Mahinder Singh Pujji, was a Royal Air Force pilot and an Indian Air Force officer during the Second World War. He served with RAF Squadron 43 and 258 in Britain between 1940-1.

Mahinder Singh Pujji first arrived in the UK in August 1940, responding to an advertisement in Indian newspapers to join the RAF. He was seconded to RAF depot Uxbridge on 8 October 1940, until he completed his military flying training. He was awarded his RAF Wings on 16 April 1941. He joined RAF Squadron 43, before transferring to Squadron 258 at Kenley (South of London), flying Hurricanes in sorties over the English Channel. He was part of a group of twenty four Indian RAF pilots who were selected to train in England. Of the twenty four, eighteen successfully passed their training course. Six, Pujji among them, became fighter pilots, the rest bomber pilots. He asked for permission to fly with his turban, a request which his RAF superiors granted, designing a special cap that would fit over his turban so that he could still use his headphones and oxygen mask. While in London, he was a member of the India League.

He was stationed subsequently with the RAF in North Africa in September 1941 before being transferred to the Indian Air Force, flying in operations in the North West Frontier Province between 1942-3. In December 1943 he was posted to No. 6 Squadron on the Arakan Coast in the Burma theatre, where he flew tactical reconnaissance missions. In 1944, he transferred from No. 6 Squadron to No. 4 Squadron. He was a squadron leader with the Indian Air Force in Burma 1944-5, making him one of the few Indian pilots to have served in all three theatres of war. For his outstanding leadership and courage, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He settled in the UK in the 1970s.

Jayapal Jayakar was the son of M. R. Jayakar, a former judge of the Federal Court of India. He was sent to Oxford in 1932 by his father who enlisted the help of Dhanvathi Rama Rau and Edward Thompson to look after him when he arrived in Britain. Jayakar was unable to gain admission into Oxford University at the first attempt but remained in Oxford to study for the entrance exams, and became a member of the Oxford Majlis and Lotus Club in the meantime. He passed through Oxford in 1937 and married a British woman. Jayakar was interested in flying and became a Pilot Officer. The picture above shows Jayakar on 19 January 1940 giving Link Trainer instruction which trains pilots in a non-flying aeroplane. He was the first Indian to receive a commission in the RAF.

Indra Lal Roy was born in Calcutta to father Piera Lal Roy and mother Lolita. He attended Colet Court Preparatory School, the feeder school for St Paul's, from the age of ten and then went on to St Paul's School, London. Roy played rugby and was captain of swimming. At St Paul's, he was in the school cadet force from September 1914 until March 1917 when he left to join the Royal Flying Corps.

Despite wearing glasses, he was declared fit for military service to fight in the First World War. Roy was appointed to a temporary commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps in July 1917. He was posted to the 56 Squadron in October 1917 in France.

On 6 November 1917, Roy crashed his aircraft and returned to Britain for more training. On 19 June 1918, he returned to France where he joined Captain George McElroy's 40 Squadron. He proved himself an excellent fighter pilot, but on 22 July 1918, when on observation patrol over the trenches, he was shot down over Carvin, France.

In September 1918, Roy was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. He is buried in Estevelles communal cemetary, Pas-de-Calais, France.