![Relief of Poonch (Op Easy)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Relief_of_Poonch_%28Op_Easy%29.png)
Military operations took place in
Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to:
* Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between:
** Poonch district, India
** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...
district, then part of the princely state of
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
, in 1948 during the
conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between the
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i and
Azad Kashmir rebel forces. Poonch withstood a siege by these forces from November 1947 until relieved by an Indian offensive, Operation Easy on 20 November 1948. The besieged garrison, commanded by
Brig. Pritam Singh, was maintained by air supply. Military operations ended with Poonch town and the
eastern part of Poonch district in Indian hands and
western part of the Poonch district in Pakistani hands.
Threat to Poonch
Poonch is a small town in Western Jammu, on the confluence of Batar and Suran rivers, which forms the Poonch river. In 1947, it was the seat of the Raja who was a vassal of
Maharaja Hari Singh
Maharaja Sir Hari Singh (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. In 1923, following his uncle's death, Singh became t ...
of Jammu and Kashmir.
Prior to 1947, communications with Poonch were through the Punjabi town of
Jhelum
Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...
; towns in the east such as
Rajauri
Rajouri or Rajauri (; Pahari: 𑠤𑠬𑠑𑠶𑠤𑠮, راجوری; sa, राजपुर, ) is a city in Rajouri district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu city on the ...
,
Naushera and
Jammu
Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...
being connected only by fair-weather tracks.
Pakistan had targeted
Poonch district, which had a large population of Muslim serving and retired soldiers, as an important objective. Pakistani forces comprised regular soldiers, ex-servicemen of Royal Indian Army (AKRF – Azad Kashmir Regular Force) and
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
tribals, along with Muslim Poonchies inflamed by reports of massacre of Muslim refugees during the communal violence of partition.
[.]
The attackers infiltrated Poonch, as part of Operation "Gulmarg", as a springboard to capture the Jammu region. The town was threatened by the raiders when the headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir forces decided to reinforce it from the North.
The relief of Poonch from Jammu was exacerbated by the fact that it lay across many kilometers of hilly terrain with poor communications. Paucity of troops, the need to secure the line of communication and to establish a firm base delayed its relief. The massacre of the populations of the surrounding areas, not only swelled the refugee population in Poonch, but also led to Pandit Nehru's insisting that it be held.
Reinforcement of Poonch
A total of 40,000 refugees sheltered in Poonch fleeing from tribal atrocities in the West.
Since the state forces were grossly inadequate to fend off the raiders, a decision to reinforce the garrison was made by Maj Gen Kalwant Singh, commander of Jammu and Kashmir forces. An attempt by
50 Parachute Brigade, under Brig. Y.S. Paranjpye, was planned. The brigade faced difficult terrain and tough opposition and was not able to relieve Poonch.
161st Infantry Brigade, which had pushed the raiders back to Domel on the Muzzafarabad-Srinagar route, was tasked to link up with Poonch from the North.
Just before Poonch was contacted by the raiders, the town was reinforced on 22 Nov 47 by a column from 161 Brigade which left behind an infantry battalion, 1st Battalion (Parachute),
Kumaon Regiment
The Kumaon Regiment is one of the oldest infantry regiments of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its origins to the 18th century and has fought in every major campaign of the British Indian Army and the Indian Army, including the two world war ...
(1 KUMAON) under Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier)
Pritam Singh who became the commander of Poonch garrison. There was also an understrength brigade of J&K State Forces under Brig. Kishen Singh already present in Poonch which came under command of the Indian Army.
In January 1948, another battalion of infantry, the 3rd Battalion,
9 Gorkha Rifles
The 9th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha infantry regiment of the Indian Army and, previously, the British Army. The regiment was initially formed by the British in 1817, and was one of the Gurkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army after independe ...
(3/9 GR) was airlifted into Poonch to bolster the defences.
Siege of Poonch
![Dakotas in Poonch 1947](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Dakotas_in_Poonch_1947.jpg)
Poonch was isolated by the raiders soon after the reinforcement.
Brig. Pritam Singh organised the defenses with regular troops, stiffening them with the State Forces and two ad hoc militia battalions, organised from the refugees. The defenders kept the besiegers at bay by vigorous patrolling and fierce small unit actions. An
air strip
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...
suitable for Dakotas was fashioned using the besieged civilians as labour.
On 12 December 1947, Wing Commander
Mehar Singh
Padri Mehar Singh was one of the founding members of Fiji's Kisan Sangh when it was established in 1937. He remained a prominent member of the union until 1943, when he and Ramcharan Singh led a faction that supported the strike instigated by the r ...
, accompanied by Air Vice Marshal
Subroto Mukerjee
Air Marshal (India), Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Order of the British Empire, OBE (Bengali Language, Bengali: সুব্রত মুখোপাধ্যায়) (5 March 1911 – 8 November 1960) was an Indian military officer who was the ...
