Battle of Boyra

Battle of Boyra
Part of India Pakistan war of 1971, East Pakistan Air Operations (1971) & Bangladesh Liberation War
Date 22 November 1971 (2.5 Minutes) Location Boyra Salient, which protrudes into East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from north-eastern India. Result Indian Victory Boyra Bulge fell into Indian hands Tactical retreat of Pakistan Army
Belligerents
India	Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
Flt. Lt. Roy Andrew Massey	Wing Commander Afzal Chaudhry.
Units involved
No. 22 Squadron IAF	No. 14 Squadron "Tail Choppers"
Strength
4x Folland Gnat	3x Canadair Sabre Mk6's.
Casualties and losses
None	2 PAF Canadair Sabre shot down. One Sabre was damaged but recovered to land at Dacca 2 PAF pilots captured.[1]

The Battle of Boyra was a ground and aerial battle that was fought on 22 November 1971 between the India and Pakistan.

The Pakistani Army was engaged in combat against the Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrilla fighters) and a division-sized detachment of the Indian Army^[2] during the Battle of Garibpur as part of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Pakistani ground forces requested air cover and close air support from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The PAF aircraft provided support to the Pakistani ground units. A detachment of four Folland Gnats was moved to Dum Dum (Kolkata Airport) from its parent base at Kalaikunda, near Kharagpur, over 100 km southwest, to intercept the Pakistan Air Force aircraft. The detachment was commanded by Flight Lieutenant Roy Andrew Massey.

The battle is significant as it was the first engagement between the air forces of India and Pakistan during the war and is seen as a culmination of the Battle of Garibpur in which the Mitro Bahini (the alliance of Mukti Bahini and Indian Armed Forces was named as Mitro Bahini meaning Allied Forces in Bengali) at battalion strength successfully invaded and captured area along the Garibpur.

Both sides suffered casualties during the battle, which also took place before the formal start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.