Portal:West Bengal/Selected biography/4
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Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee (Bengali: সুব্রত মুখার্জী) OBE, (5 March 1911 – 8 November 1960) born in Kolkata, was educated in India as well as England. He joined Royal Air Force and later was one of the first recruits of the Indian Air Force. He had an illustrious career and had been awarded with many honours until his untimely accidental death in 1960. He took over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force on 1 April 1954, in the rank of Air Marshal. When the Change in Designation Act, 1955, was passed, the title of "Commander-in-Chief" was replaced by Chief of the Air Staff, IAF. Thus Mukerjee became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief as well as Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. He has been called the "Father of the Indian Air Force".
