Supermarine Spitfire. Asian Users, part three. India.

 

The first Spitfires that saw service with the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) were three Mk.Vc Trop which were assigned to No.4 Squadron RIAF in August 1943. One Mk.Vc Trop is known to have served as well with No.1 Service Flying Training School in 1946. 
In late 1944 the Supermarine Spitfire was provided to the No.8 Squadron of the Royal Indian Air Force. Most of those machines came from Royal Air Force's (RAF) squadrons that were stationed in India during World War 2. However, most of RIAF's squadrons were not equipped with the Spitfire until June 1945 and their RAF serials were not overpainted with Indian Air Force's serials until 1947 when India achieved independence. 
Indian Spitfires barely saw any action during World War 2, although some sources claim they were sporadically employed in the ground support role. 
In June 1945 Nos.17, 81, 131 and 615 squadrons RAF that were stationed in India at the end of World War 2, were disbanded with their Spitfires being loaned to the RIAF, equipping some squadrons or reserve units. 
When British India was split in two, the Spitfires were employed by Air Flying School (India) and No.1 Photo Reconnaissance Flights of the RIAF during the opening months of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947-1948 in the defence of the Kashmir valley in October-November 1947 at the battles of Badgam and Shelatang. It was during this conflict that the RIAF/IAF sought to rapidly expand their fighter force in late December 1947 by using Spitfires, however, the RIAF/IAF had already acquired some Hawker Tempest which were put to good use in that conflict. 
The Spitfire's career with both the RIAF and the IAF was limited to serve as an advanced trainer and they were phased out in 1955, with some PR version serving with No.14  Squadron IAF until 1957/1958. 
As India was, together with Hong Kong, one of the last user of the Spitfire and the take over by the RIAF/IAF and their reserialization was rather chaotic, the information about the Indian Spitfire is rather scarce, contradictory and confuse.
In total 159 Spitfires of various marks served with either the RIAF or the IAF from 1943 until 1958.

Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Supermarine_Spitfire_operators#India
2nd https://www.warbirds.in/overseas/spitfires/supermarine-spitfires/#:~:text=The%20IAF%20was%20one%20of,in%20the%20HS—batch).

Airspeed AS.65 Consul, part three, various Asian users

The Airspeed AS.65 Consul was a British twin-engined light airliner of the immediate post-war time. It was a conversion of the Airspeed As.10 Oxford military trainer surplus after the World War 2.
The type saw use with many airlines and air forces all around the globe and, on this post, we're going to cover the Asian ones:

• Burma: The Burmese Air Force got 7 aircraft that were supplied between September 1949 and February 1950. They were used as communications and light general transport aircraft. Two aircraft were bought by the Burmese Air Force in September 1949 from the Union of Burma Airways. Their fate and their looking are unknown, so the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Indochinese Union: Various airlines operated the Consul in the French Colony of Indochina. One of them was the Société Aigle Azur (Blue Eagle Society) which operated five Consuls in Indochina. One of them was destroyed by the Viet Minh on 4th March 1954 at Gia Lam airport, in Hanoi.
  Another important airline which operated the type in this region was the Société Indochinoise de Transports Aeriens (Indochinese Air Transports Society) which was a company operated by the local colonial government. This company operated at least 14 machines, most of them based in Saigon, in local flights to Phnom Penh. Many of them were resold to minor companies like Société Indochinoise des Plantations Reunies de Minot. As both the graphical material and information of these machines serving with those companies is rather scarce, the drawings should be considered as speculative.
• India: Shortly after achieving independence, the government of India acquired four Consuls, although some sources claim it was two of them. They were assigned to Airways (India) Ltd. which was one of the forerunners of Air India. Many of them were also acquired by local Maharajahs as private transports. As we couldn't find photos of these planes in Indian service, the drawing should be considered as speculative.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Consul
2. http://britishaviation-ptp.com/airspeed_as65.html
3. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/airspeed_oxford_&_consul.pdf

Airspeed AS.10 Oxford, part two, Asian users

The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a British twin-engined monoplane developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd. It was initially conceived as a trainer variant of the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy until it quickly developed into a design of its own and saw wide use as a trainer before, during and after World War 2. It was exported to many Asian countries:

