Indian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Alfred Tyrone Cooke, a gallantry awardee of the 1965 war against Pakistan, died of natural causes in New Delhi on Friday.Flight Lt Cooke was awarded the Vir Chakra — the country’s third-highest wartime gallantry award — for his role in the air battle over Kalaikunda, West Bengal, during an air attack launched from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on September 7, 1965.After his retirement, the IAF pilot settled in Australia. He was visiting India to attend an event organised by his former unit, the 14 Squadron, authorities confirmed on Saturday.The 14 Squadron, known as the Bulls, is based at Ambala and is scheduled to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee. Flight Lt Cooke was to attend the event.During a previous visit to the 14 Squadron in 2016, Flight Lt Cooke handed over his Vir Chakra medal to be kept at the squadron.According to his gallantry award citation, Flight Lt Cooke shot down a Pakistan Air Force Sabre jet.He found himself in the middle of the second PAF raid on the airfield. Cooke and his wingman, Flying Officer Subodh Chandra Mamgain, were on combat air patrol in Hawker Hunter fighter jets. The two pilots held off a force three times the size of their own, an action that influenced the subsequent course of the war, particularly in the eastern theatre.Flying Officer Mamgain was also awarded the Vir Chakra.