Mervyn Middlecoat

Mervyn Middlecoat
Mervyn Middlecoat, 1965
Birth name	Mervyn Leslie Middlecoat
Nickname(s)	Commander Leslie
Born	1940
Died	12 December 1971 Okha, India
Buried at	Remains not found
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Air Force
Years of service	1954–1971
Rank	Wing Commander (Lieutenant Colonel)
Service number	PAF-3550
Unit	No. 9 Squadron Griffins
Commands held	No. 9 Squadron Griffins
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Operation Amritsar Radar Arab Israel war 1968
Awards	Sitara-e-Jurat (1965) Sitara-e-Jurat (1971) Sitara-i-Basalat (1971)

Wing Commander Mervyn Leslie Middlecoat (July 1940 – 12 December 1971) was an Anglo-Indian fighter pilot in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) who was involved in a number of aerial battles during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistani wars, before being shot down on 12 December 1971. He was one of a number of distinguished Pakistani strike and fighter pilots of the period. Before his death he was stationed at Mauripur, Karachi, Pakistan where he flew the F-104 Starfighter.

Middlecoat was born into an Anglo-Indian family in Ludhiana, India, in July 1940. His parents were Percy and Daisy Middlecoat. He received his early education at St. Anthony's High School (Lahore) and Lawrence College Murree. Middlecoat joined the PAF, passed out of the 16th General Duty Pilot (GDP) Course in 1954, and won the Best Performance Trophy in ground subjects.

Soft-spoken and mild mannered, Middlecoat was considered to be the epitome of an officer and a gentleman, besides also being an outstanding pilot. Although he flew a number of different aircraft during his service career, he mastered both the F-86 Dabre and the F-104 Starfighter.

On 27 September 1957, he married Jeanne Viegas, the daughter of a Christian family living in Lahore. On 21 October 1959, a daughter named Leslie Ann was born to the Middlecoats while he was stationed at Mauripur, Karachi.

Middlecoat's prowess as a pilot and leader were recognized early in his career and when Pakistan became the beneficiary of US military aid in the 1950s, he was selected, along with his close friend, Allauadin "Butch" Ahmed, to be the first two PAF officers to go to the US to train on the F-86 Sabre. This was a huge honor for a Christian officer. Some years later, the same two officers were again selected as PAF pioneers to go to the US to train on the more advanced F-104 Starfighter. The F-104 was inducted in the PAF's No. 9 Squadron (known as Griffins, which is the first fighter squadron of the PAF) and went on to be the "bogeyman" aircraft of Indian Air Force piots during the September 1965 war. (In fact, one terrified IAF pilot landed his Gnat in surrender at a forward PAF base after being pounced on by a F-104.)