Group Captain Hardit Singh Malik became known as the "Flying Sikh" during World War One flying Sopwith Camels on the Western and Italian Front and he wore a specially designed helmet that fitted over his turban that also earned him the soubriquet of 'the Flying Hobgoblin' ! He was renowned as the first Indian to fly as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps & flew with William Barker VC.
He was one of only two Indian pilots to survive the war, despite being wounded and crash-landing in October 1917 when his aircraft was found to have been hit more than 400 times... ! Two bullets remained in his leg for the rest of his life.
Malik later went on to a distinguished career as a diplomat and became India's ambassador to France in the 1950s and a statue of him is to be erected to represent the contribution of ethnic troops in the war.
It is planned to be almost 17ft (5m) high with its plinth to be installed near Southampton's Sea City Museum by April 2023 so something to look out for if you ever visit.
https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/sto...irst-world-war
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...-Pilots-in-WWI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardit_Malik
This is a good pdf of Malik's history:
http://www.hmdt.org.uk/hmdtmusic/tre...ngh-Malik-.pdf
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