Indian XV Corps, Kashmir 1965
v.1.0 April 7, 2002

Ravi Rikhye & Dave Sandhu

 

With thanks to Mr. Jagan Pillarsetti for a copy of the Official History of the 1971 War. This has not been published to date.  The Times of India put a leaked copy on its website for some time in 2000.

Also: War Dispatches, Lt.-General Harbaksh Singh; Lancers Publishers, New Delhi, 1991

Indian XV Corps (Srinager) controlled Indian forces in Ladakh, Kashmir, and Jammu, the Indian state officially called Jammu and Kashmir. At approximately 950 kilometers this corps probably had one of the longest frontages of any in the history of warfare, particularly so because the 750 km front with Pakistan was live. The corps had to be prepared to go to war at a moment’s notice: its front was not some forgotten backwater overgrown with the moss of decades of inactivity and neglect, but one where Indian and Pakistani forces faced off on a daily basis.

The Corps front in the sectors Akhnur, Jammu, Kathua, Samba, and Pathanot is discussed separately: 10^th Division (Akhnur) is listed in the Battle for Chaamb, and 26^th Division (Jammu) was assigned to I Corps for its offensive against the Sialkot salient.

A complication is that many units were shifted into the theatre to counter Pakistan’s Operation Gibraltar, which immediately preceded the 1965 War. The official history is not clear on which these formations were, so we cannot identify the reinforcements.

2^nd Lancers [Lt. Col. O. P. Suri] (C Squadron detached to 191^st Brigade, Chaamb)

3^rd Infantry Division, Leh [Maj.-Gen. G.B.S. Singh]

70^th Infantry Brigade, Demchok

-         2^nd Assam

-         5^th Garhwal

-         14^th Rajputana Rifles

-         17^th Punjab [Lt. Col. Harnam Singh]

-         A/Ladakh Scouts

114^th Infantry Brigade, Chushul

-         1^st Assam

-         2^nd Jat

-         3^rd Kumaon

-         2/3^rd Gorkha Rifles

-         6^th Bihar

-         7^th J & K Rifles

-         C and H/Ladakh Scouts

163^rd Infantry Brigade, Leh (Moves to Valley August 11)

Division Artillery Brigade

-         32^nd Light Regiment (to 121^st Brigade)

-         43^rd Field Regiment

-         62^nd Field Regiment

-         63^rd Field Regiment

Two battalions Special Frontier Force

121^st Infantry Brigade Group, Kargil [Brig. V.K. Ghai] (Independent Brigade)

-         1^st Guards [Officiating OC Maj. Menon] ex 3^rd Division

-         1^st J & K Militia

-         12^th J & K Militia (minus two companies)

-         17^th Punjab

-         85^th Light Regiment (- 1 battery)

-         32^nd Light Regiment (ex 3^rd Division)

-         114^th Light Battery (ex 3^rd Division)

Also supporting, but not under command: 9^th Task Force, Border Roads Organization

19^th Infantry Division, Barmula [Maj.-Gen. S.S. Kalaan]

68^th Infantry Brigade Group [Brig. S.C. Bakshi] (Independent Brigade, assigned)

-         1^st Parachute

-         4^th Rajput

-         6^th J & K Militia

-         19^th Punjab

104^th Infantry Brigade [Brig. B.C. Chawla] Thangdar-Tithwal

-         1^st Sikh

-         2^nd Rajput

-         3/8^th Gorkha Rifles

-         4^th Kumaon

-         8^th Kumaon

161^st Infantry Brigade [Brig. M.K. Balachandran] Baramula

-         4^th Sikh Light Infantry

-         6^th Bihar

-         7^th Bihar

-         7^th Marattha

-         20^th Marattha

268^th Infantry Brigade [Brig. A.N. Antia] Uri

-         2^nd J & Militia

-         3^rd Sikh

-         3^rd Jammu & Kashmir Rifles

-         6^th Guards

-         13^th J & K Militia

-         Indo-Tibetan Border Police units (arriving)

25^th Infantry Division [Maj.-Gen. Amreek Singh] Rajouri

62^nd Mountain Brigade [Brig. H.C. Gahlaut] (Reinforcement, not part of division)

-         2^nd Dogra

-         3/11^th Gorkha Rifles

-         4/5^th Gorkha Rifles

-         11^th J & K Militia

-         14^th Kumaon

80^th Infantry Brigade [Brig. U.B.S. Verma] ?Naoshera?

-         1^st Madras

-         2^nd Bihar

-         4/3^rd Gorkha Rifles

-         5^th Sikh Light Infantry

-         4/8^th Gorkha Rifles

-         9^th J & K Militia (- 1 company)

93^rd Infantry Brigade [Brig. Zora Singh] Poonch

-         2^nd Sikh

-         3^rd Rajputana Rifles

-         3^rd Rajput

-         3^rd Dogra

-         7^th Madaras

-         7^th Sikh

-         8^th Grenadiers

120^th Infantry Brigade [Brig. Bharat Singh] Rajouri

-         2^nd  Garwhal

-         10^th  Mahar

-         14^th Jat

-         22^nd Marattha Light Infantry

25^th Division Artillery Brigade

23^rd Composite Mountain Regiment

31^st Light Regiment

39^th Medium Regiment  (1 section)

42^nd Field Regiment

163^rd Field Regiment (temporary attachment from 26^th Division)

169^th Field Regiment

SRI Force [Maj.-Gen. Umrao Singh] Srinager

Originally set up to protect Srinager area from infiltrators entering under Pakistan’s Operation Gibralter, as XV Corps’s infantry divisions were busy on the border.

163^rd Infantry Brigade[Brig. Kale] ex 3^rd Infantry Division

-         1^st Guards

-         6^th Guards

-         6^th Rajput [Lt. Col. Mustasad Ahmed]

The official history gives the brigade as having:

-         1 Marattha

-         2/9 Gorkha Rifles

HQ 31^st Communication Zone Sub Area [Brig. A.J.R. Dyer]

8^th J & K Militia (- 1 company)

HQ J & K Militia [Brig. Hardit Singh]

-         12^th J & K Militia (- 2 companies)

-         Squadron, Central India Horse (- troop)

-         25^th Light AA Regiment (- 1 battery)

Station HQ Udhampur

One Company, 8^th J & K Militia

One Company, 9^th J & K Militia

Four companies, Punjab Armed Police

XV Corps Artillery Brigade [Brig. Surat Singh]

-         23^rd Mountain Composite Regiment (Pack)

-         52^nd Mountain Composite Regiment (Pack)

-         38^th Medium Regiment (- 1 battery)

-         39^th Medium Regiment (-1 regiment)

-         No. 2 AOP Flight