On 1 November 1948 Stuart tanks of 7 Cavalry forced the Zoji La, reaching the Gumri plains by afternoon after two infantry attacks had failed.
Two failed attacks on the pass in September 1948
At 10.30 on the morning of 1 November 1948, under heavy cloud and light snow, Indian guns opened on the Zoji La. Tanks of 7 Cavalry, now 7 Light Cavalry, then began to climb.
The pass was the first obstacle on the land route to Ladakh through Kargil. Enemy troops held it from prepared positions. Brig KL Atal's 77 Para Brigade had attacked on 3 September and again on 13 September, and both attempts failed.
Lt Gen KM Cariappa called a conference at Srinagar on 23 September. Lt Gen SM Shrinagesh, Maj Gen KS Thimayya and Atal attended, and Lt Col Rajinder Singh, known as Sparrow, the commanding officer of 7 Cavalry, was specially invited. The meeting concluded that air and artillery could not neutralise the entrenched defenders, and it settled on tanks.
Turrets off and a track from Baltal
Two problems came first. Some bridges on the way could not take the weight of a Stuart light tank, so the turrets were removed and carried separately to Baltal. The dismantled loads also hid the move from enemy agents.
Above Baltal there was only a mule track. The official history, as cited in later accounts, credits two field companies of the Madras Sappers with improving it, working day and night. It was ready for tanks by 15 October.
Snow caused further delay. The attack, set for 20 October, slipped to 25 October and then to 29 October, when the slopes were still too slippery. Atal was told that if it did not start on 1 November, it would be abandoned.
Gumri by afternoon on 1 November
C Squadron, commanded by Capt SDS Jamwal, led the climb, with Thimayya riding in one of the leading tanks. The Stuarts met no anti-tank mines and none stuck in the snow.
A radio message at 3 pm reported Gumri captured and the enemy withdrawing. The infantry occupied the Mukand and Chabutra ridges, which the enemy had vacated.
The advance continued through the month. Indian troops linked up at Kargil with a force coming from Leh. Accounts give the date of that link-up as 23 or 24 November 1948.
Cover image: Vishyvishal14, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zojila_War_Memorial_Overall_Shot.jpg