First AFVs in Ladakh
At this time when heavy armour in Eastern Ladakh, both Indian and Chinese, are facing each other, it is instructive to recall that nearly six decades back the Indian Army deployed a troop of light tanks which were airlifted to Chushul and thereafter played a vital role in the severe fighting during November 1962.
To 20th Lancers goes the honour of first deploying tanks at the world’s highest battleground, Eastern Ladakh in 1962, their troop of AMX-13 tanks having been airlifted to Chushul, just south of the Pangong Tso the world’s highest lake ( image above). The story of their airlifting from Air Force Station Chandigarh has been recorded in official history but this personal story has never been told – till now.
In February 1962, then Air Commodore Shivdev Singh (later Air Marshal and Vice Chief of the Air Staff in inset above) was AOC Advance Headquarters attached with Western Army Command at Simla, whose GOC-in-C was Lt Gen Daulat Singh. The GOC XV Corps at Udampur was Lt Gen Bikram Singh while Air Vice Marshal Erlic Pinto was AOC Western Air Command.
Defences in Ladakh were thin, just the 114 (Independent) Brigade at Leh, with two battalions of the Jammu & Kashmir Militia responsible for the entire 480 km long front from Demchok to Daulet Beg Oldi, at foot of the Karakoram Pass. With rising tensions, 1/8 Gorkha Rifles were inducted in April 1961 to defend the sector between the Galwan river and Chushul.
Early in 1962, the Indian Army initiated the first ‘war games’ in this front, with then
Maj Gen PP Kumaramangalam (formerly Commandant of the Staff College and later COAS) and Air Commodore Shivdev Singh ‘acting’ as Chinese commanders to attack and capture Indian Army forward posts in the sector. Their report was alarming in that there was very little defence and so 114 Brigade, commanded by TN Raina (later
Army Chief) was reinforced in April 1962 by the 5 Jat Regiment and later, just before the war, by 13 Kumaon Regiment.
After World War II, the Indian Army had been given the responsibility for logistics and transportation of all stores to forward areas. Considering the precarious situation of 114 Brigade, it was directed that there take place rapid buildup of troops, artillery, weapons and ammunition including landmines and other defence equipment. The Air Force undertook to fly all these to the advance landing ground (ALG) at Chushul, at some 12,000 feet above sea level. The ALG was critical for the buildup of troops, artillery, stores and equipment but initially defended only by a platoon. Along with the reinforcements to be flown there were a troop of AMX-13 tanks of 20 Lancers commanded by Lt Col Gurbachan Singh (‘Butch’) and a battery of 25-pounder guns of 13 Field Regiment (Sikhs).
Air Vice Marshal Erlic Pinto and Air Commodore Shivdev Singh personally directed this operation, bending many rules as they examined the options including many ‘out of the box’, carrying out reconnaissance in Fairchild C- 119G Packets of No. 12 Squadron from Srinagar which included trial landings at Chushul. The C-119s were at their performance limits although some fitted with dorsal jet packs, could operate with margins of safety.
However, the AMX- 13 tanks could only be airlifted by the much more capable Antonov An-12 four-engined turboprop tactical transport aircraft, the first of which had just been procured from Russia.
As extracted from the book ‘ Aircraft of the Indian Air Force 1933-73’ by Pushpindar Singh: Operations in and out from the high mountain regions had put a strain on the C-119Gs supporting the consolidation of ground forces in Ladakh for although the Packets were successfully operating from advance landing grounds upto 14,000 ft ( 4,267m) above sea level, their Wright piston engines lost efficiency at these levels. This led to the provision of a jet engine, fitted in a dorsal booster pod. The first C-119G, suitably modified by the Overhaul Division of HAL, Bangalore with technical participation by Steward- Davis Inc, of Long Beach, California, made its initial flight on 9 November, 1961 but twenty seven C-119Gs were eventually retrofitted with HAL Orpheus 701 turbojets. This jet pack doubled safety margins, augmenting performance in difficult terrain and in poor weather conditions. On 23 July 1962, a boosted C-119G created a world record by successfully transporting 32 personnel to and from the forward landing strip at
Daulet Beg Oldi, 16,800 feet (5,120m) above sea level in the Karakorams ( see article in this Issue).
The C-119Gs carried the responsibility of logistic support to the Himalayan front till supplemented by the An-12s. In the third week of October 1962, the Indian Air Force flew in troop and artillery reinforcements from Pathankot and Srinagar to 114 Infantry Brigade at Chushul and, on 24 October, flew in a troop of AMX-13 tanks for the defence of Chushul against Chinese advances.
The first few Antonov An-12s were received by No.44 Squadron IAF in March 1961 and were fully committed during the frontier war with China in OctoberNovember 1962. Transporting men and material to the isolated front, An- 12s operated around the clock, supply dropping in Ladakh, where they were subjected to Chinese ground fire, as also airlifting troops and equipment to Assam. Pivoting their efforts West to East and back, the An-12s proved rugged and capable of the strenuous operations involved in the four grim weeks of fighting, airlifting urgently required field guns and light tanks to Ladakh.
This first person account was related to the author by Air Marshal Shivdev Singh himself. As the first AMX-13 was being loaded in the An-12 at Chandigarh, the aircraft jacks had collapsed perhaps because of jerky driving up the ramp into the cargo hold. Nose of the aircraft itself lifted up and the process was stopped. An EME Major from Pathankot suggested that sand bags be placed under the front landing gear as the tank was eased out. More sand bags were placed at suitable places so that the aircraft was not damaged and thereafter the AMX-13 tanks were safely loaded and then airlifted to Chushul.
The rest is history.