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#2dayIn1948
The limitations were shown first, when bad weather prevented the planes from supporting the crucial attack on 01 Nov, and the next two days. But after that the Tempests came over regularly on call, and their fierce attacks with ..
#2dayIn1948
.. rockets and cannon fire destroyed many hostile positions at Pindras. Even more useful were the Dakotas, which made it possible to stock Dras and to continue the advance to Kargil.
#2dayIn1948
Of the lessons of the ops in the Zoji La Sector, there were many. The technicians in the army learnt much, particularly about the behaviour of arms and equipment at high altitudes and at arctic temperatures.
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#2dayIn1948
After capturing Kargil, 77 Para Brigade addressed itself itself to the task of occupying Marol. Marol controlled the routes from Skardu to Leh as well as Kargil, and the strategic advantages of seizing it were obvious. November was drawing to a ..
#2dayIn1948
.. close, but the weather so far had been exceptionally sunny an fair.
It was decided, therefore, to attempt a dash to Marol before allowing the troops to settle down for the winter.
The first obstacle in this advance was the broken bridge over the ..
#2dayIn1948
.. Shingo River at Kharal. Improvised rafts had already proved a failure against the swirling currents of the river. So the RIAF dropped two assault boats there on 24 Nov. One of the boats was badly damaged, but the other was used to send one ..
Read 325 tweets
#2dayIn1948
Meanwhile the situation in ZojiLa was getting desperate. Two well planned attacks had failed. The troops involved in them had suffered heavy casualties.
What was worse was that the enemy's positions remained completely intact at the end of these two ..
#2dayIn1948
.. ops, and were sure to be further strengthened in the light of the experience gained. Winter was fast approaching and it was already doubtful if Kargil could be captured & stocked with supplies before heavy snowfall and icy blizzards gripped the area.
#2dayIn1948
Urgent high level discussions took place at Srinagar and Delhi to decide the next step. The difficulties and dangers of the ZojiLa operation were obvious. But the alternative of leaving the whole of Ladakh to its fate was unacceptable, both ..
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#2dayIn1948
After the loss of Skardu, tempo of ops in Aug slowed down as both sides re-assessed their future course of action.
I will take this time to update the happenings in the UN / diplomatic front in this duration.
#2dayIn1948
In Jul 1948, Noel-Baker argued that Britain should turn a blind eye to the Pakistani presence in Kashmir & that the 'Stand Down' instructions should only be interpreted as barring the physical presence in Kashmir of British military personnel in the opposing armies.
#2dayIn1948
The UK Defence Minister fell in with this plea.
The assumption here was that no British officer had been sent into Kashmir with Pakistani forces. However, it turned out that the assumption was wrong.
Grafftey-Smith reported in July that a few British technical ..
Read 216 tweets
#2dayIn1948
Less than 24hrs ago, enemy had heavily bombarded a single picquet of Skardu garrison, followed by a determined assault on it by a strength of two companies. Their first rush carried them almost on to the bunkers, and savage hand to hand fighting took place.
#2dayIn1948
Grenades and bayonets were put to liberal use, and the battle continued for four hrs. It ended with the repulse of the attackers once again, with many of their dead left behind.
#2dayIn1948
Sadly, this was to be the last success of the Skardu Garrison.
The end was near.
Read 219 tweets
#2dayIn1948
Preparations for a fresh attempt to throw the enemy back from his positions near Koragbal were completed & at 1400Hr, a task force of the 1st Indian Grenadiers marched out of Gurez under Maj Maitra.
It was about three platoons in strength, with one ..
#2dayIn1948
.. 3-inch mortar and one 3.7-inch howitzer.
By 2000Hr, the force reached the vicinity of Kanzalwan, travelling by the track going from Malak Kadal across the hill slopes. Maj Maitra with his Tactical HQ and the 3-inch mortar and 3.7inch howitzer took ..
#2dayIn1948
.. position in the forest on the slope of the hill. Rest of the force was detailed to cross the Koragbal Nala under Maj Ferris and join the besieged garrison. A wirerope was thrown across the Nala & in the utter silence of the dark night, the whole party got across ..
Read 191 tweets
#2dayIn1948
On 26 July 1948, Maj Gen KS Thimayya, DSO, GOC Sri Div visited the HQ of 2/4 Gorkha Rifles and discussed plans for the early relief of the besieged companies. The situation was dangerous, because the battalion had been effectively split into two, and apart from the ..
#2dayIn1948
.. predicament of the 'B' & 'C' Companies, the HQ and 'A' Company could be attacked at the vital Rajdhani Pass by superior numbers of the enemy.
Loss of Rajdhani Pass would have been a major setback, jeopardising the position of 1 Indian Grenadiers ..
#2dayIn1948
.. and laying Bandipur open to enemy attack once again.
Although the enemy lacked local commanders brilliant & enterprising enough to see and exploit their great opportunity, it was obvious that the troops at Rajdhani Pass were not in a position ..
Read 138 tweets
#2dayIn1948
Fighting continued throughout last night.
'B' & 'C' Companies of 2/4 GR, valiantly held on to their small perimeter, but the enemy established himself on the slopes of the hill overlooking the camp & commanding both tracks up towards Rajdhani Pass ..
#2dayIn1948
.. as well as the crossing of the Koragbal stream. By morning, 'B' & 'C' Companies were besieged in their camp & cut off from the Tactical HQ & 'A' Company at Rajdhani Pass as well as the engineer & RIASC platoons across the stream. They couldn't ..
