PAKISTANI PAKISTANI ARMOUR DURING DURI NG THE 1965 WAR
A comparison between India’s Centurion and Pakistan’s M47 and M48 Pattons is given below:
Characteristi cs
Centurion
M47
M48
Main Armament $econdar% Armament Armour +eight Pow Power-w r-weigh eightt Power .e . eight $peed
!" mm
#! mm &' ("! cal M) ' (*! cal M) ! mm 44( ton 7(, 7(, hphp-ton ton 8!hp *(*" m ,! kmp-h
#! mm &' ("! cal M) ' (*! cal M) &! mm 4" ton "( "( hp-t hp-ton on ,"! hp *(m 48 kmp-h
"& mm ", tons ,"! hp *(! m *4 kmp-h
/he Centurion’s advantage la% in its superior 0ire power and armour protection as compared with the M47 and M48 Patton tanks( tanks( /he Patton1s armor could in 0act be penetrated b% the 7" mm gun o0 the AM23*(In AM23*(In 0ire power the Patton was in0erior to the Centurion though though superior to the $herman( .owever the Patton had greater mobilit% mobilit% and was easier easier to maintain( maintain( /he M48 version version had better better hull hull armour than earl% models o0 the Centurion( Centurion’s turret stow bins provided added protection against in0antr% hand held anti3tank weapons 56aloga###( In discussions Indian de0ence anal%sts point out to the Patton’s advantage in night 0ighti 0ighting ng capabil capabilit% it% due to in0ra in0ra red device devices( s( In 0act 0act these devise devisess had been been remov removed ed b% the the Ameri America cans ns be0o be0ore re the the tank tankss were were ship shippe ped d to Paki Pakist stan an(( /he /he Centurian was not to be shrugged o00( Israelis had 0ought the #,7 and #7* wars with this tank and prevailed( +hile developing the Merkava Israel’s main battle tank tank man% man% 0eatur 0eatures es o0 the Centur Centurian ian partic particula ularl% rl% its suspen suspensio sion n s%stem s%stem were were retained( /he Patton was held in reasonabl% high high esteem b% both both sides and poor tactics were to blame 0or the debacle at Asal ttar( In the categor% o0 light tanks e9uipping the recce regiments India’s AM23* was more modern than Pakistan’s Cha0ee( The Armour Lineup /able 4(& Kasur Sector Pakistan 1Armd Div 4 Cavalr%
India 2(I)Armd Bde * Cavalr%
Sialkot Sector Pakistan 6 Armd Div ! Cavalr%
India 1 Armd Div 7 .orse
" .orse , ancers &4 Cavalr% # ancers & Cavalr% 5;ecce ;egt
8 Cavalr% 5;ecce ;egt !tn Div
Cavalr%= && Cavalr% 1" Div ** /< &" Cavalr% * /< &! ancers
, Cavalr% & ancers ,& Cavalr% 4 .orse 1Div Armd ;egt > 26 Div 8 Cavalr% # (I) Armd Bde$ &' Armd ;egt
=
Kasur Sector
In this sector B;B canal 0lows along a north3south alignment( International border runs runs to the the west west o0 B;B B;B alm almost ost para parall llel el to the the cana canall up to a plac placee call called ed Ballanwala( rom there onward it takes an inverted 3 turn that 0orms the Indian Dhem Daran enclave( Ee't to the enclave a 3turn 0orms the Pakistani $ehFra salient( Dhem Daran3Amritsar railwa% line divides the area almost at the centre( Immediatel% to the east o0 International border the area o0 operations was like a horse shoe its ape' pointing toward Pakistan( /o the north o0 the railwa% line line the area is bounded b% Dasur
Chakravort% 5&!4
/o the south south o0 the railwa% railwa% line line Ballanwala Ballanwala onward onward ;ohi ;ohi Eullah Eullah 0lowing 0lowing in in a south3 south3 easterl% direction direction 0inall% 0inall% drains into the $utleF river( An all weather weather road connects Dhem Daran Daran with Amritsar through Bhikkiwind ( In #," #," Asal ttar Galtoha and
= /< /< or /ank /ank
Indians attacked all along the 0ront on night "-, $eptember( +hereas "& Brigade and !, Brigade were to de0end the Dasur $ector along the B;B canal & Brigade was located at uliani and was
At that time Pakistan’s Armoured
Mountain
!"t P#r & ("= & ("
Pakistan Forat ation Armd
!"t P#r
* 3 *
=
sing anchaster’s e9uation 5;ikh%e #88 we s9uare each side’s combat power and get ,(&" 0or India and # 0or Pakistan or a (44 to Pakistani superiorit% in Dasur sector(
Pakistan Pakistan launch launched ed the counter3s counter3stroke troke with its its Armoured Armoured
dela%ing the induction o0 armour into the bridgehead( At about 8!! hours on 7 $eptember s9uadron , ancers 0ollowed b% compan% 5 plain in0antr% still struggling on the 0ar bank broke out in an attempt to e'pand the bridge head( Adva Advanc ncin ing g appro appro'i 'ima mate tel% l% two two mile miless ahea ahead d o0 the the null nullah ah this this 0orc 0orcee had had to withdraw 0or the night leaguer(
An armoured 0ormation breaking out o0 the bridgehead is alwa%s 0ollowed in Kone b% an in0antr% in0antr% 0ormation( 0ormation( At At dusk the armour armour hands over the area up to the line o0 control 50orward edge o0 the area cleared b% the armour to the 0ollow in Kone 0ormation which then establishes its de0ences along the line against enem% counter attacks( +ith the tasks given to Armoured
Chakravort% 5&!4
As mentioned earlier in Phase o0 the Pakistani o00ensive division had alread% established a shallow shallow bridgehead o0 sorts across ;ohi Eullah with with & e' "& Brigade( ater on on the entire brigade brigade was tasked to e'pand e'pand the bridgehead( bridgehead( /he < da% was dela%ed 0rom 7 to 8 $eptember due to the damage caused to the bridge on ;ohi Eullah( In Phase & Armoured
