Tank Battles of Chawinda
Poona Horse, Guides Cavalry and Men of Steel
___
"I was 16
The Poona Horse had won an inter regimental tournament and there was a celebratory party in the Officer's Mess
That night they were given orders to load and leave (for #SeptemberWar) ..."

"Next morning on the train station, just as the whistle blew, my father gave my mother a salute
And all the soldiers saluted us
That's my last memory
I never saw him again"
tells us Mrs. Zarine M Boyce, daughter of Lt Col Ardeshir 'Adi' Burzorji Tarapore, CO 17th Poona Horse

Moulvi Hussain Mohiuddin Abbasi having received Sitara e Jurrat of his shaheed son Maj Zaiuddin Abbasi left to perform Hajj
He carried with him the dust picked up from the battlefield of Chawinda
"I will place this dust at Uhud and Badr, where early Muslim martyrs died fighting"

Years later revisiting tank battles of Chawinda, Maj Gen Ali Hamid woud write
"CO of 25 Cavalry ‘Kaka’ Nisar had the admirable quality of moving towards the sound of guns and was with the forward squadrons all the time
The action by 25 C on 9 Sep 1965 is what legends are made of"

Let's head to battle
Sialkot Sector was defended by 15 Division
25 Cavalry with 24 Brigade covered Pasrur axis
This battlefield was to view the Indian Armour thrust spearheaded by Black Elephant, the furious 1st Armoured Division
25 Cav under Kaka Nisar would meet them head on

8 Sep morning, 25C was refueling at Pasrur when ordered to block Indian offensive
In a dash to Phillaurah 25C fanned out
Center Sqn under Maj Ahmed struck leading elements of 16 Light Cavalry
Ahmed's men scored 5 tank hits, he himself got seriously injured earning Sitara e Jurrat

Kaka Nisar launched the squadron of Maj (Ginger) Raza from left onto Gadgore
16 Cav reinforced with a sqn of Hodson's Horse faced the brunt
Gadgor was captured, Ginger Raza was wounded in the head
He would remain with squadron until objective was secured and earned Sitara-e-Jurat

Battlefield of Phillaurah saw the finest of 25 C in closely contested action
They battled the finest of Indian Armour, 16 Cavalry & 17 Horse
Their quarter guard parades a prized possession, the Khushab, Commandant's tank of 17th Poona Horse captured in Battle of Buttar Dograndi

Later into battle, as part of 24 Brigade 25 Cav would turn Chawinda into a far fetched dream for Indian attackers
Their valiant son Naib Risaldar Muhammad Khaliq would embrace martyrdom on 16 Sep earning Sitara e Jurrat
(more on Chawinda's defence, dear reader, in another thread)

17th Poona Horse was one formidable punch in 1 Armoured Brigade's arsenal
On 11 Sep 1965, the unit dashed along Libbay - Phillaurah road and gave a tough fight to 11 Cavalry
In a 45 minutes stiff resistance, Lt Col Tarapore leading from front secured two tank hits

The tragedy struck as an artillery shell injured both CO and 2IC of 11 Cavalry and killed CO of 1 SP Artillery providing fire support
Facing both Hodson's and Poona Horse, in a fierce fight, 11th Cavalry lost nine of its M36B2 tanks, the other two squadrons losing seven M48 tanks

In counter attack on Phillaurah a sqn of 10 Guides Cavalry attacking Libbe bumped into the tanks of Poona Horse
It was here that Sqn Comd Maj Zia Uddin Abbasi met C Sqn of 17 Horse head on
Both the officer & his 2IC Capt Hussain were killed in action and awarded Sitara e Jurrat

Much later on Sep 16
"with attack on Buttar Dograndi successful, Lt Col Tarapore at Jassoran dismounted for a cup of tea with his staff
At around 1730 hrs a medium artillery shell landed next to Adjutant's tank killing him on the spot
Poona Horse lost a fine commandant to battle"

Lt Col Adi Tarapore was awarded Param Veer Chakra for the courage in leading through a series of tank battles
His daughter remembers his father's regiment The Poona Horse
"The respect they have given me over the yrs is unsurpassable, they treat me better than Queen of England!"

17 Horse played a phenomenal role in 16 Sep attack on Buttar Dograndi
C Sqn with 2 Coys of 8 Garhwal Rifles Crossed the Start Line at 1130 hrs
8 Garhwal Rifles, the only battalion to cause a wedge in Chawinda Defences, about which, dear reader we shall talk another day

For geographical orientation of places and actions in this snippet, my readers can access a custom prepared map on following link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Ptx2QxfNlyMqjB-o4iHFW6m1w7zH480c&usp=sharing

For my readers interested to read this thread as a blog-post, the story is on MANI JUNCTION https://www.meemainseen.com/2019/09/chawinda/