#2dayIn1948
.. even reach their water point across the open ground, and were exposed to continual sniping & harassing fire from the close and commanding position occupied by the enemy.
Simultaneously with this bold stroke, the hostiles intensified their activites ..
Read 109 tweets
#2dayIn1948
Maj Prithi Chand once again reported the critical situation & declared that about 1000 raiders were massed against Leh and were well supplied with mortars, light auto weapons & ammo. The defenders were badly in need of equipment, weapons & even clothing.
#2dayIn1948
No medical aid was available for them, and the wounded suffered terrible hardships. Reinforcements were immediately required.
#2dayIn1948
The signal concluded, "Withdrawing if no reply in four hours."
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#2dayIn1948
In Uri, Sawai Mann Guards & 2/3 GR spent the day consolidating their newly captured positions in Pir Kanthi & Ledi Gali.
#2dayIn1948
In Poonch - Rajauri sector, the 'Gulab Column' started its return journey to Rajauri. The column comprising 1/2 Punjab, 1(Para) Kumaon & 1 Kumaon Rifles was to advance to Rajauri thru Mendhar-Bhimbar Gali.
The column left Poonch at 10pm under command of Lt Col Dhillon
#2dayIn1948
According to plan, this colmn was to reach Mendhar by 0800Hr this day, but it was not till 1400Hr that they reached.
Main reason for this delay was the narrow track in Panjal Gali,which slowed down the progress of the mules accompanying the column.
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#2dayIn1948
Not content to remain on the defensive,enemy in Ledi Gali area launched counter attacks on 2/3 GR positions a night prior.
All of these were beaten back.
#2dayIn1948
Following a deliberate buildup of forces during which own troops destroyed all bridges between Keran & Tithwal were destroyed to prevent the enemy crossing from West of the Kishanganga, enemy became more and more aggressive.
This day, two enemy ..
#2dayIn1948
.. parties of approx 100 each attacked Indian positions across the Kishanganga - Pt. 7229 & Ring Contour - under cover of heavy high explosive & smoke mortar fire. At the same time, enemy heavily mortared Tithwal & directed small arms fire on ..
Read 150 tweets
#2dayIn1948
After two days of intensive patrolling post the unsuccessful attack on 13 Jun, 2 (Para) Madras launched another attack at dawn.
This time the assaulting companies were supported by more firepower, as a section of Patiala Mountain Battery was in support. Two ..
#2dayIn1948
.. more of the battalion mortars moved up, thus making a total of four mortars. The op was to be carried out in two phases.
In the first phase, Ridge 'A' was to be captured, with 'C' Company advancing from the left flank & 'D' Company from the right.
In the..
#2dayIn1948
.. second phase, attack was to be launched on Ridge 'B' from Ridge 'A', which was to be the firm base.
Preliminary to the attack, 'C' & 'D' Companies had moved into the jungle previous night. 'B' Company moved up & established itself in area Milestone 13 ..
Read 176 tweets
#2dayIn1948
17 May
Maj Coutts and Lt Col Sampuran Bachan Singh, and first elements of the dispirited remnants of their force started trickling into Leh after their rout near Marol. Their story further discouraged the nervous troops & civilians at Leh, causing more panic.
#2dayIn1948
17 May
Kargil lost, efforts were now on to relieved Dras. Own troops were then located as under:-
1. Two Platoons of 5 Kashmir Infantry at Dras;
2. A company of 5 Kashmir Infantry at Gumri;
3. A company of 5 Kashmir Infantry at Baltal; and
4. A platoon of ..
#2dayIn1948
17 May
..Kashmir Infantry at Sonamarg.
These troops were obviously insufficient for clearing the vital track upto Dras. So 1 Patiala, less two companies, was ordered to concentrate at Sonamarg from 17 May 1948, & to relieve the little detachments strung out upto Dras.
Read 310 tweets
#2dayIn1948
.. leadership was anything but energetic, and situation was still confusing. No detailed account of what happened appears available, but it would be safe to say that Indian troops in the area got routed.
Tail of the column was near Bagicha under ..
#2dayIn1948
.. Lt Col Sampuran Bachan Singh. HQ 5 Kashmir Infantry & about two platoons with a section of MMGs & a detachment of 3-inch mortars were at aMirpigund near Tolti, about 22km from Bagicha, under Lt Col Kripal Singh.
Head of the column was near ..
#2dayIn1948
.. Parkutta, about 25km further on, where there were over three companies of troops and two dets of 3-inch mortars.
Raiders had infiltrated in between and opposed every movement of any part of the column.
Thus split up, immobilized and dispirited, the ..
Read 296 tweets
#2dayIn1948
Consequent to his doubts about Noel-Baker's intentions in the UN, in an extraordinary exchange of 'Top Secret & Personal' telegrams, Attlee took the Commonwealth Secretary to task.
On 01 Apr, he cabled:
'.. I am disturbed as to the extent to which the President's ..
#2dayIn1948
.. draft of 18th Mar has been amended. It appears to me that while India has made a very considerable advance, Pakistan has remained obdurate. Yet the last amended draft makes even more extensive demands on India. We have never authorized the new Article 5 involving..
#2dayIn1948
.. the possible introduction of Pakistan troops into Kashmir. The proposal to set up parallel courts in Kashmir is also certain to be strongly resisted by India. Nor have we authorized the subordination of Indian troops to the Plebiscite authority for ..
Read 217 tweets

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