Mr Eric Sprawson, a retired Group Captain of Royal Air Force (RAF), joined the school as the Founder Principal on 24 December, 1952. He possessed a vast experience of teaching at various institutes of the subcontinent. After his release from the RAF, he joined the Indian Military Academy Dehra Dun as an Instructor. After the expiry of his contract at Dehra Dun, he joined the Chiefs’ College, Rajkot as Principal. Being already a member of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, he was called up in the late war to serve as a bomber pilot. He was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross for his exceptional flying skills during the war. He was also awarded membership of the Royal Air Force Escapers Club, a club restricted to only those who escaped from enemy captivity. After the war was over, he resumed his teaching practice at Rapton School England, and then went out to do some administrative work at Ben Ghazi. In 1952, he was selected by the Air Service Training Ltd Hamble to serve as Principal, Royal Pakistan Air Force Public School Sargodha for a contract period of five years. He remained the founder Principal till the expiry of his contract on 24 December, 1957. He left the school for London. After a few months stay there, he joined his son in Italy. He died there and was buried in there.

The First Induction

         In 1952, the first entry of 100 boys was selected from the then East and West Pakistan. Of the chosen100, 02 boys did not join the school. On the last day of February, the first batch of new boys arrived. They came on the Chennab Express from Karachi. Others arrived in small groups from other places, and 28 came by Bristol Freighter from East Pakistan .The course beginning from class VII was to be culminated in Senior Cambridge after 5 years from the Overseas Cambridge University, UK. However, the boys were allowed to opt for the National System of Education culminating in Matriculation from Rawalpindi Board. It was decided that the first three entries would not be bonded to join the PAF. The present day School Sick Quarters (SSQ) served as the first Academic Block.

The Odeon Block

        Two boarding houses were established in the Odeon Block with the names Tempest and Fury. These were two fighter-bomber aircraft, which then equipped the Royal Pakistan Air Force Bases in Pakistan. A total of 47 boys were allotted the Tempest House on the ground floor, while 51 were allotted the Fury House on the upper floor and two rooms on the ground floor. Mr Godfrey Stott took over as Housemaster Tempest and Mr George Douglas Hamilton as Housemaster Fury House. On 01 March, 1953, Mr G Stott became the Deputy Headmaster of the school, handing over the Tempest House to Mr J C Buckman. Another change took place when Mr Hamilton handed over the Fury House to Mr Kearsley due to illness. Mr Kearsley, however, left in the summer of 1954, handing over Fury House to Mr Hamilton again. On 30 December, 1954 Mr Hamilton left the school, handing over the Fury House to Harold Bertie Gilbert for some months. In August, 1955 Mr M J Power took over the Fury House from Mr Gilbert.

The Marble Plaque

        On 16 December, 1953 a Speech Day was held at the school. The Guest of Honour, His Excellency Mian Ameen-ud-Din, the Governor of Punjab unveiled a marble plaque on the occasion that commemorated the foundation of the Royal Pakistan Air Force Public School, Sargodha. Air Marshal Sir Hugh Walmsley of the Royal Air Force and high officials of Pakistan Air Force and Army attended the ceremony. The plaque now decorates the wall of the school headquarters.

The Chigwell Shield

          In 1953, some friends from Chigwell School , which is located in the suburbs of London, visited the Deputy Headmaster, Mr G Stott, who had been a Housemaster in Chigwell before coming to Sargodha . They presented him a challenge shield for the overall champion’s trophy in Inter House Sports Competitions. The shield carries the Sargodha badge in the top left (the position of honour) and the Chigwell badge in the right top corner. The latter is the joint coat of arms of the Archbishop of York and the founder of   Chigwell School that dates back to 1629. Tempest and Fury Houses first won the shield in 1954 together. Presently, the shield is lying in the School History Room.

The New Houses

          In 1955, four residential blocks were constructed at the school. Two blocks carried the same old names, Tempest and Fury. The other two blocks were given the names Attacker and Sabre. The Tempest House shed half its members to occupy the Sabre House while the Fury House shed half its members to the Attacker House. Mr I W G Cameron took over as Housemaster Sabre House and Mr A W Lawrence as Housemaster Attacker House.

