Men of Steel: 6 Armoured Division in the 1965 War: War Dispatches of Major General Abrar Husain

Military Review, Nov-Dec, 2005 by Julian Schofield

MEN OF STEEL: 6 ARMOURED DIVISION IN THE 1965 WAR: War Dispatches of Major General Abrar Husain, Army Education Publishing House, Rawalpindi, and Oxford University Press, Karachi, 2005, 153 pages, Unpriced.

Men of Steel, composed of the war dispatches of Pakistan's 6 Armored Division's commander, Major General Abrar Husain, was written 4 months after the Battle of Chawinda, the battle that decided the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War. Although Chawinda was an obscure battle outside South Asian security circles, at the time it was the largest tank battle since World War II.

During the battle, four Indian divisions attacked deep into Pakistani Punjab where they were repulsed by the skillful defense of Pakistan's 6 Armored Division. The ensuing stalemate ultimately convinced India to seek an end to the war.

Husain's definitive account, delayed for years by Pakistani Army censors because little had changed along the frontier between India and Pakistan, provides unprecedented insight into historical issues and current security concerns. Husain's self-criticisms of foregone opportunities, wrong tactics, neglected battle procedures, and poor leadership constitute a critique of the Pakistani Army that still applies. The book's tactical and operational detail complements Harbakhsh Singh's War Dispatches--Indo-Pak Conflict 1965 (Lancer International, New Delhi, 1991), the only book with an Indian perspective about the fighting on the Western Front.

The book's annexes [appendices], which include operations orders, captured Indian documents, and comprehensively marked and scaled full-color foldout maps (NATO standard), are superb. This well-written narrative might be best appreciated by someone with G3 experience.

Julian Schofield, Ph.D.,

Montreal, Quebec