No.110 'Hyderabad' Squadron: A gift from the Nizam of Hyderabad to the RAF in 1917 – and the IAF in 1947

A carved mahogany crest, circa 1945, of No.110 Squadron RAF, depicting a demi-tiger, a symbol extracted from the Asaf Jahi dynasty's heraldry.

In 1917 the Nizam paid for a squadron of DH9As for the Royal Flying Corps. They flew and fought in the skies over the grim battlefields of France. Little did he, or anyone else at the time, realise that 27 years later 110 Squadron would be flying and fighting over the forbidding green jungles of Burma. And, more importantly, like so many RAF squadrons in that theatre, it would also include Indians who would be learning to fly, arm, maintain and operate aircraft in preparation of having an independent air force of their own in 1947: the IAF.