The Caretaker Principal

          The Board of Governors headed by Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Air Marshal Asghar Khan, chose Mr Hugh Catchpole to succeed Mr Sprawson. He was then Principal Cadet College, Hassanabdal, and, as such, could not take over immediately. Therefore, Mr G Stott, the then School Headmaster was appointed as the caretaker Principal. He continued to fill this position till 19 February, 1958, and then went to join PAF Public School, Lower Topa as the Principal.

Mr Catchpole arrives

        Mr Hugh Catchpole was born on 26 May, 1907 in Ipswich, a small town of a pretty rural county, Suffolk in England. He did his Master’s from Oxford University. Before starting his career as a teacher he did some flying in the civil and played cricket for the Suffolk County Eleven. His enviable career in education spanned 69 years, beginning in 1928 as Assistant Master at the Prince of Wales' Royal Indian Military College now Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehra Dun, India. He went on to become the Principal of RIMC in 1948, and held this post till his retirement in 1953. The first Pakistani Air Chief, Air Marshal Asghar Khan and his successor Air Marshal Noor Khan had been his students at RIMC. After retiring from RIMC, he came to Pakistan, to become the founder Principal of Cadet College Hasan Abdal. After expiry of his contract with Hasan Abdal in 1958, he joined PAF Public School Sarghoda as Principal. He stayed there till 1967 and then joined Abbottabad Public School as Head of English Department, a post he held till the last day of his life.

He died at the age of 90, on 01 February, 1997 at CMH, Rwalpindi in Islamabad, surrounded by Sargodhians, Rimcolians, Abdalians, and Abbotonians, whom he loved immensely. Just 02 months before he died, he had to inaugurate a guest house named after him at Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehra Dun. He had given a bountiful donation of Rs.1.5 million for the guest house and planned to shift there after retiring from Abbotabad Public School. In his will he wished to be buried in Cadet College Hasan Abdal, and donate all balances of his account to institutions he had been associated with. More than Rs. 8 million were donated by him to different institutions including Ipswich School, Suffolk, U.K, PAF Public School Sargodha, Rashtriya Indian Military College Dehra Dun, Cadet College Hasan Abdal, and Abbottabad Public School.

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1968, the Commander's Badge of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and Sitara-e-Imtiaz (SI) in 1979, for his lifelong meritorious services for the cause of education.

(The Commander's Badge of the Order of the British Empire(C B E) is a cross enameled pale blue with a crimson ring bearing the Order’s motto “For God and the Empire”. The ring surrounds King George V's image who established the Order on 04 June, 1917. The cross is suspended from a crown and worn on the left chest with a bow of ribbon. The ribbon is made of rose pink satin lined with pearl grey silk. A pearl grey central stripe is added for the military officers. The size of the badge varies by rank. The higher ranks have slightly larger badges)

 The C-in-C visits the School

          On 10 March, 1960 Air Marshal and Begum Asghar Khan accompanied by the C-in-C, Iranian Air Force, Major General Khatimi, visited the school. Air Marshal and Begum Asghar Khan paid another visit to the school as Guests of Honour on the Founder’s Day held on 18 December, 1960. That year the school produced the best academic result of its history, 19 out of 20 candidates cleared Senior Cambridge. No boy failed in Matriculation. 89.7% passed in 1st Division, three achieving scholarship standards. The result won the school an award of Rs.5000/- from the Board of Secondary Education.

The Glider Training starts

          In 1960, the school formed No 6 Wing of Shaheen Air Training Corps at PAF Base, Sargodha to train the students in gliding. Principal PAF Public School Sargodha was appointed the first Officer Commanding (OC) of the wing. The glider instructors appointed were Flt Lt M I Beg and Flt Sgt Zahoor. The same year, the Air Headquarters made it compulsory for all boys joining the school to join the PAF. Further, it was decided that those found unfit for the Flying Branch would join the Engineering Branch after passing FSc. Hence FSc classes started in September that year.

