First In The Series Of Books Detailing Wartime Operations Of The Indian Air Force (Iaf) It Provides A History Of The Air Component Of A War Triggered By Pakistan`S Invasion Of Kashmir In 1965. Based On Interviews With Iaf War Veterans, Squadron Diaries And Never Before Published Photographs Including Gun Camera Photos, The Book Is Very Valuable In Understanding The Deployment Of Air-Power In The Twentieth Century.
1965 War Was The First All-Out Clash Between The Two Nations India And Pakistan, After The Partition In 1947.Y.B. Chavan, India S Former Defence Minister, Recorded In His Own Hand The 22-Day War. The Inside Story Reveals:" Utter Failure Of Intelligence On Timing Of Pak Attack." How And Why Chavan Ordered Iaf To Launch Attack Without Even Informing The Pm." Why India Attacked Across The International Border? Reasons As Per Chavan Recording, If We Fail And I Cannot Even Imagine Of It The Nation Fails ." How A Division Commander Bolted From The Theatre Of Operation. " How The Army Commander Sacrificed Over 300 Men For The Greater Glory Of His Regiment . " Why The Indian Army Did Not March Into Lahore." Occasions When The Army Chief Almost Lost His Nerve." How The Defence Minister, The Army And Air Chiefs Worked As Team." How Pm Kept His Cool And Emerged As A Great Leader In War." Was It A Futile War? Did India Lose In Tashkent What Was Won On Battle-Fields." Finally, How The Political Leadership Re-Established Its Proper Relationship With The Defence Forces Leadership And Wiped Out Bitter Memories Of The 1962 India-China War.The Book Is A Tribute To The Iaf That Was Deployed In War For The First Time After The Independence. Also To India S Armoured Regiments That Fought Valiantly And Destroyed Myth Of Superiority Of The Pattons.
On 1 September 1965, Pakistan invaded Chamb district in Jammu and Kashmir, triggering a series of tank battles, operations and counter-operations. It was only the bravery and well-executed strategic decisions of the soldiers of the Indian Army that countered the very real threat of losing Kashmir to Pakistan. Recounting the battles fought by five different regiments, the narrative reconstructs the events of the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, outlining details never revealed before, and remembers its unsung heroes.
The conflict was short and limited, packed with intense activity, major movement, heavy fighting and crucial decisions. The initiative rested with Pakistan to commence hostilities, which they did with a mix of irregular and regular troops and tactics. This is a story of anticipation, of impending actions, of virtual equality of forces engaged in a savage battle of attrition in which no quarters were given or asked. The author, GOC-in-C Western Command during those fateful days provided an unflappable presence under whose command the Army imposed unacceptable levels of losses on the enemy, first toning down their rhetoric, then their confidence, and lastly their ability to sustain very high levels of material losses. There is very little material or records to draw upon for our military studies of warfare in and around the Indian subcontinent. War Despatches narrates for the first time the inside story through original despatches field by the Army Commander from the war zone. To maintain the authenticity of the Despatches, the military style of writing has been followed in the text as far as possible.
In 1965, while India was still licking its wounds from the disastrous war against the Chinese in 1962, the belligerent Pakistanis decided to wrest Kashmir from India. To test the waters, they launched their first military probes into the Rann of Kutch between February and May; India responded. By the end of July, India gave in to the dictates of the UN and stood down the troops it had mobilized in the Punjab and Kargil sectors in response to the Rann of Kutch skirmishes. Pakistan then launched i
"Stanley Wolpert's new book, India and Pakistan, represents another major contribution to his analysis of the subcontinent. In this work, he provides a hopeful yet realistic solution to the tensions between these two neighbors." MICHAEL D. INTRILIGATOR, University of California, Los Angeles, and the Milken Institute --
