BRIGADIER Sher Khan , MILITARY CROSS

  

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Bio of a fine officer by a Pakistan army officer and historian.  My comments in red. For those interested in military history. 

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December 17, 2016 

Dear Sir;

What a lovely write up.  Opened up so many avenues and brought many memories of a bygone era when officers were officers as well as gentlemen.  Could not stop adding my two cents on different areas that you touched on.  My comments in red in bold. 

Warm Regards,

Hamid 

Brigadier Sher Khan, MC

6^th Royal Battalion (Scinde), 13^th Frontier Force Rifles

By Maj Gen Syed Ali Hamid (Retired)

Within two years of being formed,the fledgling Pakistan Army was stunned by the loss of two brilliant officers who were flying together to Karachi. Major General Iftikhar Khan (ex 3^rd Cavalry), was being groomed as the first Pakistani C-in-C. After relinquishing command of 10^th Division in Lahore, he was en route to London to attend the course at the Royal College of Defence Studies. Brigadier Sher Khan (ex 6/13^th FFR), who had recently been approved for promotion to Major General was heading for Washington. Neither of them had yet been allotted Pakistan Army numbers and both perished in an air crash on 12 December 1949.

          The death of Brigadier Sher Khan must have been a tragic blow to his father, Subedar Major Khanezaman Khan. The Subedar had fought in France during the First World War with the 4^th Battalion, 12^thFrontier Force Rifles, and having witnessed the progress in Europe, he decided that his son must be educated abroad. (4/12 FFR (Charwinjah) didn't fight in western theatre as a battalion. Three PIFFER battalions; 57^th, 58^th and 59^th FFR fought in western theatre. In view of industrial scale carnage and large scale thinning of ranks, drafts from different battalions were sent to replace heavy casualties. He may have gone with a draft. Brigadier Zahid Zaman thinks his medals are with the battalion. Charwinja's records may shed some light about his service in great war.) Consequently he financed Sher Khan to be commissioned from Royal Military College at Sandhurst. It involved substantial expenditure since parents had to bear half the cost of obtaining a commission. Sher Khan passed out in 1932 and as his father's regiment had not yet been 'Indianized', he was posted to 6/13^th FFR at Poona. (There are two aspects of Indianization of regiments.  First is designation of one battalion/regiment for Indianization and newly commissioned Indian officers posted to these battalions/regiments. In 1922, the first batch of regiments/battalions marked for Indianization included 7 Light Cavalry, 16 Cavalry, 2/1 Madras Pioneers, 2/1 Punjab Regiment, 5/5 Marhatta Light Infantry, 1/7 Rajput Regiment 4/19 Hyderabad Regiment and newly commissioned Indian officers were mainly posted to these battalions.  Second aspect is appointment of an Indian officer to an individual regiment/battalion where he may be the only Indian officer or just one or two and not whole lot. The process saw a rapid pace during Second World War. 4/12 FFR and 6/13 FFR belong to the latter category and Indianization started little later. K.P. Dhalgalkar was the first Indian officer posted to 4/12 FFR in 1932 (later he switched to 3^rd Cavalry).  He was followed by Mian Hayauddin nick named Ganga to 4/12 FFR. V.D. Jayal a batch senior to Sher Khan was the first Indian officer posted to 6/13 FFR. Sher Khan and his course mate Nazir Ahmad followed Jayal.  Later, Bikram Singh, Akbar Khan of 1951 conspiracy fame and Pran Nath Narang joined 6/13 FFR. Narang was killed in action in Second World War when serving with 2/13 FFR.)  Unlike the cavalry regiments that were Indianized, some of the infantry battalions like the 6/13^thwere from the elite. In 1921 while it was numbered as 59^thScinde Rifles it was made a "Royal" battalion and now forms part of the Pakistan Army as 1^stBattalion The Frontier Force Regiment (Garbar Unath). (Battalion was always up to some mischief hence nick named Garbar Unnath. During an attack on enemy in Second World War, Subedar of Sikh company told his men "Guru de saun, Unnath di kassam, char jao".  The equivalent of Garbar Unnath in cavalry is nick name of 'problem horse' for 5^thProbyn's Horse).  Nazir Ahmad who was one of the early Major Generals of the Pakistan Army was also commissioned into 6/13^thbut got involved in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case.The other Muslim officers who were commissioned in the same batch were Adam Khan (Joined 2/1 Punjab Regiment), a Paktoon from the Babori tribe who was superseded when General Musa became C-in-C; and (Tommy) Massaud Khan who joined 7^th Light Cavalry and commanded 11^th Cavalry during the First Kashmir War. (The batch commissioned on 01 September 1932 from Sandhurst also included K. M. Sheikh who joined 4/12 FFR. He became Lt. General and was close confidant of Ayub Khan.)

