A tank which stands on its knees in the honour of our soldiers in Chawinda

The M47 Patton Tank captured from the Pakistan army during 1965 conflict, on display at War Memorial Dharamshala (Image Credit: Manish Gupta)

by: Manish Gupta

Dharamshala: “The M-47 Patton tank captured from Pakistan during the 1965 war is like a medal for Indian Army”, says Col KKS Dadwal (Retd), the current chairman of war memorial in Dharamshala about the battle tank on display at the memorial.


According to Memorial officials, it belonged to the 6th Armoured Division of Pakistan Army and was among the tanks captured by the 1st Armoured Division of Indian Army in the battle of Chawinda in one of the largest tank battles after World War II. Also used as MBT (Main Battle Tank), the M47 Patton tanks were the most advanced tanks during the period. During the 1965 conflict, India has destroyed 471 Pakistani tanks as per official estimates and captured 38 of them.


“The tank’s barrel is kept low as it is the practice with captured tanks”, said Col KKS Dadwal. The tank on display at the Dharamshala war memorial, the only War Memorial in in Himachal Pradesh, is a center of attraction for the visitors. The tank on display has a 90 MM main gun capable of firing 71 rounds with the in-tank ammunition. Weighing 44.1 tons, it had an operational range of 100 kilometers and a maximum speed of 40 KMPH.


“We are taking care of it with honor and a feeling of patriotism”, said Ashok Sharma, who works as a clerk at the memorial. “Visitors come from faraway places to pay their respects to the martyrs”, he added.


“This tank is like a war trophy which our solders got by sacrificing their lives and I am proud to have a look at it,” said Aman Deep Singh, a tourist from Punjab.


Named after General George S Patton, an exponent of tank battle, who commanded the US Third Army in World War II, Patton tanks were considered formidable weapons till 70s. The 1965 Indo-Pak conflict became the first real combat test for Patton tanks and it did not turn good for it. During the conflict, Indian army decimated more than 97 Pakistani tanks in the Khem Karan- Asal Uttar battle on 10th September 1965. According to US war historian Steven Zaloga, more than 65 of these tanks were M47 & M48 Pattons. The place and the battle later came to be known as the ‘graveyard of Pattons’.