During the following days, the PAF Sabres continued to play a decisive part in the battle of Chawinda, which became a graveyard for the enemy's Centurion tanks. And despite sporadic sorties, the IAF was powerless to intervene, as indicated by the conspicuous lack of contact with enemy aircraft experienced by the PAF strike force. In the extreme south, the small close support force under Squadron Leader A A Randhawa, operating from Mauripur, completed 33 missions against Indian army targets in the Rajasthan area with considerable success, claiming up to 30 tanks and 150 vehicles destroyed or damaged, as well as helping to disrupt the enemy build up and his lines of communications. Most of the Mauripur F-86 effort, however, was directed towards CAP and air defence, which together accounted for 160 sorties. On 19 September in an encounter over Chawinda, PAF fighters shot down an Indian Gnat, whose pilot F/L MayaDev Ejected and became POW.

A section of four Sabers led by S/L Azim Daudpota were interrupted during their attacks on Indian armour in the Alhar (Sialkot) area, on which they had expended most of their ammunition, by the arrival of a similar number of IAF gnats. S/L Daudpota recalls:

"We punched tanks and my numbers two and three broke hard away from Gnats. But before they could get clear, my No 3 F/L S.M. Ahmed, received several hits around the tail of aircraft from the twin 30mm cannon of one of the Gnats. In the meantime, I saw two of the Gnats breaking off to the right. I immediately reversed to get behind the second enemy aircraft but it was too fast for my Sabre. I kept up the pursuit for some time but eventually it got away. My No 4, F/L Saiful Azam who had earlier lost contact with the formation managed to get behind one of the Gnats and shot it down. The pilot, Fit Lt Maya Dev ejected and was captured by our troops."

As it turned out, honours were more or less even in this combat, since although F/L Ahmed got his damaged Sabre back to Sargodha, it failed to respond to the controls when landing and stalled in and crashed on the end of the runway from about 20ft. Miraculously, F/L Ahmed was thrown clear when the F-86 hit the ground and exploded and he was rescued amid a hail of sporadic fire from his own guns. He was unconscious for a day or more, but eventually recovered. PAF claims for 19 September in addition to the Gnat included 19 tanks and six vehicles destroyed.

The subsequent official Indian version of this air combat was that the four Gnats, led by Sqn Ldr Denzil Keelor, with Fig Off Rai as his No 2. Fit Lt V. Kapila as sub-section leaders, and Fit Lt Maya Dev as the No 4, were detailed as escorts for four Mystere IVAs scheduled for close support in the Chawinda area. It continued:

"Suddenly Maya Dev called out a warning that four Pakistani Sabres were approaching to attack the Mysteres. The four Gnat pilots spotted the Sabres on their left above them at about 4.000ft. Denzil Keelor and his pilots were a bare 300ft above the ground but started a shallow left-hand turn and the Indian squadron commander ordered Kapila to engage the nearest Sabre."

"Despite violent evasive action by the Sabre. Kapila's Gnat was reported to have got on to its tail. After the Indian pilot had jettisoned his drop tanks he slipped into a firing position and reducing the distance to 500 yards gave a short burst - which at once went home.' The Sabre was then said to have slowed down., and Kapila fired again from 300 yards. This is long-range shooting, even for 30mm cannon. Kapila admits that he did not see the F-86 hit the ground but Keelor and Rai, who had been following him and Maya Dev watched the end of the Sabre. After Kapila's second burst, it spun and hit the ground exploding on impact. Keelor called out to Kapila confirming his kill."

Fit Lt Ahmed's Sabre certainly did hit the ground but not before it had flown all the way back to Sargodha. And the Indian account does not explain how Gnat pilot 6508 F/ Lt V. M. Maya Dev came to join the ranks of Indian prisoners-of-war in Pakistan on 19 September. It does go on, however to claim that another Sabre in this formation was also shot down, by Sqn Ldr Keelor. This was also reported to have been hit from a range of less than- 500 yards which is pretty fancy shooting.

"A couple of bursts were enough to send the Sabre crashing to the ground. It was only when the Sabre hit the gound that Keelor realised that he himself was skimming the tree tops."

The only problem with this Indian claim is that PAF have no record of losing another Sabre that day. This type of propaganda created the legend of the Gnat as a 'Sabre Slayer'.

In the north of West Pakistan, 19 Squadron continued its close support activities throughout the war, under 'Nosey' Haider, flying a total of 571 sorties. After the critical events of 7 September, most of 19 Squadron's efforts were assigned mainly to ground attack rather than air defence or CAP, although a few sorties were also devoted to counter air commitments. Approved targets were passed to the squadron from Air Headquarters but specific details of tactics were left to the unit commander. One solution adopted by 19 Squadron to the problem of target location was simply to go in low and head towards the heaviest ground fire.

No fewer than 21 hits by ground fire-mostly from small arms-were registered on its 20 aircraft, but 19 Squadron was unique among the PAF Sabre units in not losing a single machine from its establishment during the entire period of hostilities. This was all the more remarkable for the diversity and intensity of its attacks, reflected in it being credited with 14 aircraft destroyed and six damaged, 74 tanks destroyed and 68 damaged, and 140 vehicles and 16 guns destroyed.