INDIA PAKISTAN WAR 1947-48 [ THE FIRST KASHMIR WAR]
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INDIA PAKISTAN WAR 1947-48 [ THE FIRST KASHMIR WAR]
Major Events-
• Operation Gulmarg was planned by Pakistanis to attack the princely state of Kashmir.• Armed tribesmen of Pakistan invaded Kashmir.
• Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir executed the IoA (Instrument of Accession).
• Operation Kipper, Operation Vijay, Operation Easy and Operation Bison by India.
• 2/3rd of J&K became the part of India and remaining was annexed by Pakistan.
Introduction-
• On Aug 28 1947, Major Omkar Singh Kalkat of the British Indian Army was serving as Brigade Major in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan.• While his CO Brigadier Murray was away, Major Kalkat received an envelope marked as top secret on Murray’s behalf.
• He read that letter and got to know about the Operation Gulmarg.
• He called Murray and Murray warned him not to speak any word or he would be dead.
• Then, Kalkat was placed under House Arrest. Fearlessly, he escaped Pakistan and came to New Delhi in October 1947 and told the Indian authorities about Gulmarg. Operation Gulmarg was a plan created by Maj Gen Akbar Khan and PM Liquat Ali Khan.
• The plan was to use the tribesmen of NWFP to attack Kashmir and then annex the whole state.
• Right after the independence from the British Rule, various autonomous princely states were given choice to choose either The Union of India or The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
• The Hindu and Sikh majority provinces joined India and Muslim majority provinces joined Pakistan.
• The state of Jammu and Kashmir was a muslim majority state but was ruled by a Hindu ruler Maharaja Hari Singh. He didn’t want to join anyone and would form an independent country.
• While the negotiations were going on, Pakistan planned to take the state by force.
• Their plan involved 2 phases.
Phase 1 was distraction and phase 2 was invasion.
They planned to distract the Kashmir State Forces by attacking in small pockets and then they would send large manpower to capture the major targets that were Gilgit, Srinagar and Jammu.
• The invasion was planned along 3 fronts, the Gilgit Front, The Srinagar Front and The Jammu Front. Each front had 10 units and each unit was of 1000 tribesmen. Mainly they were Pathans or Pashtuns.
• Each tribal unit was guided by 1 officer and 10 JCOs of Pakistan Army. They were dressed as tribals. And the entire plan was commanded by Maj Gen Akbar Khan and was codenamed as Tariq.
• All units were covertly concentrated in Abbottabad by 18 Oct.
• Pakistani Army was also involved as it sent it’s 7 Infantry for backup.
• The D-Day was 22 Oct. Their first objective was to capture the capital of Kashmir, Srinagar.
• Approximately 10,000 tribesmen came in the morning of 22 Oct and invaded Muzaffarabad. The Kashmir State Forces had no idea and intelligence of this attack.
• The news reached Srinagar on 24 Oct and the State Forces led by Brigadier Rajinder Singh ride all the troops to Uri to defend the invasion.
• Brigadier, with 200 troops left for Uri. Tribesmen captured Muzaffarabad and moved towards Uri. They came in contact and there was heavy gunfire exchanged between them. Brigadier blew up the bridge that was leading to Uri and slowed down the enemies for 1 whole day.
• The State Forces were heavily outnumbered 1 to 20 but valiantly hold the enemies for 2 days in Uri.
• On 26 Oct, representatives of J&K finally flew to New Delhi and executed IoA and joined The Union of India.
• On 27 Oct, Brig and his troops suffered heavy losses and decided to retreat back to Baramulla. During this, Brig lost his life. For his bravery and success, he was posthumously awarded the MVC (Maha Vir Chakra).
• Within a couple of hours, India joined the war.
• The first of Indian troops were dispatched from New Delhi to Srinagar. The troops were from 1 Sikh and were commanded by Lt Col Dewan Ranjit Rai.
• The tribesmen captured Baramulla by defeating the State Forces and instead of moving forward to capture Srinagar, they stayed there and looted the houses, raped the innocents and even abducted the young girls. This was a huge tactical mistake made by the enemy as this error gave time to Lt Col Rai and his units to enter Srinagar and to strengthen their defensive positions.
• Col Rai along with few troops went to Baramulla and made direct contact with the enemies. He then decided to bait the enemies towards the higher grounds of Pattan and to hold the enemies there.
• During this, Col Rai came across a machine gun fire and lost his life. He was posthumously awarded the MVC. Indian soldiers successfully hold the enemies at the higher grounds of Pattan and defended Srinagar and Badgam airfield for 2 more days.
• 50 men from 4 Kumaon under the command of Major Somnath Sharma to defend the airfield in Badgam so that more Indian soldiers could land safely and reinforce their partners.
• Major and his soldiers were outnumbered 1 to 7 but fought against the enemies and suffered heavy casualties. Despite all these, Major Sharma’s team repelled the enemy attack and saved the airfield. The airfield was then under the control of the Indian Army throughout the war.
• Major played a crucial role in achieving his mission but lost his life during the battle. He was posthumously awarded the PVC.
