Battle of Chawinda 1965: The Largest Tank Battle after WWII.

[Slayer786]

The only nincompoops I see are those who claim to have won a war they started for Kashmir & ended up getting nothing of it. 2 years short of 50, they still don't have it. Some victory. One can figure out who came out of better in that war by simply looking at how respective historical narratives deal with the two leaders of the helm, Shastri & Ayub. One is respected even today & held in reverence & the other got the boot from his own people. Enough said.

Lol. Assumptions are not real facts are they? Ayub Khan resigned his post. He was not kicked out. In 1965 India having a much larger military could not take any of the Pakistan cities. Its Generals were boasting that they were going to have beer in Lahore Gymkhana by the evening got a rude shock when the Indian army withdrew after getting its behind kicked.
It was a shameful and disgraceful exit for the Indian army who had a 3:1 advantage in resources.
And didnt Shastri died of a heart attack just after signing the Tashkent agreement in Russia. It must have been a big blow to his pride. But we understand the pain really got to him.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

I wonder what makes people beat their chest over a defeat. India was also defeated fair and square by China in 1962. But Indians don't shout that we won/kicked arse in '62.What is the harm in accepting the mistakes made about 50 years ago?

Thats because u were defeated there. It wasnt like u had actually won the War and enemy after 50 years starts twisting reality and claim it won it.

 

[Jf Thunder]

2nd largest battle of what???engagement of 400 tanks made it 2nd largest tank battle???"Battle of Kursk" anyone??"Battle of Basantar"??

and lets see casualty figure..

Pakistan lost 44 tanks..

India lost either 120(pakistan's claim ) or 29(India's claim) tanks..

damn..fanboys know no boundaries of foolishness..

maybe this will help? i hope you don't call this a fan boy controversy too?

 

[asad71]

1.

Indian Army's tactical objective was to capture Chawinda. The initial infantry attack did take it but was pushed back by a counter attack. But even then the railway line remained under threat. So India failed to reach it's objective in the end. But so did Pakistan. If you call this a victory, sure please go ahead.

17Poona - Tanks
22nd Cav - Tanks

Note the Indian assault and the Pakistani flanking moves(12 Cav). Had the Pak thrust failed at Chawinda, the line would have remained cut. In the end it remained withing the range of Indian guns. Strategically it was a tremendous defeat for Pakistan. All hopes of making a final push towards Kashmir had to be given up(before the ceasefire), with the withdrawal of reserves they were forced on the defensive on the entire front. India held the initiative till the end but the Battle of Chawinda itself can be termed as a limited tactical Pakistani defensive victory.

Similar to the defensive victory the Germans scored in April, 1945 in the Battle of Bautzen.

1.After the initial ten days, it was clear IA advance on LHR-Kasur front had been blunted. The question was whether Pakistan had the resources/stamina to launch a general advance into E Punjab. Towards that contingency teams of SSG had been dropped deep behind IA lines.

2. Now the focus shifted to Sialkot. If IA could break-through towards Gujranwalla-Wazirabad then it would be a disaster. PA had prepared extensive defenses deep into the depth covering MRL and the other canal. Units were even earmarked to tackle possible para-drops by the enemy. The last desperate advance by IA was to skirt west of the city of Sialkot almost along the edge of Cantt. Everything, including remnants of 17 Poona Horse was pressed in. With stout defense, agility of 13 FF (R&S) and a bold and noisy counter attack by 4 Baloch had blunted IA short of area Ra'k Marakiwal - Puran Bhagat Ka Khu. That 4 Baloch dusk attack on 20 Sep was a classic bayonet charge.

3. There is general consensus that Kashmir ops was thwarted because of a day lost in changing commanders at the wrong time, for the wrong reason.

 

[Kompromat]

Indo-Pakistani War 1965 - Battle of Chawinda
Written by Marcia Malory


The Battle of Chawinda, which took place during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, was one of the largest tank battles since the Second World War.

It has been claimed that as many as two thousand tanks took part in the battle, and that the Battle of Kursk has been the only tank battle that involved more tanks. It is known that during the Battle of Chawinda, each side had at least several hundred tanks. Both the Pakistanis and the Indians had Sherman tanks. The Indians also had Centurion tanks, while the Pakistanis also had Patton tanks.

The battle took place in the Ravi-Chenab corridor, which connects Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian mainland. It lasted from September 6 to September 22, 1965.

India's goal was to break up the Pakistani supply line by cutting off the city of Sialkot from the city of Lahore. The plan was for the Indians to attack from the region around Samba, east of Jammu, move southwest, and cut off the road between Jammu and Sialkot.

On the night of September 6, Indian artillery began shelling Pakistani forces stationed on both sides of Jassar Bridge. The Pakistani counterattack included blowing up part of the bridge. The Indians captured some border villages on the night of September 7, while fighting was still going on at the bridge.

On September 8, Indian forces began moving toward Chawinda, in the Sialkot district. Pakistani aircraft fired at advancing Indian tanks but did not cause much damage to the tanks. Some tank against tank fighting then took place.

The Indian moved on to the Phillora region. A huge tank battle took place there on September 11. The Pakistanis were heavily outnumbered, and the Indians were able to capture Phillora. Next, the Indians began moving toward Chawinda. They planned to capture Chawinda and gain control of the railway that ran from Pasrur to Sialkot.

Meanwhile, the Pakistanis received reinforcements. On the way to Chawinda, the Indians captured the town of Zafarwal and then lost it. The Pakistanis, now supplied with more Patton tanks, were able to prevent the Indians from reaching Chawinda for several days. Fighting began around Chawinda on September 16.

The Indians incurred the most losses during the fighting. More than 120 Indian tanks were lost, while only about 40 Pakistani tanks were lost. On September 21, Indian forces withdrew. The following day, the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire. The war ended on September 23.

Indo-Pakistani War 1965 - Battle of Chawinda | Tank Battles

 

[asad71]

There would be little to gain if Indians had cut off Jammu-Sialkot road which lies within India mostly. The Indian objective was to reach the GT Road around Wazirabad-Gujranwalla. They would bypass Sialkot city as the city could bog down a large force. After the Indian efforts to reach Daska through Narowal-Pasrur-Chawinda failed, they had made a last desperate attempt at reaching Wazirabad through the narrow corridor between R Chenab and the city of Sialkot. 4 Baloch, 7 Baloch, 13 FF and a reservist tank regt of TDU had resisted fiercely this till the cease-fire was declared.

 

[Red Spinifex]

Bro as far as i know M-47 n M-48 were part of Allied forces in the Battle of Bulge n were used by patton's army i think for their advance towards Berlin in May 1945.

Utube is not a source too but if u read the article fully with patience and Read the NOTE title in the end then u will know that how much research n study was done by Major Shamshad to write n organize this article.

The M47 and M48 tanks were produced after the Second World War: the M47 from 1951-53 and the M48 1952-59. The fourth and last in the tank series named after Patton was the M60 which was produced from 1960-87. The M60 was by far the most successful of all these tanks, though it was never in the inventory of the Pakistan Army Armoured Corps.

 

[Reichsmarschall]