Dograi
The Last Battle of Lahore
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In Lahore's Bibi Pak Daman, sleeps Maj Ziauddin Uppal of 30 Heavy
The headstone tells us our Artillery Officer embraced Shahadat on 17 Sep 1965 at Wagah
More precisely, dear reader, it was Dograi
The village recaptured by Qayyum's valiant men

22 Brigade under their courageous commander counter attacked on Sep 8
Quoting Shoukat Riza, "Brig Qayyum Sher in his command jeep, moved unit to unit and then personally led the advance, star plate and pennant visible. This was something no troops worth their salt could ignore"

On the morning of 8 Sep, 23 Cavalry faced a light tank skirmish and 18 Baloch took almost deserted Dograi with ease
On Sep10 by midday Dograi defences were in shape
16 Punjab with two companies of 18 Baloch supported by Squadron of 23 Cav defended Dograi https://twitter.com/leftofthepincer/status/1195184419994316807

It was during defensive phase at Dograi on night 17/18 that we lost Maj Uppal to Indian artillery shelling
A day before Lt Iftikhar of 23 Cavalry embraced shahadat
A few nights ago on 11/12 Sep another incident happened that was to prove deadly in coming days for Dograi Defenders

16 Punjab lost some ground and trying to recapture it with tanks B Squadron 23 Cavalry on GT Road ran into anti-tank screen
Maj Sarwar while checking on a troop leader had his M 48 tank hit killing all crew
B Sqn would remain without a commander but more on it later in the thread

Indian attack on Dograi came on ni 21/22 Sep
At 2300 hrs in Phase One 13 Punjab and 15 Dogra attacked front two companies of Pakistani 16 Punjab
3 Jat would go to depth companies of 8 Punjab and 12 Punjab in Phase Two
B Squadron of 23 Cavalry was required to provide tank support

Forward companies of 16 Punjab under intense shelling fought bravely
With MG fire & grenades they broke the frontal attacks of 13 Punjab & 15 Dogra
Attacking dead were found within 10-20 yards of forward line
As all this was happening tanks of 23 Cavalry were nowhere to be found

where were the tanks?
Maj Nazar's A Squadron was ordered to relieve commander-less B Squadron
For some unexplained reasons they would stay on west of BRBL reporting they had reached Dograi
With B Squadron already sent Lt Col Golwala CO 16 Punjab knew 3 Jats would get a walkover

Lt Col Desmond Hayde CO 3 Jat did not know his opponents were suddenly without armour
What he knew came as a wireless message, Phase1 of brigade attack had failed
This would not deter him an inch, he is credited to have said the iconic words
Zinda ya murda, Dograi mein milna hey

"Up ahead they see Dograi lit up by gunfire as if on a Diwali night."

Decades later @rachnabisht9 will meet who attacked Dograi that night
She brings to us some fascinating first hand accounts

"It's 1:40 am when Delta, the first attacking company, hits Dograi, guns blazing."

Captain Kapil Singh Thapa was in Delta Company
Towards north-eastern edge of Dograi Village he was seen assaulting three trenches single handed
As he sits down to change his magazine, a bullet rips through his helmet into his head
He was awarded Maha Veer Chakra

Maj Asa Ram Tyagi was commanding Alpha Company
Despite bullet wounds he led his troops onto objective
In close quarter combat he is said to have bayoneted a Pakistani officer
Himself shot at close range and badly bayoneted he would later succumb to his injuries on Sep 25

Maj Tyagi was awarded Maha Vir Chakra
Indian accounts claim the Pakistani officer meeting his end by the bayonet of Maj Tyagi was Maj Nazar of 23 Cav, but in reality he was on the west bank of BRBL
This gallant officer in all probability was Maj Mazhar Hussain Shah of 8 Punjab

By 0300 on Sep 22 Dograi fell to 3 Jats
An immediate counterattack came from 1 Baloch gallantly led by Captain Afridi
Wounded after Start Line he was carried by his Havildar Major and would die fighting with his troops
Despite a last minute support from 23 Cav the attack failed

A little short of Kohat on Rawalpindi-Kohat road is a village named Babri Banda
Here the valiant son of Kohat, Captain Zahur Ul Islam Afridi, Sitara e Jurrat rests in eternal peace https://twitter.com/leftofthepincer/status/1235864812124430343

We shall now head back to what remained of Dograi defenders
With depth companies gone forward companies of 16 Punjab were now sandwiched
Lt Col Golwala keeping up the highest tradition decided to end it fighting
In the first glow of emerging dawn they saw Indian 14 Horse charging

In sheer desperation a few charged enemy tanks with rocket launchers but wiped out by tank machine guns
Others waited in calm for the attacking infantry to close up and took their final leap killing one or two while getting killed
Others died fighting 3 Jat from their rear

By 0800 hours the battle was over for 16 Punjab
56 soldiers including two officers lay dead on the battlefield
2/Lt Akhtar and Capt Sagheer
The latter was awarded Sitara e Jurrat
Lt Col Golwala badly wounded was among the prisoners
He earned a well deserved Sitara e Jurrat

a popular Haryanvi song commemorates Battle of Dograi

"Kahe sune ki baat na bolun, gaaun dekhi bhai
Teen Jat ki katha sunaon, sun le mere bhai
Ikkis Sitambar raat ghaneri, hamla jaaton nee mari
Dushman mein mach gayi khalbali, kaanp uthi Dograi"
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* quoted by @rachnabisht9

Dograi was one of the fiercely contested battles in Lahore Theater
In defending Dograi 16 Punjab perished but in its perishing it gave a bloody nose

Batapur monument is true when it records
"In this battlefield lies the blood of many unknown heroes belonging to different units"

*Postscript*
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Last year when this thread was posted @PunjabiRooh had shared a picture
After ceasefiree contesting COs in jolly mood on the banks of BRBL
Lt Col Desmond Hayde CO 3 Jat (left) with Lt Col Tajammul Hussian Malik CO 3 Baloch ( @leftofthepincer helped identifying)