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Battle of Chawinda

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Battle of Chawinda
Part of Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
DateActual battle :September 6, 1965 – September 22, 1965
Location
Chawinda, Pakistan
Result Pakistan-repelled Indian attack
Belligerents
 India  Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
P.O Dunn Tikka Khan
Strength
1,700 tanks
80,000 infantry initial
150,000 end of battle		 600 tanks 30,000 infantry
1000 Tanks and 110,000 infantry end of battle

The Battle of Chawinda was a part of the Sialkot Campaign in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It was one of the largest tank battles since the Battle of Kursk in World War II.

The forces

General Dunn, the commander of I Corps Indian Army was given an assortment of units: 1 Armoured Division, 6 Mountain Division, 14 Division and 26 Division. The Pakistani force expected to oppose the Indian thrust consisted of 15 Division, 6 Armoured Division(equivalent to armoured brigade group) and 4 Corps Artillery. Later reinforcements included 8 Infantry Division and 1 Armoured Division.

The Battle

File:ChawindaBattel.jpg
Pakistani troops at ease.
File:War Monument sialkot.jpg
A war monument in Sialkot in memory of the Battle of Chawinda

The inability of the Indian Army to vault the BRB Canal stalemated the Lahore front. The Indians turned their attention to the main thrust, called Operation 'Nepal', in the Sialkot sector. The aim of the attack was to seize the key Grand Trunk Road around Wazirabad. The striking force of the Indian 1st Corps was the 1st Armoured Division supported by the 14th Infantry and 6thh Mountain divisions. The infantry seized the border area on 7 September: realising the threat, the Pakistani rushed two regiments of their 6th Armoured Division from Chhamb to the Sialkot sector to support the Pakistani 7th Infantry Division there. These units, plus an independent tank destroyer squadron, amounted to 135 tanks; 24 M47 and M48 Pattons, about 15 M36B1s and the remainder Shermans. The majority of the Pattons belonged to the new 25th Cavalry commanded by Lt. Col. Nisar, which was sent to the Chawinda area. Fighting around the Gadgor village between the Indian 1 Armoured division and the Pakistani 25th Cavalry Regiment resulted in the Indian advance being stopped.

The Indian plan was to drive a wedge between Sialkot and the 6th Armoured Division, which it believed was stationed around Chawinda. In fact there was only a single regiment there at the time. The Indian 1st Armoured Division's drive quickly divided, with the 43rd Lorried Infantry Brigade supported by a tank regiment attacking Gat, while the main blow of the 1st Armoured Brigade was hurled against Phillaura. Pakistani air attacks caused moderate damage to the tank columns, but exacted a heavier toll on the lorry columns and infantry. The terrain features of the area were very different from those around Lahore, being quite dusty, and the approach of the Indian attack was evident to the 25th Cavalry by the rising dust columns on the Charwah-Phillaura road.


The Indians resumed their attacks on 10 September with multiple corps sized assaults and succeeded in pushing the Pakistani forces back to their base at Chawinda, where they were stopped. A Pakistani counterattack at Phillorah was badly mauled, and the Pakistanis settled in defensive positions. The Pakistani position at this point was highly perilous, the Indians outnumbered them by ten to one.

However, the Pakistani situation improved as reinforcements arrived, consisting of two independent brigades from Kashmir, 8 Infantry Division, and most crucially, their 1 Armoured Division. For the next several days, Indian attacks on Chawinda were checked. A large assault on 18 September involving India's 1st Armoured and 6th Mountain Divisions was unceremoniously repelled, with the Armoured Division being mauled and being taken out of action, while the 6th lay disintegrated in front of Pakistani defences. The Indians withdrew back to a defensive position near their original bridgehead.

The Pakistanis followed up by launching Operation Windup, which forced the Indians back across the international border for the most part, though the coming of the ceasefire meant that the Indians still managed to retain some territory.

Results

The Indian Army had failed to achieve many of their objectives, which was to capture Sialkot and thus cut the main Grand Trunk Road, splitting Pakistan in two. In the process, they had seen their most powerful formations destroyed, despite having strategic surprise and a superiority in men and material. The Indian Army lost more than 120 tanks in this battle. Their only gain was a few square kilometers of territory around the original bridgehead.

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