Battle of Asal Uttar

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Battle of Asal Uttar
Part of Indo-Pakistani war of 1965
Vohra posing in front of a destroyed Pakistani Patton tank.jpg
An Indian officer poses in front of a captured Pakistani M47 Patton.
Date8–10 September 1965
(2 days)
Location
Asal Uttar, Punjab, India
Result Indian victory [1] [2] [3] [4]
Belligerents
Flag of India.svg India Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
Units involved

Flag of Indian Army.svg 4th Mountain Division

Flag of the Pakistani Army.svg 1st Armoured Division

Strength
  • 42 x Centurion Mk.VIIs
  • 42 x Sherman Vs
  • 42 x AMX-13s
Total: 126
  • 168 x M47 Pattons
  • 42 x Sherman 76s
  • 42 x M24 Chaffees
Total: 254
Casualties and losses
10 - 32 tanks damaged [7] [8] 97 tanks destroyed [9] [1] [10] [8]

The Battle of Asal Uttar was one of the largest tank battles of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 fought from 8 to 10 September 1965 at Asal Uttar, a village in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, India. [a] When the Pakistan Army thrust its tanks and infantry into Indian territory, capturing the Indian town of Khem Karan 5 km from the India–Pakistan border, Indian troops retaliated, and after three days of bitter fighting, the battle ended with the Pakistani forces being repulsed near Asal Uttar. Factors that contributed to this were the fierce fight put up by the Indian Army, conditions of the plains, better Indian tactics and a successful Indian strategy. [11] [1] [12]

Contents

It was one of the largest tank battles since the Battle of Kursk in the Second World War and is compared with it for how it changed the course of the Indio-Pakistan war of 1965 in India's favour. War historians, including Philip Towle, regard the Indian resistance near Khem Karan as one of the key turning points of the war, one which tilted the balance of the war in favour of India. [13] Peter Wilson states that the defeat of the Pakistan Army in the battle of Asal Uttar was one of the greatest defeats suffered by Pakistani forces in the course of the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. [1]

Background

On September 5/6, Indian XI Corps (4th Mountain, 7th and 15th Infantry Divisions, 2nd Independent Armored Brigade) launched its three divisions against Lahore. 4th Mountain Division was on the southern axis, launching from Khemkaran towards Kasur, which lays 6–7 km from the international border.  7th Division was to the north of 4th Mountain Division, also aiming at Kasur from a different direction. But the Indian attack on Kasur was repulsed and the Pakistan army counterattack took the war inside the Indian territory. [14] [15] [16]

Battle

The battle is described as one of the largest tank battles in history since the Battle of Kursk in World War II. Pakistan's invading force, consisting of the 1st Armoured Division and 11th Infantry Division, crossed the India–Pakistan border and captured the Indian town of Khemkaran. [17] Considering the situation, GOC Indian 4th Mountain Division Maj. Gen. Gurbaksh Singh immediately ordered the division to fall back and assume a horseshoe shaped defensive position with Asal Uttar as its focal point. The battle strategy was the brainchild of Brigadier Thomas K. Theogaraj. [18] [19] [20]

On 7 September, 6th Lancers squadron of Pakistan army captured Valtoha against stiff opposition but because of the lack of infantry they had to go back to their Khemkaran basecamp at night in the process a fierce tank battle ensued. [21] [14]

In the night, the Indian troops flooded the sugar cane field, and the next morning, the Pakistani tanks of the 1st Armoured Division, consisting mainly of M47 and M48 Patton tanks, were lured inside the horse-shoe trap. The swampy ground slowed the advance of the Pakistani tanks and many of them could not move because of the muddy slush. Over 97 Pakistani tanks (mostly Pattons, and a few Shermans and Chaffees) were destroyed, including 40+ captured. [1] [10] While the Indians, by their account, lost only 10 tanks during this counter offensive. [7]

Conclusion

105 mm Jonga-mounted RCL gun, manned by Abdul Hamid, which destroyed a number of tanks during the battle JVF-Mounted-M40-Anti-Tank-Gun.jpg
105 mm Jonga-mounted RCL gun, manned by Abdul Hamid, which destroyed a number of tanks during the battle
Indian soldiers posing with captured Pakistani Army M48 Patton tank Tankindia.jpg
Indian soldiers posing with captured Pakistani Army M48 Patton tank
Centurion crewmen from 4th Horse inside a destroyed Pakistani M48 Patton after the battle. 4horseIndo-Pak War.jpg
Centurion crewmen from 4th Horse inside a destroyed Pakistani M48 Patton after the battle.
"Patton Nagar" - an area adjacent to the battlefield in which all the captured M47 and M48 Pattons were displayed to the public. PattonC.jpg
"Patton Nagar" - an area adjacent to the battlefield in which all the captured M47 and M48 Pattons were displayed to the public.