The C-in-C attends the Boxing Final

          On 16 December, 1963 C-in-C PAF, Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s visit to Sargodha Base coincided with the Inter House Boxing Final at the School. Mr. Catchpole invited the C-in-C to be the chief guest. The C-in-C consented to grace the occasion. He witnessed the final and presented cups to the winners. Tempest House won the competition.

The Indo Pak War 1965

          In September 1965, the historical event of the Indo-Pak War took place. Hence, the school was closed down for about six weeks. The boys from the then East Pakistan and remote areas of West Pakistan were evacuated to Lower Topa and the rest dispersed to their homes. During the 18-day war (from 6 to 23 September), the Indian Air Force carried out 59 air raids on PAF Base Sargodha. However, the school campus, despite being right adjacent to the base, suffered no damage except a few broken windows.

The School Reopens

          The school re-opened on 20 October, 1965. The Founders’ Day was held on 26 February, 1966, and for the first time no guests were invited except the Risalpur Cadets. They also could not attend the function due to non-availability of service aircraft. The new C-in-C PAF Air Marshal Nur Khan, another student of Mr Catchpole, graced the occasion as the Guest of Honour. In his address, the Chief Guest thanked the Principal for inviting him on the occasion, and particularly mentioned contribution of the Old Sargodhians in the September War. He said: You all here have a fine tradition to live upto… The C-in-C also promised to assist in the construction of a mosque at the school.

The Beginning of a New Era

     The year 1967 was unique in more than one respect. It marked a new era in the history of the school. The name was changed from PAF Public School to PAF College Sargodha. The four houses Tempest, Fury, Attacker and Sabre were also renamed as Younus, Iqbal, Munir and Rafiqui respectively after the names of our great air warriors who laid down their lives in the defence of their motherland during the 1965 War. The name of the school magazine was also changed from “The Sargodhian” to “Shahbaz”.

A major development was the appointment of the first Pakistani Principal, Mr Abdul Rehman Qureshi. Mr Catchpole left the school after meritorious service of 9½ years to join Abbotabad Public School as a Senior English Teacher. Now the whole staff comprised Pakistani teachers. Another transition took place as the Senior Cambridge was replaced by the National System of Education. The school was affiliated with the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education, Rawalpindi.

Topians join Sargodha

         In August, 1967 the Lower Topa School was also amalgamated into PAF Public School Sargodha. The Topians were accommodated in the Odeon Block and they formed Alam and Allauddin houses. Alam House was named after the living legend of September 1965 War, Wing Commander Mohammad Mahmood Alam (SJ with Bar) who shot down five Indian Hunters in less than a minute, a feat unprecedented and unsurpassed in the history of air warfare. Allaudin House was named after the great air warrior, Squadron Leader Allauddin Ahmed ‘Butch’(SJ) who laid down his life in the line of duty on 13 September, 1965 while blasting an Indian ammunition train at Gurdaspur. The first floor of the Odeon Block formed Alam House and the ground floor formed Allauddin House.

Degree Classes start

          The college continued to function as a Public School until in 1973. When the requirement at PAF Academy, Risalpur were raised to the degree level; the college started functioning as a Degree College. The college started imparting full military training to the aviation cadets of both the GD (P) and Engineering branches, which was followed by the flying training phase at PAF Academy , Risalpur. However, in 1985, BSc classes were shifted to Risalpur, and once again only FSc classes were conducted at the college. The institution, despite its changed role, continued grooming young boys into men of splendid character and merit. Mr Rehman Quraishi, the Principal, left no stone unturned in keeping the good name and repute of the institution aloft. He made a brave and successful effort to bring military discipline in consonance with the academic discipline. He left the college in January, 1984. Soon after his departure from Sargodha, he took the charge of Aitchison College, Lahore as Principal. He was followed by Gp Capt C M. Latif, Air Cdre M Akram Lodhi and Gp Capt (later Air Cdre) Fareed Ali Shah respectively. The latter was made the first Commandant of the institution in December, 1987. With the departure of Air Cdre M Akram Lodhi the designation of the Principal was kept in abeyance.

