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Around this time, exactly 55 years ago, my father reached the command post of the 1st Indian Armoured Brigade, which was fighting the most important battle in independent Indian history. Pakistan's elite 1st Armoured Division were attempting to break through at Assal Uttar.
220 Patton tanks & 44 light tanks with substantial infantry and artillery support were being faced by just 135 Indian tanks, only 45 of them Centurions, the rest being obsolete Shermans & light AMX 13 tanks. The Pakistan attack in strength was a complete surprise.
If they broke through, there were no Indian armoured units in reserve and no river obstacle to stop the Pakistani armour. It was a bold & daring plan. The Indians had managed to hold back the Pakistan attack on the 1st two days with just Shermans & recoilless guns.
It allowed Brig Theograj to arrive with his two regiments and prepare his defence. He anticipated where the Pakistani armour would strike and arranged his Centurion tanks in two semi-circular formations creating a killing zone.
He called right. From 8:30 in the morning the Pakistan attacked with the Pattons of 4th Cavalry and 5th Horse. The Indian plan was a complete success, the Pakistani armour was caught in a deadly crossfire and were hammered.
My father remembers Brigadier Theogoraj relaxing under a banyan tree on a charpoy with a 2 day old newspaper. As the officers kept updating him as they heard from the tank squadrons, he kept score of the enemy Pattons, Chaffees, and APCs destroyed on on the margin of his paper.
Other than the occasional soothing word or congratulations to one of the units on the comms, he did not interfere at all with the units in action and even found time for a hearty lunch of paratha and chicken.
It was the most decisive Indian victory of the war with Pakistan losing almost 100 tanks. My father marvelled at the composure and confidence of a man who almost certainly knew that if the Pakistani armour broke through, there was little else to stop them on the road to Delhi.
There were many heroes that day, but Brig Theograj was the mastermind. They have a colony named after him in Secunderabad, and if you ever visit Tirunellveli in Tamil Nadu, do look for a house named Khem Karan far away from the lush wheat fields of the Punjab