, carried out a daring trial in a Harvard on the makeshift airstrip. The same day, the first Dakotas landed on Poonch airstrip carrying with them a complete section of mountain artillery. Thereafter the fledgling
Royal Indian Air Force
The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire.
The Indian Air Force was offi ...
began what they called the "Punching" drive, an air bridge of
Dakotas
The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econom ...
, first by day and later by night.
[Longer (1974) mentions that the aircraft was a Beechcraft while the Bharat Rakshak article, of Air Force origin and post-2000 vintage, mentions "Harvard", an aircraft known to have been used extensively in the 1947 Indo-Pakistani operation in the Jammu sector.] The air bridge flew in supplies and flew out refugees, despite interdiction by Pakistani mountain artillery, to counter which Indian
25 pounder
The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was the major British field gun and howitzer during the Second World War. Its calibre is 3.45-inch (87.6 mm). It was introduced into service just before the war started, combin ...
guns were flown in.
The air force also attacked the Pakistani columns with
Tempest
Tempest is a synonym for a storm.
'' The Tempest'' is a play by William Shakespeare.
Tempest or The Tempest may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''The Tempest'' (1908 film), a British silent film
* ''The Tempest'' (1911 film), a ...
s and
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
s.
Attacks on Poonch reduced during summer due to the protracted operations in the Uri sector and were resumed in August 1948, necessitating an immediate relief of Poonch.
Poonch was referred to as the "
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...
of Kashmir", though unlike Tobruk, it never fell.
Operation Easy
A relieving force under Brig. Yadunath Singh was assembled at Rajauri, which eventually grew to be division-sized, comprising
5 and
19 Infantry Brigade as well as "Rajauri column" with supporting field artillery and two troops of
Sherman tank
}
The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...
s of the
Central India Horse
The Central India Horse (formerly the 21st King George V's Own Horse, also known as Beatson's Horse) was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps.
Formation
The regiment was ra ...
.
The codename of the operation was "Operation EASY" to make the complex operation appear psychologically easier to execute.
The operation commenced on the night of 6/7 November with 5 Brigade advancing on the right of the axis of advance and 19 Brigade on the left flank.
Bhimber Gali, captured by the two brigades, and Ramgarh fort, captured by Rajauri Force, were the first features to be captured.
In the meantime,
268 Infantry Brigade carried out OP RANJIT in which it captured
Pir Badesar, a tactically strong locality overlooking the Seri valley which protected Jhangar from the north and posed a direct threat to
Kotli
Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It lies on the Poonch River, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village of ...
and thus protected the flank of the advance from a Pakistani threat to the line of communication near
Chingas.
19 Infantry Brigade came across determined opposition at Point 5372, a feature southeast of
Mendhar, which guarded the route to
Kotli
Kotli ( ur}) is a city in Kotli District of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. It lies on the Poonch River, and the river contains several notable waterfalls including the Lala Waterfall near the town of Kotli and the Gulpur Waterfalls at the village of ...
. Continuing to demonstrate against Point 5372 as a ruse, the major force was switched to the right flank where opposition was light. These two brigades then captured Pt 5982 and Topa ridge south of Poonch. On 20 November, the Poonch garrison broke through to the south over the hills for the linkup. On 23 November, Mendhar was a captured in a pincer move by 19 Infantry Brigade from the South permitting the
Engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
to construct a jeep track via Mendhar to Poonch.
Operation Easy resulted in capture of of territory. Large numbers of refugees, including 10,000 Muslims were able to get away and obtain relief from the state administration.
Aftermath
While Poonch was secured, costly gains made by the Indian 161st Infantry Brigade and
77th Parachute Brigade in the Uri sector were lost by ill-advised vacation of Led Gali and Pir Kanthi picquets in the Haji Pir region for the winter by the Indian brigade commander responsible, allowing Pakistan to reoccupy these picquets and occupy a large salient centred on the
Haji Pir pass
The Pir Panjal Range (Kashmiri: ) is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian territories of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and then Pakistan's ...
. Before any action could be taken by the Indians to reduce the salient, ceasefire was declared on 2 January 1949 leaving these locations secure in Pakistani hands.
Poonch continues to be a border outpost on the
Line of Control
The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...
in between the Indian and Pakistani administered regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision to hold and relieve Poonch saved thousands of civilian lives but at the military cost of diverting troops from the capture of Domel and Muzzafarabad during a period of vulnerability
as well as diverting troops from the capture of Mirpur and Bhimber, a more meaningful strategical gambit.
See also
*
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, or the First Kashmir War, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars that was fought between t ...
*
1947 Poonch rebellion
In spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir broke out in the Poonch jagir, an area bordering the Rawalpindi district of West Punjab and the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province in the futu ...
References
External links
Brig Pritam Singh, MC, Saviour of Poonch On Govt of Indi
Accessed 24 August 2010.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Operations in Poonch (1948)
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948
Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to:
* Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between:
** Poonch district, India
** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...