Revival of the Public School         

In 1990, a review of the PAF intake requirements was made, which highlighted the excellent contributions made by this college as a public school. It was, therefore, decided to revive the institution to its previous role of a public school, imparting education from class VIII to FSc to young boys who would join the PAF as fighter pilots and Aeronautical Engineers, and whose expenses would be borne by the PAF. Hence in 1990, the 94th GD (P) and 39 CAE courses became the last entries of aviation cadets to pass through PAF College Sargodha, to join PAF Academy Risalpur for further training.

On reopening of the college as a public school, all the eight student houses were renamed as Attacker, Falcon, Fury, Halifax , Mirage, Sabre, Starfighter, and Tempest. Two entries of 100 students each were inducted in the 8th and 9th classes in January, 1991.The entries were numbered as 23rd and 24th to mark continuation with 22nd, the last entry before transition. Later, the strength of the college was raised to 440.

Air Cdre Fareed Ali Shah (442-T), a former Sargodhian, was appointed as the Commandant to supervise the transition of PAF College Sargodha from a Degree Science College to a typical Public School from December 1987 to April 1991.He was followed by Air Cdre Bilal Ahmad Khan (461-F) from April 1991 to January 1993, and later by Air Cdre Imtiaz Hyder (457-T) from January 1993 to November 1993.

To achieve the objective of running PAF College Sargodha on the lines of a Public School system meeting the requirements of the military training doctrine, the Air Headquarters decided to appoint a very senior Sargodhian AVM (Retd) Raja Aftab Iqbal (119-F ) as Commandant of PAF College Sargodha. He took charge in November 1993 and continued to serve for a record period of eight years till November, 2001. During this time a number of projects were completed, providing the most modern training aids and implements for the college. These new additions included the latest WICOM language laboratory, a modern computer laboratory, an audio-visual room equipped with a multimedia projector, a well-built gymnasium and construction of new buildings for two student houses.

AVM (Retd) Raja Aftab Iqbal left the college in November 2001. His successor, another Sargodhian, Air Cdre (Retd) M Abdul Qadir Sargaana (T374-F), took over as Commandant in November, 2001. But soon the designation of Commandant was renamed as Principal while the Principal was renamed first as 2nd in Command and then as Vice Principal. The present designation is more in keeping with the ethos of a Public School. The institution has also resumed its old name of PAF Public School Sargodha. This name is more compatible with its envisaged role: the role of taking good care of the mental and physical growth of young boys. The School prospered a lot under the leadership of Air Cdre (Retd) M Abdul Qadir Sargaana. A number of renovation projects were completed including a newly-built tea break area, a stadium, the eye-catching front elevations of the Mess and Canteen and their much-improved interiors. Now, the four old Houses have a better living environment with renovated bathrooms, changing areas and tiled floors. The auditorium has been equipped with a state of the art sound system to amuse the students during weekend cinema. Courtesy Lt Gen Khalid Ahmed Kidwai (615-S) now we have an additional computer lab established at the school. The PAF financed lab has also been upgraded with P4 computers. The local area network and Internet facility has been extended to all the eight houses. The school has launched its own website to keep pace with the ever-growing age of Information Technology.

The School History Room

 A School History Room was developed in 1990, where achievements of the young and old students of the school are displayed in a befitting manner. Souvenirs like the uniforms of former Chiefs of the Air Staff like Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan   ( 69-F ) and Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat (679-F) both Furians, are unique to this room. The former also held the appointment of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC). Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed (767-F) is the third Furian to have reached the exalted status of the Chief of the Air Staff. Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed also has the distinction of serving as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Air Marshals Masood Hatif, Shafique Haider, Aliuddin, Shahid Zulfiqar, Saeed Anwar, Pervez Akhtar Nawaz, Sarfaraz Arshad Toor, Arif Pervaiz, Masood Akhtar and Raashid Kaleem are a few of the Old Sargodhians who attained the three star status form yet another luminous chapter in the history of PAF Public School Sargodha. Amongst them Air Marshals Masood Hatif, Shafique Haider, Aliuddin and Shahid Latif have the distinction of becoming Vice Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force.