• Union of Burma: At least 15 Oxfords were supplied to the Union of Burma Air force just after its independence in 1948. Some of them were modified to carry pod-mounted forward-firing machine guns and rocket projectiles to be used in anti-insurgency operations.
• India: When India became independent in December 1947 nine Oxfords were transferred to the Royal Indian Air Force which later became Indian Air Force. 
• Israel: Three Oxfords (some sources claim they were four) were in inventory of the, back then, newly founded Central Flying School of the Israeli Defence Force Air Force. They were used, together with the Airspeed Consul, for twin-engined flight training in the early 1950s.
• Imperial State of Iran: Three Oxfords were delivered to the Imperial State of Iran Air Force back in 1938. 
• Ceylon: Three former RAF Oxfords were delivered to the Ceylon Air Force in 1953 (some sources claim it was in 1951). 
• Turkey: The Turkish Air Force was supplied in 1943 with 50 Oxford Mk.I. They were complemented with 20 more in 1946-1947. They served as the Turkish Air Force main twin-engined trainer until the early 1950s when they were replaced by the Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan. The remaining Oxfords were scrapped.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Oxford#Other_users

2. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-mideast/israel/af/types/train1.htm#consul

Avro Anson, part four, Asian Users

The Avro Anson is a British multi-role aircraft of which more than 11.000 units were made. It was exported to many countries all around the globe. Among them, the following ones:

• Afghanistan: The Royal Afghan Air Force obtained 13 (or 12, it's not clear as one source claim it was 13 but others claim it was 12) Anson XVIII. They were a modified version of the C.19 variant. They were used for communications, police patrol and aerial survey until 1972 when the country fell apart into a civil war.
• Bahrein: The Bahrein-based charter airline Gulf Aviation Ltd. was founded in 1949 by Freddie Bosworth, former RAF pilot. Initially it's fleet comprised just two Ansons T.21 modified to carry passengers. However, some sources claim it was a C.19. Anyway, they were used in the initial aerial routes this company made to Doha, in Qatar and Sharjah, in the Trucial States (nowadays United Arab Emirates).
• British Raj: The Royal Indian Air Force employed an unknown number of Anson Mk.I in the Navigation and Armament training role. They were assigned to the No.1 Service Flying Training School, which was based at RAF Ambala, in the Punjab province (nowadays Haryana state). It seems that the Ansons continued flying in the training role well after the war and even after the Independence of India in 1947. But it's unknown when they were written off. As we couldn't find any colour profile and the available photos are in black & white, the colours and the registration should be considered as speculative.
• Republic of India: The Indian Air Force (IAF) bought in 1948 a ad-hoc variant of the Avro Anson. It was called Anson C.18C and it was a civil crew training aircraft. Thirteen of them were bought by the Directorate of Civil Aviation and were used as civil aircrew trainers and communications aircraft. They were delivered from Yeadon, in Yorkshire one year later, in 1949.
• Indonesia: At least four Anson Mk.I were acquired by the Indonesian Air Force in 1947 from second hand retailers. One was known to have been serialed as RI-001 which was initially registered in Australia. During the Indonesia Independence War, it was captured by Dutch troops at Maguwo, in Jakarta in December 1948 and was broken up. The fate of the other three aircraft is unknown but it's known that they came from Australian civil register.
• Iraq: In March 1946 (or late 1944 according to other sources) thirty-three (30 depending on which source you check) Anson Mk.I were delivered to the Iraqi Air Force. They were assigned to I and VII Squadrons and it seems that some of them saw action as light bombers against Israel in the First Arab-Israeli War in 1948. Oddly enough, one of them was piloted by 1st Lt. Arif ar-Razzaq who in 1963 became the Commander in Chief of the Iraqi Air Force and later would be Defence Minister of that country. As the only available photo of the Anson in the Iraqi Air Force is blurry and in black and white, the colours and the registration should be considered as speculative.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Anson

2. https://web.archive.org/web/20120803171431/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1940s/Trg-1SFTS.html

3. https://web.archive.org/web/20120711122408/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1940s/Trg-1SFTS02.html

4. http://www.bahrainaviators.com/fleet.html

5. http://britishaviation-ptp.com/avro652_2.html

6. http://iraqimilitary.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20

7. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 53 - Avro Anson