Years later after a major global exercise that involved reaching the relatives of these war heroes, the IAF managed to track down 71 families. Sixty of them have come down to Delhi from as far as Israel and Canada to be presented tomorrow with the emblem of honour and a scroll of citation.

The widows, children or parents of these gallant men will also be given Rs 1 lakh each by Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis as a token recognition of the sacrifices made for the country.

An IAF spokesman said after the major search in various parts including the United Kingdom, US, Canada and Israel, 92 families of the war heroes responded to an appeal made through registered letters sent to the last known address, and through newspaper advertisement. But in 21 cases, it was found that the relatives were toodistantly connected.

In 1947-48, 31 Air Force men were killed in conflict and in the war where the IAF was involved in 1962 against China, there was only one casualty, that of Sqn Ldr V K Sehgal. The 1965 war against Pakistan saw 40 IAF men die, while in the 1971 Bangladesh Operations, 49 men laid down their lives. Six were killed in Operation Meghdoot and five lost their lives in the Kargil conflict this year. Eighty one of them were officers and the others airmen.

The wife, Sybia, and two children of Flt Lt L M Sasson who died in a Canberra on December 4, 1971, have come to the Capital from Jerusalem.

Surekha, wife of Flt Lt P V Apte who was killed in a Canberra on the same day in 1971, is remarried and settled in Canada. She has told the IAF that the honour should go to Flt Lt Apte's parents. But the relatives of another officer, Flt Lt A R Da' Costa killed in action on December 4, 1971, in a Hunter have written from Mississauga in Canada that they will come.

The widow of one of the heroes of the1971 conflict with Pakistan, Param Vir Chakra winner Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon is also coming from Jalandhar to be honoured.

The IAF managed to track down the family of Lance Corporal Madan Prakash who was killed on December 31, 1947. The families of Sqn Ldr Ajay Ahuja and Sqn Ldr R Pundhir who were killed in Kargil, will also be in Delhi to be honoured.

Tomorrow, the families of the officers and men will pay floral tributes at the war memorial at Air Force station, Palam, before they are honoured by the Air Chief. Air Chief Marshal Tipnis and other officers will also lay wreaths at the war memorial.

A photo exhibition of 100-odd of the IAF officers and men killed in action will be opened at the Air Force Auditorium in Delhi Cantonment,

For the past two days, the families of the war heroes have been staying together at the IAF Senior Citizen's Home in Tughlakabad here, the first incumbents of the home. A special two-day medical camp was also organised for the families. The widow of one ofthe heroes of the 1971 conflict winner Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon is also coming from Jalandhar to be honoured.