Sher Khan was promoted lieutenant in 1934 and his baptism of fire came two years later during the Waziristan Campaign of 1936-39. Also baptized was Lieutenant Muhammad Musa who was commissioned into the 6/13^th in 1935 and ultimately became the C-in-C of the Pakistan Army. The battalion was commanded by Dudley Russel MC, nicknamed 'Pasha' because of his bushy black mustache, swagger stick and confident manner (Russell Pasha was a highly decorated officer with DSO and MC. He was originally from 3/19 Hyderabad Regiment where he served a long stint. He was transferred to 6/13 FFR in 1935). 6/13^th FFR formed part of the column known as Razcol, which marched out of Razmak into the Khaisora Valley. The first three days passed without incidence, but on the fourth day the column came under fire while traversing a narrow valley about 16 km short of the objective of Bichhe Kashkai. Intense fighting ensued as it had to fight its way through to the village to link up with the Bannu Brigade. However since the supply situation became desperate and casualties mounted, both the columns had to withdraw to Mir Ali with the picquets and rearguard heavily engaged on numerous occasions. (This action occurred in November 1936. Two brigades suffered one hundred and seven casualties. Scouts suffered twenty six. In addition to Sher Khan and Musa, Akbar Khan (later Major General), Muhammad Yusuf (later Major General) and Mohindar Singh Chopra (later Major General) were also baptized in Waziristan. Akbar later won his well deserved DSO in Burma when serving with 14/13 FFR. Thanks to indomitable Wazirs and Mahsuds, many a DSOs, MCs and IOMs were won by equally brave Indian army soldiers.  Scouts did some heavy lifting in Waziristan in 1936-37 operations.  They won one MC, one IOM and two IDSMs in 1936.  Legendry Tochi Scouts Subedar Mir Hamza 'Miri'; a Jowaki Afridi won IOM. Miri's family connection with scouts and killer instincts is another story for bedtime.

In 1946, Major General (R) Mohindar Singh Chopra commanded 1 Assam Regiment; the very battalion from the command of which our own Field Marshal Ayub Khan was sacked for tactical timidity.  Chopra visited his old battalion 6/13 FFR in 1988.  He saw the Jullundhar Brigade trophy; a memory of Ist Manchester's (now Duke of Lancaster's Regiment of British army), 47^th Sikhs (now 5^th Sikh of Indian army) and 6/13^th FFR (now 1 FF of Pakistan army) when they fought together in Great War. He decided to revive Jullunhdar Brigade memory by starting the association. In 1989, representatives of three battalions met in England. 6/13^th FFR was represented by second generation officer CO Lt. Colonel Sadaqat Ali Shah son of MG Syed Shaukat Ali Shah who was also commissioned in 6/13 FFR, Adjutant Captain Nadir Khan and Subedar Major Bashir Ahmad.)

