Chenai: R N Ratnam, a man in his 80s, reminisces his past in his house in Mylapore, as his wife brings him a hot cup of filter coffee. He lays out files containing newspaper clippings, black-and-white photographs and old letters. From the collage of memories that lies in front of him, he pulls out a photo of a man in a hat, leaning on an aircraft. “When I was a young man, I used to fly with my father in it,” he says as he points to the aircraft in the picture. “This was his official vehicle when the British government commissioned the project to him.”
US Ramasundaram (USR) — the man in the hat — was asked to build 13 aerodromes across south India within a year. “Little do we know today that Madras was bombed in the 1940s. The British wanted to either defend their colony or fly bombers from here — I don’t know. While the rest of us were evacuated to Salem, my father was asked to build these runways immediately,” says Ratnam as he picks up another photograph from the lot — a colour picture of a gold medal.
The Southern Aviation Circle was an organisation that was set up by the Royal Air force, India, which functioned under the Ministry of War during the British regime. The aim was to build airfields across the south (on priority) in view of the imminent threat of Japanese air attacks during World War II. Ratnam claims there was no time to even call for tenders and USR was given the authority to set up contracts with those who deemed most suitable.
“Due to unprecedented demand for airfields to meet the Japanese threat, airfields had to be ready, scattered over the whole province, with the least possible delay. USR had to commence work in all the 13 airfields over the whole of south from Vijagapattinam to Kayatar in Tinnelveli District,” writes NG Selvam, former chief engineer of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), who was posted as the technical PA to USR for this project.
Aerodromes sprouted in Madras, Ulundurpet, Tanjore, Tiruchy, Kaanadu Kaathan (Chettinad), Kayatar, Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Bangalore (Yelahanka) and Gannavaram (Vijaywada).
04/02/17 Sushmitha Ramakrishnan/New Indian Express
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US Ramasundaram (USR) — the man in the hat — was asked to build 13 aerodromes across south India within a year. “Little do we know today that Madras was bombed in the 1940s. The British wanted to either defend their colony or fly bombers from here — I don’t know. While the rest of us were evacuated to Salem, my father was asked to build these runways immediately,” says Ratnam as he picks up another photograph from the lot — a colour picture of a gold medal.
The Southern Aviation Circle was an organisation that was set up by the Royal Air force, India, which functioned under the Ministry of War during the British regime. The aim was to build airfields across the south (on priority) in view of the imminent threat of Japanese air attacks during World War II. Ratnam claims there was no time to even call for tenders and USR was given the authority to set up contracts with those who deemed most suitable.
“Due to unprecedented demand for airfields to meet the Japanese threat, airfields had to be ready, scattered over the whole province, with the least possible delay. USR had to commence work in all the 13 airfields over the whole of south from Vijagapattinam to Kayatar in Tinnelveli District,” writes NG Selvam, former chief engineer of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), who was posted as the technical PA to USR for this project.
Aerodromes sprouted in Madras, Ulundurpet, Tanjore, Tiruchy, Kaanadu Kaathan (Chettinad), Kayatar, Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Bangalore (Yelahanka) and Gannavaram (Vijaywada).
04/02/17 Sushmitha Ramakrishnan/New Indian Express
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