         Sargodhians have kept up their exalted record of excellence and established their quest for the extraordinary in the Army as well. General Ahsan Salim Hyat (447-S) and General Ehsanul Haq (589-F) rose to the coveted rank of four star General and both were appointed as Vice Chief of the Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee respectively. Additionally, Lt Gen G M Malik (57-A), Lt Gen Humayun Bangash (102-S), Lt Gen Khalid Ahmed Kidwai (615-S), Lt Gen Arif Hayat Malik and Lt Gen Safdar Hussain are some of the inspiring Sargodhians whose glorious achievements the young lot would love to emulate.

Sargodhians have also earned laurels for the school in Bangladesh. Four of them, AVM (Retd) Sultan Mahmood (267-F), AVM (Retd) Mumtazuddin Ahmed (295-T) and AVM (Retd) Rafiq-ul-Islam (693-T) have the distinction of being the ex Air Chiefs of Bangladesh Air Force, while AVM Fakhr-ul-Azam (694-T) is the present Air Chief. Maj Gen Amjad Khan Chaudhry (61-A), Maj Gen Muzzamil (65-F), and Maj Gen Moeenuddin Ahmed (815-F) are the other Sargodhians who have risen to prominent positions in Bangladesh Army. Maj Gen Moeen was elevated to the rank of Lt Gen and appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, Bangladesh Army on 15 June, 2005. He is the first Sargodhian to have risen to the status of four star General in Bangladesh.

British Principal Arrives

With the departure of Air Cdre (Retd) Sargaana, the tradition of the English Principal at PAF Public School Sargodha was re-borne. Mr Wayne Christopher Hignett arrived in March, 2007. He landed in Islamabad immediately after passing a full inspection on Friday from his previous school in Manchester. Immediately things started to change and the locals commented that he had even brought the British weather with him. Born in 1956 in Liverpool, Mr Wayne Christopher Hignett gained his first teaching qualification from the University of Sussex in 1979. He later studied for his qualification to be a Principal at the University of Liverpool. In addition, he gained an MBA in Information Technology from UCLAN and a Master of Research in Computer Engineering from the University of Manchester. As a young man, he held the distinction of being the youngest Senior Housemaster in England and gained an overseas post graduate scholarship. He taught briefly in Turkey before gaining promotion to a new school in Saudi Arabia. He taught the children of the Saudi royal family and made so many friends there; he misses Saudi Arabia a lot. He hopes to see the Kingdom again one day. He has two handsome looking sons, 14 and 19 years, and an adorable lady wife.

Mr Hignett has earned an international repute as an educator par excellence due to his achievements as a celebrated teacher with 30 years experience. He is interested in technological achievements and is the fourth generation of his family to hold qualifications in Engineering- In his case Computer Engineering. Although he is keen to uphold traditions, and has fine sense of history, he admits he is much more focused on the future.

With Mr Hignett at the helm of affairs, PAF Public School Sargodha has accrued instant dividends in a very short span of time – the academic standards and the Board results have catapulted, and discipline of the boys has improved phenomenally. Like Mr Catchpole, he is held in the highest esteem not only by the teachers, staff and students of the school but any one whoever has the privilege of interacting with him.

A Distinction

PAF Public School, Sargodha houses, grooms and produces shining boys who believe that action speaks louder than words. At the ISSB, over a period of five years, the school has the highest rate of selection amongst the leading cadet colleges of the country. At the academy, Sargodhians have outshone others by achieving maximum top positions, prizes, trophies and swords of honour. Additionally, they hold key appointments in the cadets’ hierarchy. The ones who do not make it to PAF Academy prove themselves in so many ways to be an excellent breed of men wherever they go. Sargodhians have made their presence felt at prestigious institutions like the GIKI, NUST, UET, PMA, etc.

Hearing about their continued story of success gives a supreme satisfaction to the dedicated staff who maintain and inspire an academically competitive environment at the school. The excellence of Sargodhians will always be credited to this rare breed of teachers.

Sqn Ldr M Shahid Hafeez joined PAF Public School Sargodha on 15 March, 1992. He has done considerable work on the school history. He pioneered the School History Room in 1999 and has been writing and updating the SchoolHistory for the School Website since 2002.

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