He commanded the RAF Station Kohat from 1943 to 1944 before moving to Air HQ as director of flying training.

After completing the higher command course at the Imperial Defence College, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the IAF in 1954.

His accidental death came as a shock to the Air Force and the nation and he was cremated with full military honours in New Delhi.

His paternal grandfather, Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee, pioneered several social and educational reforms in India and was a member of the Brahmo Samaj.

His maternal grandmother, Sarala Roy, was an educationist and social worker who founded the Gokhale Memorial Girls' School.

As a boy, he displayed an aptitude for a military career, probably inherited from his uncle, Flight Lieutenant Indra Lal Roy, who had joined the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.

[1] Mukerjee's elder sister Renuka Ray was a prominent freedom fighter, who became a member of the Indian parliament, cabinet minister and ambassador.

[1] In 1928, the British Government agreed to permit Indians to enter the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.

[3] Mukerjee sat for the Cranwell entrance examination, becoming one of the first six Indians selected to undergo two years of flying training at the college.

1 Squadron IAF was formed at Drigh Road in Karachi, with Flight Lieutenant Cecil Bouchier in command.

[7] At the outbreak of World War II, Coastal Defence Flights (CDFs) of the Indian Air Force Volunteer Reserve (IAFVR) were formed.

Mukerjee and his gunner removed ammunition from the rear cockpit-mounted Lewis machine gun and stuffed it into pairs of socks.

[citation needed] During this time, the British Indian Army officer and author Major Francis Yeats-Brown praised the professionalism and the efficiency of the IAF, based on his experience at the Kohat airbase.

[15] After handing over command to Aspy Engineer, Mukerjee subsequently moved to Air Headquarters, having been appointed director of flying training.

[18] The assets of the Indian Air Force (like other branches of the military) had to be divided between the dominions of India and Pakistan.

[11] After the outbreak of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, Mukerjee was promoted to the acting rank of air vice marshal on 15 November 1947.

He attended the course during 1953, along with Captain Ram Dass Katari, the senior Indian naval officer at that time.

His military service at the Air Headquarters from 1944, and having served as the SASO and Deputy Commander-in-Chief under the first three Chiefs of Independent India, fully qualified him for the top post.

When the Change in Designation Act, 1955, was passed, the title of "Commander-in-Chief" was replaced by Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).

[26] In 1939, Mukerjee married Sharda Mukherjee (née Pandit), who was from a prominent Maharashtrian family.

Mukerjee and Air Commodore (later ACM) Pratap Chandra Lal, then General Manager of the Indian Airlines Corporation were passengers on this flight.

After landing in Tokyo, on 8 November 1960, Mukerjee was having a meal in a restaurant with a friend, an Indian Navy officer.

[36] The Indian Government received tributes from around the world, conveyed by the ambassadors and military attachés in New Delhi.

[37] ACM Pratap Chandra Lal considered Mukerjee the foremost pioneer of military aviation in India.

[34] Aspy Engineer, a close associate of Mukerjee, assumed the role of CAS from 1 December 1960.

He issued a Special Order of the Day paying tribute to Mukerjee and called him the "Father of the Indian Air Force".

The Subroto Cup Football Tournament still helps find talented players from Indian schools.

[41] The Centre for Air Power Studies organises the Subroto Mukerjee International Seminar annually.