Promotions in the army were slow and it took six years for Sher Khan to become a captain in 1940. By now the battalion was based at Secunderabad and was placed under the 5^thIndian Division which was formed at the same station in May 1940. The first officer to arrive at the new divisional headquarters was the G.S.O.1, Colonel F. W. Messervy, who hurried there from command of the 13^th Lancers. Messervy subsequently commanded Gazelle Force and an infantry brigade in East Africa, the 4^th Indian Division in North Africa, the British 7^thArmoured Division in the Battle of Ghazala, a corps in Burma and finally the Pakistan Army at Independence. He was known as the 'Bearded Man' because he tended not to shave in battle. 

          

In September 1940, the division was shipped overseas to contest the Italian occupation of Sudan and Eretria, and was joined by the 4^th Indian Division which had already won its laurels in Wavell's campaign in North Africa.  The culmination of the campaign in East Africa was the famous battle at Karen which the Italian's stubbornly defended. It was one of the few occasions on which they really fought with tenacity and fervor particularly the regular troops such as Savoia Grenadiers, Alpini, and Bersaglieri, who were proud of their resistance. 

Ultimately the Italians were forced to withdraw to Asmara and were pursued by the 5^thIndian Division along a difficult road carved out of the hillsides that was mined and blocked at a number of places. Continuous harassing fire by the Italian artillery caused much destruction and the road was often jammed by casualties in men and vehicles. 

On 30^th Mar 1941, as the advance approached defile 3 kms short of the village of Ad Taclesan, 6/13^th FFR came under intense artillery fire. As a temporary Major, Sher Khan was the adjutant and the battalion headquarters was located near Kilometer 49. It was here that he earned his Military Cross (MC). His citation records:

During this, intense shelling T/Major MOHD SHER KHAN, himself supervised the removal of wounded personnel, ammunition, and stores to a safer place. In doing this, he exposed himself with complete disregard of his own safety for several hours. This task was rendered all the more difficult by the heavy pall of smoke and dust in the area. By his action, he undoubtedly saved the lives of several persons and prevented the enemy's artillery from destroying the Battalion reserve of ammunition.

According to the citation, this wasn't the first time that Sher Khan had placed his life at risk under intense shelling. It records that:

    During the battle of Cheren(Keren), this officer as Adjutant of his Battalion was frequently under heavy shellfire. He invariably organized and supervised the work of Battalion Headquarters with coolness and diligence.

          

The officer was recommended for a DSO but awarded a MC.The Intelligence Officer; Anant Singh Pathania was also awarded an MC. (Another paltan mate from 6/11^th FFR V.D. Jayal (later Brigadier) won DSO. After partition, Pathania joined 1/5^thGorkha Rifles which he proudly commanded. Most PIFFER officers who went to India joined Gorkha battalions. Pathania retired at Major General rank. ) His relative had been Subedar Major of the battalion in France during the First World War. When all the officers were killed during an attack, he took command of the remnants. (6/13 FFR suffered heavy casualties in Great War in western theatre and probably highest number of casualty rate as far as British officer are concerned.  Battalion landed in France with 13 British officers, 18 Indian officers and 810 other ranks.  A year later, no British officers, 4 Indian officers and 75 ORs remained of the original contingent. Ten British officers were killed including their CO Lt. Colonel P. C. Elliott-Lockhart; originally from Guides and 19 wounded.  The only officer not wounded was Captain Inskip who was shell shocked and not present. Subedar Major Prabhat Chand of 6/13^th FFR was probably the first Indian who was awarded Military Cross (MC) for his conduct and battalion command when all British officers became casualty.  He was uncle of Anant Singh Pathania's wife.  Battalion used to have a tradition where Subedar Major would parade off the battalion on ceremonial occasions remembering Prabhat Chand's bravery.  I don't know if they still practice it.  The only similar example that I recall is that of 31^stFoot (now Queens Surrey Regiment).  Sergeant Bernard McCabe put regimental colors at Sikh ramparts exposing him to the onslaught. Now on Sobraon Day, sergeants parade to officer's mess where regimental color is handed to them to be kept in Sergeant's mess for a day.) Two months after the action at Milestone 49, Sher Khan passed on the duties of adjutant to Kashmir Singh Katoch (who would earn his MC in Italy), and proceeded to Quetta to attend the Staff Course. (Kashmir Singh Katoch was a fine officer.  In the battle of Mont Casino, Pathan company of 6/13^th FFR was severely mauled by well placed machine gun nests. Katoch led his Dogra company to clear many machine gun nests to avenge the deaths of his Pathan comrades.  He was Corps Commander of XV Corps during 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. His parent battalion now called 1 FF commanded by Lt. Colonel Shabbir Ali Khan was fighting against Indian army in Khem Karan sector. In the battle of Gothic Line 6/13^th FFR – now I FF and 1/5^th Marhatta Light Infantry- now I MLI were fighting together.  Both battalions were held by German machine guns.  They fought with utmost bravery to overcome the obstacle and shared in the glory.  Namdeo Jadao of 1/5 MLI and Ali Haider of 6/13 FFR won well deserved Victoria Crosses (VC) for their proud battalions.)

