gandhi) on Combat Air Patrol intercepted his formation. Cecil Chaudhry fled back to base leaving Rafiquis tail exposed and Yunus alone. Rafiqui quickly aborted his strafing run and engaged Pingale. He manoeuvered behind the Hunter and shot it down. Yunus shot A.R. Gandhi destroying his Hawker Hunter but Gandhi ejected and landed on the outskirts of Halwara. After this, Vinod Neb shot down Yunus Hussain when Yunus mistakenly turned to the left directly into the firing range of Neb.

Sitara-e-Jurat
The Sitara-e-Jurat citation reads: CITATION FLIGHT LIEUTENANT YUNUS HUSSAIN (PAK/3857)

Flt Lt Yunus fought in air battle over enemy territory aggressively, fearlessly and with great professional skill. On 6 Sep while attacking Halwara airfield, a large number of enemy aircraft intercepted his small formation. He fought them with exceptional gallantry exceeding all limits and in the process shot down two Hunters. Although his aircraft was hit, he refused to break off engagement in complete disregard to his personal safety. He became a symbol of courage and professional ability for the other pilots. For his valour, professional skill and devotion to duty; he is awarded SJ.