Lt Col A. B. Tarapore led Poona Horse for six days in the Sialkot sector in September 1965, fighting on while wounded, and died in the battle.
Six Days from Phillora to Jassoran
On 11 September 1965, Poona Horse was moving between Phillora and Chawinda in the Sialkot sector, tasked with the main armoured thrust to capture Phillora. Heavy armour counter-attacked from Wazirwali. Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore, at the head of the regiment, held his ground and attacked Phillora with one squadron and an infantry battalion in support.
He was wounded in that action and refused evacuation.
On 14 September he led the regiment to capture Wazirwali. On 16 September it took Jassoran and Butur Dograndi. His own tank was hit several times, and by holding both places the regiment allowed infantry to attack Chawinda from the rear.
Sixty Tanks for Nine
The citation puts enemy losses at approximately sixty tanks against nine of the regiment's own. Tarapore was mortally wounded, and the National War Memorial records that his tank was hit by a shell and caught fire.
Mumbai to Poona Horse
New India Samachar, a Government of India publication, says he was born in Mumbai on 18 August 1923 and began his career in 1942 with the 7 Hyderabad Infantry, joining Poona Horse after Hyderabad merged with India. It records his death on 16 September 1965 and his cremation at Jasoran the next day.
The citation
On the 11th September 1965, the Poona Horse Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel A. B. Tarapore, was assigned the task of delivering the main armoured thrust for capturing Phillora in Sialkot sector in Pakistan. As a preliminary to making a surprise attack on Phillora from the rear, the Regiment was thrusting forward between Phillora and Chawinda, when it was suddenly counter-attacked by the enemy's heavy armour from Wazirwali. Lt.-Col. Tarapore who was then at the head of his Regiment, defied the enemy's charge, held his ground and gallantly attacked Phillora with one of his squadrons supported by an infantry battalion. Though under continuous enemy tank and artillery fire, Lt.-Col. Tarapore remained unperturbed throughout this action and when wounded, he refused to be evacuated.
On the 14th September 1965, though still wounded, he again led his Regiment to capture Wazirwali. Such was his grit and determination that unmindful of his injury, he again gallantly led his Regiment and captured Jassoran and Butur Dograndi on the 16th September 1965. His own tank was hit several times, but despite the odds, he maintained his pivots in both these places and thereby allowed the supporting infantry to attack Chawinda from the rear. Inspired by his leadership, the Regiment fiercely attacked the enemy's heavy armour destroying approximately sixty enemy tanks at a cost of only nine tank casualties, and when Lt.-Col. Tarapore was mortally wounded, the Regiment continued to defy the enemy. The valour displayed by Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore in this heroic action which lasted six days was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army.
Source: Gazette of India. Reproduced as printed, including any errors in the original.
Cover image: Krishna Chaitanya Velaga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lt_Col_A_B_Tarapore_statue_at_Param_Yodha_Sthal_Delhi.jpg