Mervyn Middlecoat

Mervyn Leslie Middlecoat (6 July 1940 – 12 December 1971) was a Pakistani fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) who was involved in a number of aerial battles during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars, before being shot down on 12 December 1971. He was one of a number of distinguished Pakistani strike and fighter pilots of the period. Before his death he was stationed at Mauripur, Karachi, where he flew the F-104 Starfighter.

Early life Middlecoat was born into an Anglo-Indian family in Ludhiana in July 1940 on a train traveling from Lahore to Delhi. He also had some French and Portuguese ancestry. His parents were Percy and Daisy Middlecoat (née Renaux). He received his early education at Lawrence College Murree, St. Anthony's High School (Lahore) and Burn Hall school ,Abbottabad. Middlecoat joined the PAF, passed out of the 16th General Duty Pilot (GDP) Course in 1954, and won the Best Performance Trophy in ground subjects.

Soft-spoken and mild mannered, Middlecoat was considered to be the epitome of an officer and a gentleman, besides also being an outstanding pilot. Although he flew a number of different aircraft during his service career, he mastered both the F-86 Sabre and the F-104 Starfighter.

On 27 September 1957, he married Jeanne Viegas, the daughter of a Christian family living in Lahore. On 21 October 1959, a daughter named Leslie Ann was born to the Middlecoats while he was stationed at Mauripur, Karachi. For his leadership and devotion to duty, he was awarded the Sitara-i-Jurat, the third highest award in the Pakistani military, in 1965.

The 1971 War Promoted to Wing Commander, at the outbreak of war on 3 December 1971 Middlecoat was on a training assignment with the Royal Jordanian Air Force. The day after he returned to Karachi, he volunteered for a mission to attack the heavily defended Indian airbase at Jamnagar on 12 December. Middlecoat, as leader of the sortie, was entitled to egress first but instead told his younger wingman to depart ahead of him. Maintaining a high speed, he reduced altitude and managed to deflect the first missile fired at his Starfighter. However, with the lead MiG21 closing range, he was shot down over the Rann (Gulf) of Kutch. The Indian pilot who shot him down, Flight Lieutenant Bharat Bhushan Soni, saw Middlecoat eject and his parachute deploy. As he fell into the Arabian Sea, Soni requested for a pass over the crash site to see where he had landed but was denied the permission to do so as his command already had the coordinates of the location to send a rescue team from the Indian Navy; however, by the time potential rescuers arrived, Middlecoat was nowhere to be found. According to Soni, there is a 5 mile radius of shark infested waters at the area where the incident happened and Mervyn landed right in the middle of it. It was considered unlikely that he survived. Declared missing in action, he was posthumously awarded a Bar to the Sitara-i-Jurat. His remains were never found.

Such was Middlecoat's renown as a fighter pilot, leader and teacher that King Hussein of Jordan, a keen pilot, wrote to Middlecoat's widow, Jeanne, stating that his death was a personal loss. The King requested that Middlecoat be buried with the Jordanian flag under his head if he was to be wrapped in the Pakistani flag. Middlecoat had fought for the King earlier during the Six-Day War with Israel in June 1967.

Legacy A road in Mauripur was named Middlecoat Road in his honour. His sister, Norma, published True Children of the Raj under the name Helen Renaux in 2011, recalling their childhood.

Awards and decorations

Sitara-e-Jurat & Bar

(Star of Courage)

1. 1965 War

2. 1971 War (Posthumous)Tamgha-e-Diffa (General Service Medal)

1965 War ClaspSitara-e-Harb 1965 War (War Star 1965)Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971)

PosthumousTamgha-e-Jang 1965 War (War Medal 1965)Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War

(War Medal 1971)

PosthumousTamgha-e-Jamhuria (Republic Commemoration Medal)

1956