Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hegde
Encyclopedia
Vonthibettu Prabhakara Hegde (August 24, 1925 – ?) was a Squadron Leader
in the Indian Air Force
who was awarded the Vir Chakra
. The third highest military decoration in India for the services rendered by him during the Kashmir Operations carried out by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
. He originally hailed from an aristocratic Bunt
family in Vonthibettu, near Udupi, India
.
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
in the Indian Air Force
Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...
who was awarded the Vir Chakra
Vir Chakra
Vir Chakra is an Indian gallantry award presented for acts of bravery in the battlefield. Award of the decoration carried with it the right to use Vr.C. as a postnominal abbreviation Vir Chakra is an Indian gallantry award presented for acts of bravery in the battlefield. Award of the decoration...
. The third highest military decoration in India for the services rendered by him during the Kashmir Operations carried out by India during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
The India-Pakistan War of 1947-48, sometimes known as the First Kashmir War, was fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four wars fought between the two newly independent nations...
. He originally hailed from an aristocratic Bunt
Bunt (community)
Bunt , previously spelled Bant, are a community of erstwhile nobility, feudatory and gentry from the region of Tulu Nadu in the south west of India which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala...
family in Vonthibettu, near Udupi, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.