The Monsoon War

The Monsoon War Young Officers Reminiscence 1965 India-Pakistan War Book: The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminiscence 1965 IndiaPakistan War Authors: Lieutenant General Tajindar Shergill and Captain Amarinder Singh Publisher: New Delhi: Lustre Press Roli Books, 2015

Lieutenant General Tajindar Shergill and Captain Amarinder Singh's book The Monsoon war is an encyclopedic work on the 1965 India-Pakistan war. It is a detailed account of operations of all phases of this war from the perspectives of junior officers. The authors have used extensive Indian material as well as Pakistani sources to provide a detailed picture of the conflict.

The book starts with the background of the conflict that culminated in open war in 1965. This is followed by details about the Run of Kutch conflict that was the prelude to the war. Chapter five is especially a good read as it provides details of armor equipment of both armies and advantages and disadvantages. This helps the non-military reader to understand strengths and weaknesses of the rival armies during the conflict. The authors provide details of some of the challenges faced by the Indian army in the aftermath of Indo-China conflict of 1962. Rapid expansion of Indian army resulted in poorly armed and poorly trained for- mations. If Indian army was producing 'nine months wonders' for Indian army officer corps, the Pakistan army was producing 'pre-mature' officers from Officers Training School with only eight months of training. In early 1960s, Pakistani officers were not happy with the pay as It had remained stagnant as well as lack of accommodations. When troops were used to construct accommodations, there was resentment among the soldiers as they saw it below their dignity to work as laborers. Pakistani tanks had not carried out any tank firing for over two years as training ammunition provided by the Americans was hoarded as 'war reserve'. However, when the war started majority of officers and soldiers on both sides fought to the best of their abilities.

Contrary to popular perceptions In Pakistan about the Muslims of India, It Is Interesting to note that a number of Muslim soldiers and officers fought on the Indian side. Lieutenant Colonel Salim Caleb (later Major General) was commanding 3rc^ Cavalry. 4(TM) Grenadiers was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Farhat Bhatti...