The Indian Air Force (IAF) has finally purchased the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Bar from a London Auction house. The award was presented to Wing Commander Karun Krishna ‘Jumbo’ Majumdar, the first Indian officer to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Who is Karun Krishna ‘Jumbo’ Majumdar?

• Majumdar was born in Kolkata in 1913.
• He was the grandson of WC Banjerjee, the first president of Indian National Congress.
• Majumdar is famously referred as the ‘Father of the IAF’.
• Majumdar was commissioned to No. 1 Squadron in the mid-1930s. Majumdar was an extra ordinary pilot and he was highly skilled. 
• On February 17, 1945, Wing Commander Jumbo Majumdar was killed during an aerobatic sortie in a Hawker Hurricane.

The awards were planned to be sold in an auction house in London. The IAF intervened and bought the decorations, barely a few days before they were to go under the hammer. Majumdar’s awards will be brought back to India and displayed at the Air Force Museum.