7 $ep
*(
8 $ep
4(
#-!3 $ep ! $ep ! $ep
"( ,( /otal
/ime !,!! hrs ,!! hrs !*! hrs Eight
&*! hrs
/anks
;emarks .it while the Indian tanks started shooting 7 PunFab position at Eathuwala $iphon 5"& Brigade area $hot up b% , ancers while attacking Dhem Daran
"
*
# &
&4
Pakistani and Indian armour as discussed earlier earlier possessed almost e9ual combat power in Dasur sector( Combat power o0 Pakistani armour was 0urther degraded b% the channeliKed terrain where Indian armour transitioned transitioned to a de0ensive posture( posture(
Sialkot Sector Map 4(*
/his sector is essentiall% the ;avi3Chenab corridor( Its western boundar% is de0ined b% river Chenab which enters Pakistan in the vicinit% o0 Marala north o0 $ialkot and meandering northeast to south west cuts )rand /runk road south o0 )uFrat( /he /he east easter ern n boun bounda dar% r% o0 the the corr corrid idor or is mark marked ed b% rive riverr ;avi ;avi ( .ere .ere the the International border running roughl% parallel to the river at places decides to cut right through it creating a number o0 Pakistani and Indian enclaves on both the sides notabl% the Pakistani enclave at assar and the adFacent Indian enclave at
ollow ollowing ing is an edited edited versio version n o0 a ver% 0ine account account o0 the operatio operations ns in the $ialkot sector written b% MaFor $hamshad: In this this sect sector or Paki Pakist stan an’s ’s "
/able 4(" India Foration Armd
!"t P#r *
*5I Armd Bde , Mtn
& 8=
Pakistan Forat ation , Armd
*
"
!"t P#r
4
=Make allowance to India 0or superiorit%J o0 Patton tanks and lower its combat power to 7
"
+hile the Indian Armoured
capture the Pakistani enclave across river ;avi which was considered a potential Pakistani Fump o00 point to threaten Amritsar( /he Indians launched their attack at !4!! hours , th $eptember and b% !4" hours reached the southern end o0 the assar assar bridge bridge a 0ew hundred hundred %ards %ards 0rom the border border(( " " Brigad Brigadee launch launched ed a counter attack using tanks and dislodged the Indians 0rom the southern end o0 the bridge b% !8!! hours the same da%( Meanwhile there was nervousness at Pakistan’s Corps .ead9uarters that the Indian attack was some deception( /his prompted the ).L to order , Armoured
T$% Fi'in( For)% Atta)k
Indian &,
$ialkot were too weak to inter0ere with the advance o0 the Indian attack( /he Indians however remained obsessed with de0ence o0 ammu and on $eptember brought a 0ourth brigade 5"& Mountain Mountain Brigade( T$% Main Indian Atta)k
At !,!! hours 8 th $eptember Indian Armoured
control e'tremel% di00icult( It came in contact with &" Cavalr% at !#4" hours in /haroah area and was also checked like , ight Cavalr%( According to )urcharan $ingh some 0iring took place in between tanks o0 , ight Cavalr% and 7 Poona .orse( /his happened because the inter regiment gap between both the regiments was too less( C $9uadron ,& Cavalr% which was tasked to provide 0lank protection to Armoured
took them another "# hours to contemplate the ne$t offensive move. This interval gave the Pakistanis time to move up and deploy their % &rmoured 'ivision with five additional armoured armoured regiments. regiments. !n fact the golden opport opportuni unity ty that that fate fate had offered offered to the 1 st &rmoure &rmoured d 'ivision 'ivision to make worthwhile gains had been irretrievably lost’. .arbaksh $ingh also accuratel% summed up the Indian 0ailure: (both 1% )avalry and 1* +orse failed to determine the strength of the opposi opp osing ng arm armour our and dis displa played yed lit little tle ski skill ll in out man manoeu oeuvri vring ng it… the ,rigade )ommander made the unfortunate decision to withdraw 1* +orse from Tharoah Tharoah for countering countering an alleged serious tank tank threat on the -eft flank. This was a grave error of udgment as " +orse which by this time had been released to the ,rigade by /0) 1 &rmoure &rmoured d 'ivision could have been used to meet any flank threat posed by the enemy armour. The blunder cost us dearly. We We made an advance of only four miles beyond the bridgehead when a much deeper penetration could have been achieved. The fleeting chance that could have been e$ploited to gain a striking success was lost forever…. and while we were fumbling about ineffectively in a chaotic situation of our own creation the enemy had that vital breathing space so essential for a quick rally round from the stunning impact of surprise. We courted a serious setback through faulty decision and immature handling handling of armour which the enemy was not slow to e$ploit. 2rom now onwardsthe thrust intended to keep the enemy off balance and reeling until the final blow by sheer speed of advanc adv ance e tur turned ned int into o a slo slow w slo sloggi gging ng mat match3 ch3a a ser series ies of bat batter tering ing4ra 4ram m actions’.