• The commander of 161 Brigade, Brigadier Lionel Protip Sen took a risky decision and withdrew 1 Sikh from Pattan back to Shalateng. The plan was to open the blockade and to surround the enemies by 3 directions.
• 2 companies of 1 Sikh, 1 company of 1 Kumaon and 1 troop of 7 Cavalry concentrated at Srinagar.
• The enemies as planned, marched towards Shalateng and then 1 Sikh surrounded them from the front, 1 Kumaon from the right flank and 7 Cavalry from the rear of Shalateng.
• Brig ordered the attack to go in and were successful. Tribesmen retreated back to Baramulla.
• The Indian Army successfully liberated Baramulla on Nov 8 and then liberated Uri on Nov 13 1947.
• The Indian Army decided to push the enemies out of the Kashmir valley but were called urgently for rescue in the south of Kashmir.
• The tribesmen launched an attack in the southern side with the objective of capturing Jammu.
• This attack happened on multiple fronts along the Jammu-Poonch Line.
• Troops of the 50 Para Brigade were sent to Jammu to begin operations in the Poonch sector.
• Before the arrival of 50 Brigade, State Forces Garrisons were the only troops to fight against the assault.
• The garrisons were heavily outnumbered. 50 Brigade arrived at Naushera and Jhangar and assisted the garrisons to defeat the enemies. 161 Brigade sent it’s 2
sections to Poonch and the others defended Uri. First section was successful to reach Poonch but the other faced heavy gunfire and retreated back to Uri.
• Important cities like Rajouri, Mirpur, Kotli and Jhangar were captured by tribesmen completely.
• Brigadier Mohammad Usman of 50 Brigade took the mission to recapture Jhangar. Their first step was to capture Kot. They launched an Operation Kipper to recapture Kot and were successful in it.
• Tain Dhar, a higher ground north to Kot was very crucial for either sides. One who captured this high land would definitely get a strong hold in this area.
• 1 Rajput was deployed there in the 2 posts. They were outnumbered but still fought bravely and successfully prevented their posts from being taken over. Post No.2 faced the most fierce attack by the enemy. Out of 27 soldiers guarding the post, 24 were either badly injured or lost their lives. Lt Kishen Singh Rathore who led the company was awarded the MVC. Naik Jadunath Singh of 1 Rajput fought valiantly at Post 2 and sacrificed his life guarding the post. He was posthumously awarded the PVC.
• 3 Rajput reached on time at Tain Dhar and reinforced 1 Rajput and foiled the enemy’s advancement.
• The Indian Army launched Operation Vijay to recapture Jhangar. 50 Para Brigade and 19 Infantry were ready to launch an attack from both the flanks at Jhangar.
• On 14 March, Operation Vijay was initiated. Indian soldiers attacked from both the flanks and the enemies tried to pierce the formation of the soldiers but were unaware of the new formation. The Indian Army made a pincer move and attacked the enemies from 3 sides.
• Tribesmen suffered heavy losses and continued retreating back. Soon, Jhangar was recaptured and the enemies moved to Mirpur and Kotli. Operation Vijay was successful.
• Now, the next target was Rajouri. The road linking Rajouri passed through thick forest of Chingas. Chingas was enemy’s strong hold and base from which most of the attacks were launched.
• On Apr 8 1948, 4 Dogra, 2 Jat, 2 Rajputana Rifles advanced towards the Chingas forest and deployed tanks. The tribesmen already placed anti-tank mines. So, the task of clearing out the mines was taken up by the engineers of 37 Assault Field Company. This was a risky task. Lt Rama R Rane was on his mission to clear out mines and was hit by a mortar shell but still continued his job despite being badly injured. He was awarded the PVC.
• With the presence of tanks and other heavy machinery, Indian soldiers dominated the battle at Chingas and pushed back the enemies. On Apr 12, the Indian Army recaptured Rajouri.
• Jhangar was being protected by Brig Usman who was called “The Lion of Naushera”. He and his 50 Brigade were defending Jhangar. Enemies attacked Jhangar in the months of April, May, June and July of 1948 but were repeatedly defeated by Brig Usman and his team.
• Tribesmen were frustrated after this and requested for artillery support from Pakistan Army.
• On July 3 1948, the tribesmen along with a huge manpower and support from the Pakistan Army, attacked Jhangar. During this attack, Brig Usman was moving from one bunker to another when a 25-pound shell landed near him and took his life. The brave lion of Naushera lost his life. He was posthumously awarded the MVC. The tribesmen tried multiple times to annex Jhangar but failed.
• The next target was Poonch. The Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Easy to recapture Poonch.
• The Indian Army first captured Pir Badesar which was a crucial point and was approximately in the middle of Poonch, Chingas, Kotli and Rajouri on 15 Oct 1948.
• The Indian Armed Forces used its Air Squadrons to do fake air drops around Kotli and diverted the enemies towards Kotli as they thought that Indian soldiers were going to conduct huge invasion in Kotli.
• The real attack went on while the enemies were guarding Kotli. Indian soldiers moved towards Poonch and after a long fight, Indian soldiers recaptured Poonch on 21 Nov 1948.
