Wings of Duty — Page 56
War in Kashmir and Rejoining the Air Force Some time later, in October 1947, war broke out in Kashmir. I had to fly the community’s airplane to Sialkot and Rawalpindi numerous times as the Grand Trunk Road between Lahore and Gujranwala was broken in many places or submerged in water due to flooding. Most of these flights were undertaken on official business of the Muslim League or the administration of Azad Kashmir. Towards the end of October 1947, Huzoor was informed that the de Havilland company had four Fox Moth airplanes for sale in their all-India office in Karachi. These planes had been initially imported from Canada by a Hindu party. They had arrived by sea in containers and were now finally being assembled at Karachi Airport in a hangar owned by de Havilland. During Partition, the Pakistan government had forbidden these planes from leaving the country, making it necessary for de Havilland to sell them within Pakistan. The price for one airplane was £2000 or Rs 29,200. Two of the planes had already been bought by the government of Sindh