*A profile of supreme sacrifice*
*Wing Commander Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar, AVSM, KC (Died in Service)* was born 31 March 1933 and, as the surname indicates, hailed from Sanvordem. The well-known family’s sprawling ancestral homestead with four *razaangans* (internal, open to sky courtyards) – perhaps the only mansion of its kind in Goa – still stands in the native village. He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 10 October 1953. He was promoted to Flying Officer on 14 October 1954. When a Squadron Leader, he was part of the 1961 ‘*Operation Vijay’* in Goa but his exact role in the ops (just like the other ace pilot who participated in 1961, Sqn Ldr – later Wing Commander – "Top Gun" Mervyn Jude Pinto) is not known. He was later posted as Chief Flying Instructor at 1 Jet Training Wing at Hakimpet on 1 May 1965. When war clouds gathered in August that year, he was called for war duties and posted to a fighter recce squadron at Baghdogra. During operational duties in the war at Baghdogra, he and his co-pilot, Sqn. Ldr. M.J. Marston, were about to take off on a sortie in a Vampire jet on 10 September 1965. Just then the airfield was suddenly attacked by four Pakistani aircraft. The duo’s Vampire aircraft caught fire. Before they could abandon the burning aircraft, the co-pilot's clothes caught fire; he crawled away from the aircraft but collapsed after removing the top of his burning overall. Sqn. Ldr. Sawardekar received facial injuries. At this stage, the ammunition in the aircraft caught fire and began to explode. Without regard for his own safety, Sqn. Ldr. Sawardekar jumped out of the burning aircraft to rescue his co-pilot inspite of his own injuries and exploding ammunition. He ripped off the remnants of the co-pilot's overall which was still burning and cut away his burning shoes and socks. He then smothered the flames and wrapped his own overall around the co-pilot's body. He saved the life of his comrade. Sqn. Ldr. Sawardekar had displayed exemplary courage and a spirit of comradeship with the Anglo-Indian brother officer. For his act of courage and devotion to duty in the best traditions of the Air Force, he was decorated with the Kirti Chakra. As a Wing Commander, he was posted as Commanding Officer of the supersonic 29 Squadron (“Scorpios”) at Hindon near Delhi from 8 June 1970 and continued in that position until his tragic air accident while on duty. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, as CO 29 Sqn, he provided distinguished service of a high order. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. The AVSM Citation: “Wing Commander Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar has served with several fighter and fighter-bomber Squadrons of the Indian Air Force. He is a qualified Flying Instructor. Wg. Cdr. Sawardekar is presently in command of a supersonic fighter Squadron. During the Indo-Pak conflict of December, 1971, he had wide responsibilities as his Squadron was operating in detachments at three separate locations. He ensured that all the tasks, including fighter escorts and sweep missions were undertaken successfully. He himself, though heavily burdened with supervision of his three detachments, was always at the forefront of operational missions undertaken by his aircraft. "On 16 December 1971, he was on a mission to escort other aircraft which were to strike at the enemy. One of the aircraft being escorted was hit by enemy ground fire and the canopy was shattered, the pilot being severely injured. Wg. Cdr. Sawardekar joined the crippled aircraft and escorted it for a distance of 70 nautical miles, much of it over enemy territory, back to its base, keeping up the morale of the injured pilot and guiding him back home. He thus saved the pilot and the valuable aircraft. Throughout, Wg. Cdr. Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar has thus rendered distinguished service of a high order.” On 4 April 1972, Wg. Cdr. Sawardekar was on a routine sortie in his MiG-21FL from the Hindon Air Force Base. Suddenly his aircraft turbos sucked in a vulture when he was at 5,000 feet altitude. At that height, he could have easily bailed out of the crashing aircraft. But below was a residential colony. Turning away, even as the aircraft steadily dropped height, his last chance to eject came when he was over the IAF colony. He crossed its outer periphery wall at a height of 50 feet … going down in the true traditions of the IAF: disregarding his own peril, but without causing collateral damage. Wg. Cdr. Sawardekar was aged 39. He left behind his wife and two young daughters, the second still a toddler. Widow Asha returned to Goa with the two daughters and lived at Miramar, Panjim. She plunged into social work. She started the Goa branch of the All India Women's Conference. She clocked many Goan 'firsts' in social work. Under the Central Government's Development of Women & Children in Rural Areas Programme, implemented through the *Provedoria,* she pioneered women empowerment groups, setting up over 500 such 15-member groups within a period of 5/6 years, across Goa. She then quietly began assisting slum women and children, providing them with medical care and supplementary nourishment. In 1979, she launched a Trust, funded entirely on private donations. She conducted 6-month courses in tailoring, cooking, home nursing, etc. and, brick by another patient brick, built a twin institution: a medical recovery home and a home for the elderly, both for women. *Sanjeevan* (better life) at Nageshi, Ponda is the soft-spoken widow's ensign to an IAF hero. Both daughters are professionals and married. The elder is an architect and lives in Margao (she and her architect husband are friends of this author) while the younger lives in Mumbai. Wg. Cdr. Sawardekar’s brother, Prof. R.B. Sawardekar, taught Physics at the National Defence Academy, Pune, whose son is Lieutenant Colonel Nitin Sawardekar who took premature retirement. Wg. Cdr. Sawardekar's cousin is Colonel Mangirish B. Sawardekar (Veteran). There are scores of stories of Goan courage and bravery in the military uniform. It is not possible to tell them all here, week after week. They will all be available in the revised edition of the book, which should be out, hopefully, sometime during 2023. Consequently, this is the second-last piece in this mini-series. Next Sunday, you will get to read about Goa’s – and India’s – first fliers, among other ‘firsts’ related to flying and to Goa. PHOTOS: 1. Wg Cdr Vishwanath B. Sawardekar, AVSM, KC. This photograph will, however, not be seen on the five Goa-centric Facebook Groups where this appears, since the photograph was posted earlier. If repeated, FB filters will read that as ‘spamming” and delete the entire post, including text. Facebook users may see it on my wall (search ‘Valmiki Faleiro’ – I presume there is only one). The photo will go to all email and Whatsapp recipients of this post. 2. Wing Commander V.B. Sawardekar and wife Asha Sawardekar. (This first appeared in the Marathi language in Goa’s daily, *Gomantak,* 4 December 2022, and is excerpted from revised text of the book, *Patriotism In Action: Goans in India’s Defence Services* by Valmiki Faleiro, first published in 2010 by ‘Goa,1556,’ ISBN: 978-93-80739-06-9. Revised edition awaits publication.) [image: 19a Wg Cdr Vishwanath B Sawardekar.jpg][image: 19b Wg Cdr VB and Asha Sawardekar.jpg] -- *** Please be polite and on-topic in your posts. *** --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Goa Book Club" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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