Meet man who became India’s first and only ace pilot to fight in World War I at 19, shot down nine German planes after…

Indra Lal Roy was an Indian fighter pilot who served in the British army. He served in the Royal Flying Corps and later, the Royal Air Force. He was on December 2, 1898 and died on July 22, 1918.

After schooling, he received a scholarship from Oxford University, which he rejected in order to fulfill his true dream - joining the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot.

He was just 19 when he shot down 10 German aircraft in a month during the last stages of the First World War. He was given a nickname of 'Laddie'. 

In April 1917, Roy was featured in Royal Flying Corps and he was ranked as a second lieutenant. Later in October, he joined No. 56 Squadron and was a member of A-Flight which was commanded by Richard Maybery, the flying ace captain. He then became India's first and only flying ace in 1918. He joined the RAF in Oct 1917 and was shot down and left in a French morgue. 

He recovered and came back in July the next year, shooting down 10 planes in 13 days before being shot down by the Fokker DVII fighters of  Jagstaffel 29 on the 22nd of July 1918. He was later felicitated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and buried at Estevelles Communal Cemetery in France

On his 100th birth anniversary, the Indian government issued a stamp in honour of his contributions, in 1998.

Later, his nephew Subroto Mukherjee became India's first-ever Air Chief. Indra Lal's elder brother, Paresh Lal Roy was renowned as the Father of Indian Boxing.