Captain Chelliah Kanagasabapathy, popularly known as Captain Pathy among his colleagues from British Royal Air Force celebrated his 100th birthday at his hotel in Trincomalee on 20 January. Captain Chelliah Kanagasabapathy from Uduvil, a village in Jaffna served in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during WWII. Capt. Pathy after completing his studies at Manipay Hindu, Jaffna Hindu Colleges and Ananda College, Colombo joined the RAF in 1941. He was among 18 Sri Lankans to be sent to Scarborough, England after which he was sent to Canada for further training in Neepawa, Manitoba.

"During one of my training sessions, at about 8000 ft above sea level, the engine of my plane ran out of fuel. I recall that it was dark at night and somehow I successfully managed to land the plane safely in the middle of a wheat field from where I was picked up by my instructor who praised me for my efforts," Capt Pathy said. Commenting on his role as an RAF pilot Capt.Pathy said: "During WWII I was enlisted in squadron no. 217. I flew Bristol Beaufighters, which was considered as one of the most difficult planes to fly in the world, and was involved in many operations. The one event I remember vividly is bombing German submarines over the coast of France. Once the war was over, I was posted as a Coastal Guard in Northern England. Eventually I moved back to Ceylon and joined Air India (AI) where I worked for 27 years. I received the war medal in 1944 for serving in the RAF."

Proudly claiming he was the first Lankan to fly a jet plane at that time with Air India (AI) he said that the American Boeing pilots who were sent to train the AI pilots singled him out as one of the best pilots. Capt Pathy also had flown the Indian troops to base during the Indo-China war and also flying PM Nehru from Jammu to Kashmir, where he went to meet Sheikh Abdullah, the Lion of Kashmir, to dissuade Kashmir from joining Pakistan."Nehru was with me in the cockpit and he generally talked about the weather," Capt. Pathy said.

After his retirement he worked at Air Ceylon for a while. Thereafter he started a hotel in Trincomalee."I trained both my sons to become pilots and they joined Singapore Airlines and have eventually become Captains. One of my sons retired and is currently taking care of the hotel. I eventually moved to Australia where I received honorary citizenship for having served in the RAF," Capt.Pathy said.

"I flew kites as a child and then I flew some of the greatest planes in this world. My life was very adventurous. My episode in Canada made me a man and I believe in the proverb that "a stitch in time saves nine". This is my life's story, " Capt.Pathy who is with enormous willpower even completing 100 years proudly narrated his story in retrospect.

(Courtesy-Confluence)

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