Despite the initial thrust of the Pakistani Army into Indian territory, the battle ended in a decisive Indian victory. [1]

The commander of Pakistani forces Maj. Gen. Nasir Ahmed Khan was killed in action. [1] According to military historian Steven J. Zaloga, Pakistan admitted that it lost 165 tanks during the 1965 war, more than half of which were knocked out during the "debacle" of Asal Uttar. [7]

Pervez Musharraf, later Army Chief and President of Pakistan, participated in this battle as a lieutenant of artillery in the 16 (SP) Field Regiment, 1st Armoured Division Artillery. The battle also witnessed the personal bravery of an Indian soldier, Abdul Hamid, who was honoured with the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military award, for knocking out seven enemy tanks with a recoilless gun. [22] [23]

After the victory at Asal Uttar, the Indian Army made multiple attempts to recapture the lost town of Khemkaran but these were unsuccessful. [24] [14] [25] Khemkaran remained in Pakistani control till the end of the war and was returned after the Tashkent Agreement.

This battle led to the creation of Patton Nagar (or "Patton City") at the site of the battle. This is because a large number of Patton tanks fielded by the Pakistani forces were either captured or destroyed at the scene. [7]

Battle honours

The honour Asal Uttar was awarded for the period 9 to 11 September to the following units- [26]

Indian side:

Pakistani side:

Published accounts

Documentaries

Battle of Asal Uttar – Largest Tank Battle Since World War II (2018) is an Indian TV documentary which premiered on the Veer by Discovery series, Mission & Wars. [27] [28]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Asal Uttar is the actual name of the village but it also literally translates to "real reply" or "befitting response" in Hindi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wilson, Peter (2003). Wars, proxy-wars and terrorism: post independent India. Mittal Publications. pp. 83–84. ISBN   81-7099-890-5.
  2. ↑ Prasad, Bisheshwar (1975). The Fourth Round: Indo-Pak War in 1965. Vikas Publishing House.
  3. ↑ Sinha, L. P. (2012). Operation Cactus Lily: The Greatest Commando Operation Ever. Knowledge World.
  4. ↑ "World: The Curious Battle of Kasur". TIME . 24 September 1965. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  5. ↑ Chakravorty, B.C. (1992). "Chapter VI, All-Out War" (PDF). In Prasad, S.N. (ed.). History of the Indo-Pak War, 1965 (PDF). History Division, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. p. 174 – via ETH Zurich.
  6. ↑ Singh, Harbaksh (1991). War Despatches. New Delhi: Lancer International. p. 108. ISBN   81-7062-117-8.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Zaloga, Steve (July 1999). The M47 and M48 Patton tanks. Osprey Publishing. ISBN   978-1-85532-825-9.
  8. 1 2 Gilbert, Oscar E.; Cansiere, Romain (2017). Tanks: a century of tank warfare. Casemate Short History. Oxford: Casemate Publishers. p. 132. ISBN   9781612004907.
  9. ↑ Dabas, Maninder (6 July 2017). "The battle of Asal uttar where the Indian army crushed Pakistan to avoid the capture of Amirtsar". India Times. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  10. 1 2 Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0-313-33538-9.
  11. ↑ Pradhan, R. D.; Chavan, Yashwantrao Balwantrao (2007). 1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan War. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 47. ISBN   978-81-269-0762-5.
  12. ↑ Chakravorty, B. (1995). Stories of Heroism: PVC & MVC Winners. Allied Publishers. p. 17. ISBN   81-7023-516-2.
  13. ↑ Towle, Philip (1982). Estimating foreign military power. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-7099-0434-2.
  14. 1 2 3 Cloughley, Brian (2000). A History of the Pakistan Army: Wars and Insurrections. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-579374-1.
  15. ↑ Riza, Shaukat (1977). The Pakistan Army War of 1965. Natraj. p. 211. ISBN   978-81-85019-60-4.
  16. ↑ "The Battle for Assal Uttar: Pakistan and India 1965". Orbat.com. 6 November 2006. Archived from the original on 6 November 2006. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  17. ↑ "1965: A war". The Express Tribune . 6 September 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  18. ↑ Dandapani, Vijay (18 January 2015). "Unsung hero". The Hindu .
  19. ↑ "Brigadier Thomas Theograj". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  20. ↑ "Saga of Strategy & Courage". Bharat Rakshak . Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  21. ↑ Nawaz, Shuja (2008). Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within. Oxford University Press. p. 232. ISBN   978-0-19-547660-6.
  22. ↑ Maj. Gen. Cardozo, Ian (2003). PARAM VIR. New Delhi: Lotus Collection. ISBN   81-7436-262-2
  23. ↑ The Param Vir Chakra Winners' home page for Company Quarter Master Havildar Abdul Hamid . Indian Army. Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine .
  24. ↑ "Wrong Timing: The Battle of Khem Karan And Afghanistan". Salute. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  25. ↑ Hamid, Major General Syed Ali (6 September 2019). "Tank Battle at Khem Karan". The Friday Times . Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  26. ↑ Singh, Sarbans (1993). Battle Honours of the Indian Army, 1757–1971. Vision Books. ISBN   978-8170941156.
  27. ↑ "Battle of Asal Uttar – Largest Tank Battle Since World War II Mission & Wars". Veer by Discovery. 4 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  28. ↑ "This R-Day, get ready for Discovery channel's 'Battle Ops'". The Hindu . 25 January 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.

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