Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 1: The 3-day celebration of Armoured Corps Day to commemorate 77 years of the mechanization of Indian Cavalry Regiments begins today at Headquarters of Western Command.
It was on May 1, 1938 that the Scinde Horse became the first Regiment to shed its horses and was equipped with Vickers Light Tanks and Chevrolet Armoured Cars. This was the beginning of a new era of valour and sacrifice by the tankmen.
Dignity and nostalgia marked the celebrations of the Armoured Corps Day at Headquarters Western Command. First of all a solemn wreath laying ceremony was held this morning at the “Veer Smriti” where Lt Gen KJ Singh Army Commander, Western Command laid the wreath to pay homage to the gallant martyrs who laid down their lives defending the Nation.
The event was also attended by the select veterans from the Armoured Corps including Brig NS Sandhu, MVC (Retired), the war hero of 1971 India Pakistan War.
The Armoured Corps has acquitted itself with distinction in all wars. The deployment of armour on the Zojila Pass in the 1947 Indo Pakistan War proved to be decisive and the turning point of the conflict. The Indian Armoured Corps gave a sterling performance in the 1965 war, wherein the sophisticated and advanced Patton tanks of Pakistan Army were decimated to form the famous graveyard, “Patton Nagar” near Khemkaran in Punjab.
The Corps proved its mettle yet again gloriously in the 1971 war wherein tanks were at the forefront of action on the both Western and Eastern front and infact spearheaded the offensive of ground forces into Dhaka.
Apart from proving its mettle in the domain of conventional operations, the Armoured Corps has contributed substantially and significantly to the Counter Insurgency Operations in J&K and North East. The Corps is also contributing a contingent at United Nation’s mission in Lebanon, apart from individual representations.
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