MM Alam: The distinguished hero of 1965 war

The role of Pakistan armed forces and heroes in the 1965 war were exceptional for making valiant efforts and forcing the enemies to retreat, but the contribution of Muhammad Mahmood Alam (MM Alam) among them is unforgettable for inflicting massive damages to the enemy.

A pilot at Pakistan Air Force (PAF), MM Alam while piloting an F-86 Sabre, shot down five Indian war planes in less than a minute during 1965 Pak-India war and altogether, downed nine war planes in the aerial fighting.

M.M.Alam pursued his dream of becoming a pilot in 1952 when he entered the air force and became a commissioned officer on 2nd October 1953. It was in the 1965 war with India that M.M.Alam proudly defended his country in the skies and decimated Indian airplanes one after the other.

Whilst battling the Indian hunter fighter planes, M.M.Alam downed an astounding figure of 5 Indian warplanes in just one minute! The feat was recognized as a world record, with 4 out of 5 enemy warplanes being blown up by Alam in the first 30 seconds.

Alam is considered a national hero for Pakistan, most significantly, for his remarkable show of brilliance in the war of 1965 he was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat (“The star of courage”) and also the BAR medal.

The war hero was born on July 6, 1935, in Calcutta, India and was the eldest of 11 siblings.

No one in his family before him had been part of the military, and in fact, he joined the armed forces against his father’s will.

In 1965 when India started war in the late mist dark night, MM Alam who was the first commanding officer of the first squadron of Assaults Mirage III, took his F-86 Sabre jet plane equipped with AIM-9 sidewinder missiles and fly over the skies of Sargodha to defeat the enemies who entered in Pakistani Air Space.

Alam made the unforgettable history by knocking down 9 Indian Fighter Jets ” Hawker hunters” in air to air combat as Hawker Hunter were more powerful than F-86.

Alam announced to the radar controller that he had shot down 9 IAF Air crafts and when Radio Pakistan announced his brilliance, people of Pakistan started rising the slogans of “Allah o Akbar”.

He is popularly known as MM Alam and was nicknamed ‘Little Dragon’. He retired in 1982 as an Air Commodore.

M.M.Alam breathed his last on 18th march 2013 in Karachi due to lung disease. A major road has been built in his honor in Lahore, aptly titled M.M.Alam road. Alam is one of the most inspiring war heroes of Pakistan whose tales of bravery and courage, as well as expertise in manning a warplane will forever be etched in history.