From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Destroyed Pakistani tanks arranged at "Patton Nagar"

Khemkaran is a section/Village under District Tarn Taran (earlier district Amritsar) of Punjab India bordering Pakistan(with nearest village being Kasur). It was the site of a major tank battle in 1965 reulting it also being known as the graveyard of tanks.

The 1965 India-Pakistan War was witness to the largest tank battle in military history since World War II. This battle lead to the creation of Patton Nagar (or Patton City) at the site of the battle viz., Khemkaran. This is due to the fact that a lot of Patton tanks fielded by the Pakistani forces were either captured or destroyed at the scene.

Near the Bhikiwind village in the Khemkaran area, a strip of land was given an imaginary name Patton Nagar for a short while in 1965. It was at Patton Nagar that more than 60 tanks of the Pakistani army were displayed at the end of the september India-Pakistan conflict. The Pakistan Army tanks were captured at the Battle of Asal Uttar by India's 4 Mountain Division and it became a memorial to the Indian Triumph of trouncing the Pakistani War Machine in the 1965 War. The tanks were displayed for some time after which they were shipped to various cantonments and army establishments for display as war trophies.

The tank battles of 1965 form part of military history as the most intense ones ever, since World War II. Close to a thousand tanks, on both sides, took part in the pitched battles and offensives. At the start of the war, Indian strength was limited to one armoured division and one independent armoured brigade, along with six armoured regiments supporting infantry divisions. Pakistan had two armoured divisions, with the then very modern M-48 Patton tanks. India had an equivalent tank in the Centurion, but their strength was limited to only four armoured regiments.

The tanks displayed at Khemkaran

The Indian Army managed to capture 97 Pakistani Tanks as a result of the botched assault by the 1 Armoured Division of the Pakistan Army at the Battle of Assal Uttar on September 10th. Six Pakistani Armoured Regiments took part in the battle, namely the 19 Lancers (Patton), 12 Cavalry (Chafee), 24 Cavalry (Patton) 4 Cavalry (Patton), 5 Horse (Patton) and 6 Lancers (Patton).

The Indian forces in the field that day comprised of three Armoured regiments with inferior tanks, the Deccan Horse (Shermans), 3 Cavalry (Centurion) and the 8 Cavalry (AMX-13). The battle was so fierce and intense that at the end of the war, the Fourth Indian Division .a.k.a. "The Fighting Fourth" had captured about 97 tanks in destroyed/damaged or intact condition. This included 72 Patton tanks and 25 Chafees and Shermans. 32 of the 97 tanks, including 28 Pattons, were in running condition. The Indian forces lost 32 tanks. Fifteen of them were captured by the Pakistan Army, mostly Sherman tanks.