Stories for Pak Defence Day - September06, 2022

STORIES FOR PAKISTAN DEFENCE DAY - September 06, 2022

FROM : Startup Pakistan - https://www.facebook.com/StartupPakistanSP

India and Pakistan had been at war, covertly or overtly, since the latter was carved out of the Indian subcontinent on the 14th August 1947. Kashmir has been a major bone of contention between these two states, and three major wars have been fought over the Kashmir region.

The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 was the most decisive of all the wars fought between the two countries. It started in the month of August and lasted until 23rd September 1965. The major portion of the armor and weaponry used by both countries was provided by the Americans, Russians and British who were getting rid of older equipment used in WW2. The Battle of Chawinda was one of the major battles fought during this war and is now hailed as one of the largest tank battles since the Battle of Kursk in WWII.

The City of Sialkot in Pakistan was one of the cities which the Indians had planned to use as a base for further operations within Pakistan, once captured. The town of Chawinda lies a few miles from the main city and was the center of the action. General Dunn was the commander of the I Corps-Indian Army and was put in charge of an armored division, a mountain division, and 2 other divisions.

The strength of the Indian forces ranged from 80,000 to 150,000 infantry and 230 tanks that consisted of both Centurions and Shermans. On the other hand, the Pakistani force that planned to repulse the attack initially consisted of an armored, an infantry and an artillery division. Later during the battle, reinforcements arrived, including another infantry division and another armored division. The Pakistani side consisted of 30,000 to 50,000 infantry, 132 tanks who were tasked with the initial defense and 150 reinforcements who retreated from the nearby tank battle of Phillora without many losses. Both Sherman and Patton tanks took part in at the battle.

Legendary war hero MM Alam’s record of shooting down five Indian war planes in less than a minute remains unbeaten.

Alam, nicknamed as ‘Little Dragon’ popularly, while piloting an F-86 Sabre, shot down five Indian war planes in less than a minute during 1965 Pak-India war and altogether, downed nine war planes in the aerial fighting.

MM Alam was the first ever fighter pilot for PAF, listed on top in the hall of famers list at the PAF Museum in Karachi. Alam is considered as a national hero for Pakistan, most significantly, for his remarkable show of brilliance in the war of 1965 he was awarded the ‘Sitara-e-Jurat’ and also the BAR medal, private news channel reported.

The war hero was born on July 6, 1935, in Calcutta, India and was the eldest of 11 siblings. No one in his family before him had been part of the military, and in fact, he joined the armed forces against his father’s will.

In 1965, when India started war in the late mist dark night, Alam who was the first commanding officer of the first squadron of Assaults Mirage III, took his F-86 Sabre jet plane equipped with AIM-9 sidewinder missiles and fly over the skies of Sargodha to defeat the enemies who entered in Pakistani Air Space.

Here, MM Alam made the unforgettable history by knocking down nine Indian Fighter Jets ‘Hawker Hunters’ in air to air combat despite Hawker Hunter superiority over F-86. He shot down as he sets an unbeaten world record by downing five Indian aircraft in thirty seconds.