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Battle of Chawinda
Part of Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Date Actual battle :September 6, 1965 – September 22, 1965 Location Chawinda, Pakistan Result Decisive Pakistani Victory
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 tank battle, fought as part of the Sialkot Campaign in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. The battle saw huge casualties on both sides.

The Forces

General Dunn, the Commander of I Corps Indian Army was given an assortment of troops: 1 Armoured division, 6 Mountain division, 14 division and 26 division. The Pakistani force expected to oppose the Indian thrust consisted of the 15 Division, 6 Armoured Division and 4 Corps Artillery. Later reinforcements included 8th Infantry Division and 1 Armoured Division. This battle was one of the largest tank battles since the Battle of Kursk in World War II.

The Battle

The Indians succeeded in establishing a bridgehead in Pakistani territory on the night of 6/7 December, but they were unopposed until they broke out of the bridgehead on the 8th. 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 Indians resumed their attacks on the 10th 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 Pakistani's settled in defensive positions. The Pakistani position at this point was highly perilous, the Indians outnumbered them by ten to one.

However the Pakistani position improved as reinforcements were brought in, consisting of two independent brigades from Kashmir, the 8th Infantry Division, and most crucially, their 1st Armoured Division. For the next several days Indian attacks on Chawinda were checked by the Pakistani forces. A large assualt on the 18th of 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 these actions by launching Operation Windup, which forced the Indians back across the international border for the most part, however the coming of the ceasefire meant that the Indians still managed to retain some territory.

Results

The Indians had failed to achieve any of their objectives, which was to capture Sialkot and thus cut the main Grand Trunk Road, splitting Pakistan in two. In the process had seen their most powerful formations destroyed, despite having strategic surprise and a superiority in men and material. Their only gain was a few square kilometers of territory around the original bridgehead. The Pakistanis had on the other hand managed to resist the Indian advance despite a failure of intelligence operations, but had paid a heavy price in blood. The result of Chawinda battle, convinced the Indian Government that their army (despite its protestations to the contrary) would not be able defeat Pakistan, even if the war was continued as India had used (and lost) most of their heavy armour in this battle, which was later termed as the graveyard of Indian armour. Although it should be noted Pakistani armour units also suffered greatly in the battle but, despite this were able to conduct operation Grandslam. This operation led to the major loss of Pakistani armour, particularly at Asal Uttar.

External links

• Battle of Chawinda - Comedy of Higher Command Errors
• In Memory of Martyrs (first-hand account of the battle)

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