• As the winter was coming up, India decided to attack Mirpur and Kotli in spring of 1949 but the ceasefire was declared at the UN on 2 Jan 1949 so these 2 cities could not be recaptured. Now Mirpur and Kotli are the cities of current Pakistan.
• The Siege of Poonch is considered as one of the most important and outstanding achievements of the Indian Armed Forces.
• The third front of the attack was the Gilgit Front. Enemy’s plan was to capture Gilgit, Skardu, Kargil and then Leh.
• The Indian side appointed Brigadier Ghansar Singh as the Governor of Gilgit and sent him to Gilgit. He reached and started building defences to stop the enemy’s attack. But there were problems growing inside Gilgit as the soldiers were planning a coup. The soldiers of the coup were Gilgit Scouts and were led by 2 British officers.
• On Oct 31 1947, Gilgit scouts and tribesmen attacked the Govt. and pro-Indians and captured Gilgit on Nov 1 1947.
• Colonel Sher Jung Thapa along with 284 troops was deployed in Skardu. The enemies after capturing Gilgit, now marched towards Skardu with 600 strong.
• One more company of troops “Biscuit Column” was sent to Skardu from Srinagar to reinforce Colonel Thapa’s men but were ambushed in the mid way and were heavily injured. They were bound to retreat back.
• The enemies surrounded the town of Skardu and repeatedly attacked Colonel Thapa’s men. Col Thapa requested for air support but as the Royal Indian Air Force recently overstretched in supporting Poonch and Naushera, could not provide air support.
• Srinagar again sent a company of troops “Sugar Column” which was again divided into 3 columns. The 3 columns were sent to push through to Skardu and reinforce Col Thapa.
• The enemies retreated back from that ambush area but attacked Sonmarg, Dras and Kargil. They failed in capturing the first 2 but were successful annexing Kargil. Col Thapa and his men were still fighting in Skardu with tired soldiers and limited ammunitions. Enemies captured Kargil and cut off the supply line.
• The Sugar Column was attacked from the both sides. The soldiers were heavily outnumbered and were surrounded from Kargil and Skardu. They were bound to retreat back using alternate routes.
• 200 soldiers from both the columns had lost their lives and only 150 were successful to return back to base.
• Dras was also surrounded and captured by tribesmen. Pt. 8853 was also captured by the enemies and Col Thapa and his men were holding off the enemies for 7 months straight.
• They were running out of ammunitions and rations but were not giving up. They ate 1 chapati and a cup of tea a day.
• After 10 months of continuous fighting, they ran out of bullets and surrendered to the enemy. Skardu was captured on 14 Aug 1948.
• Col Thapa was called “The Hero of Skardu” and was awarded the MVC.
• Enemy’s next target was Leh. They advanced towards Leh and the Indian soldiers fought them back bravely. Indian soldiers were outnumbered and suffered heavy
losses. Before retreating back, they blew up the bridge and slowed down the enemies. At Leh, Indian soldiers along with local villagers constructed an airstrip successfully.
• Air Commodore Mehar Singh, despite of and weather and high altitude flew his Dakota to that newly built airstrip and landed successfully on 24 March 1948. It increased the number of troops and ammunitions and also the moral of the soldiers defending Leh. Troops were also sent to Sonmarg to further plan to recapture Dras and Kargil.
• The enemies attacked Leh but were pushed back. They further increased their numbers and strength and again attacked Leh. Soldiers somehow managed to push them back but were having a little amount of ammuntions and again requested for air support which was not possible due to bad weather.
• An expedition force with 6 officers and 150 troops was sent from Manali to find a route to Leh through the mountains, reached Leh on July 5. They joined the soldiers in Leh and fight back the enemies.
• In the month of Aug, Dakotas flew to Leh carrying ammunitions and manpower. And around 300 more troops came from that new route from Manali.
• Now, it was impossible for the enemies to stand against this huge manpower with brave soldiers and large amount of ammunitions.
• On Sep 6, Major Hari Chand led an operation to strike deep into the enemy territory, locate the Howitzer guns and destroy them and safely comeback to the base. He took his best 35 mountain climbers, some ammunitions and dry rations to eat and left Leh.
• They reached enemy territory after 3 days and executed their operation. The troops gathered at Sonmarg attacked to recapture Zoji La pass but failed.
• Then, the Indian Army launched Operation Bison and brought up tanks in the regions of Dras and Kargil. The enemy had no idea about this operation.
• Tanks were dismantled and were secretly taken to Sonmarg by Army truck. Tracks and bridges were built for the tanks.
• On Nov 1 1948, Operation Bison was initiated. Tanks invaded Zoji La pass and recaptured it. In the same manner, Dras and Kargil were also recaptured.
• Now the last of the enemies were stuck between Kargil and Leh. Soldiers from Leh were pushing them back and in the same time, tanks came in from Kargil. The enemy quickly fled the battle scene leaving the stocks behind.
• Operation Bison was successful.
• The Indian Armed Forces had already planned to take back the 1/3rd area that was forcefully captured by Pakistan but ceasefire broke out in UN and this could not happen.
• As a result, 1/3rd of J&K was captured by Pakistan and 2/3rd was won by India.
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