Air Marshal M. S. Bawa, VSM, AVSM, PVSM - Battle of Longewala (4-7 December 1971)

Air Marshal M. S. Bawa, VSM, AVSM, PVSM
Battle of Longewala (4-7 December 1971)
The 1997 movie Border has made the Battle of Longewala a part of Indian folklore where overwhelming Pakistani troops attacked a small Indian army post in the Jaisalmer desert - but the Indian Air Force and Army literally stopped them in their tracks, forcing them to retreat leaving several tanks and other vehicles destroyed and abandoned.
Wing Commander (Later Air Marshal) M S Bawa of the IAF Base Jaisalmer, commanded and brought the Jaisalmer airbase to full operational readiness just before the commencement of hostilities.
On 4 Dec information was received that Pakistani tanks were on the way to Longewala. A Company of 120 men from 23 Punjab was being attacked by an entire Pakistani infantry brigade supported by an armoured regiment.
Under the leadership of Wing Cdr Bawa the counter operations were launched; before dawn, four Hunters launched an attack on the Pakistani tanks.
The Pakistani thrust was not only repulsed, it led to a complete rout of the Pakistani forces by the marauding Indian Air Force (IAF) Hunters from Jaisalmer that destroyed the vulnerable Pakistani armour like sitting ducks in the vast open desert at will. Indian fighter planes destroyed over 50 tanks in the two-day long air strikes.
The Air Battle of Longewala has gone down in the annals of air warfare as a monumental event. A small force of just 4 Hunters operating from Jaisalmer humbled an entire regiment of T-59 & Shermans tanks, APCs, Infantry and a Brigade of Artillery and left these charred and smouldering in the scorching sands of the Thar desert.
We are eternally grateful to Air Marshal MS Bawa for his exemplary leadership, strategic vision and wholehearted commitment that made this victory possible.
Thank you for your bravery and service to the nation Sir.
JAI HIND
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The objective of this video series is to raise awareness among students and young people about the grand Indian victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh changing forever South Asian and broader currents of world history.
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