First woman IAF officer Wing Commander Vijayalakshmi Ramanan passed away

The first woman officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Wing Commander Vijayalakshmi Ramanan, passed away in Bengaluru at the age of 96.

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Key-Points

Born in 1924, Vijayalakshmi, an obstetrician and gynaecologist by training, had originally joined the Indian Army in 1955 on what only meant to be a short-service commission.

Instead, she was seconded to the Indian Air Force to become its first woman commissioned officer and ended up staying in the service for 24 years.

She was officially known as Officer 4971. By 1979, the year of her retirement, she held the rank of Wing Commander.

Two years before, she had been awarded the Vishist Seva medal by President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for meritorious service.