          While Sher Khan was at the Staff College, his younger brother, Bahadur Sher obtained an emergency commission from the Indian Military Academy at Dera Dun in Dec 1941. He followed Sher Khan into the 6/13^th FFR and two years later in December 1943 while commanding a company in the assault across the River Moro in Italy, he was also awarded a MC. (In 1971 war, then Lt. General Bahadur Sher and Lt. General Gul Hassan declined to go to East Pakistan.  After their refusal Lt. General A. A. K. Niazi was sent to East Pakistan and the rest as they say is history.) By this time, Sher Khan was serving as brigade major of the Kohat Brigade. In February 1945, he was promoted to command 16/13^thFrontier Force Rifles which placed him amongst the first Indian officers to command battalions. The battalion was a wartime raising and was with the Wana Brigade since 1943. In early1946, Sher Khan brought the battalion to Wah near Rawalpindi, where it was disbanded and he was promoted to an acting brigadier and given command of an infantry brigade. (1947, 6/13^th FFR was in Cawnpore.  It said goodbye to Sikh and Dogra comrades who had proudly served the battalion and came to Pakistan. Battalion received two Punjabi Muslim (PM) companies of 7/2 Punjab Regiment. Later, it exchanged one PM company for a Pathan company with 2/14^th Punjab Regiment. In September 1947, Bakhtiar Rana (later Lt. General) was appointed the first native CO of the battalion.) At Independence, Sher Khan was appointed as the first Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) by Gen Messervy who was aware of his professional capabilities since the two had served in the 5^th Indian Division in East Africa.

          Sher Khan held the post of DMI for six months and then appointed as Director Military Operations (DMO). In both these key posts he was closely involved in the Kashmir Operations whose main driving force was Brig Akbar Khan,DSO (code name Gen Tariq), who was a fellow regiment officer and had been commissioned into 6/13^th FFR a year after Sher Khan. A special cell under the DMO had been established for the control and conduct of the operations at Rawalpindi. It was located outside GHQ and Gen Gracey who was now the C-in-C, used to visit it in civilian clothes to be briefed by Brigadier Sher Khan. Following Independence, officers were rapidly promoted and by the end of 1948, Sher Khan was approved for the rank of Major General. He was replaced by Brigadier Gulzar Ahmad and detailed to tour the US. On return from his tour, Sher Khan was to take over command of 7^th Division. (U.S. Military Attaché considered Sher Khan as 'best mind' in Pakistan army and with a 'balanced personality'.  He was of the view that after Iftikhar Khan's tenure, Sher Khan may succeed him as C-in-C). In early 1948, the Defence Secretary, Iskander Ali Mirza along with Iftikhar Khan had visited Washington in an effort to obtain military assistance. (This visit was in June 1949.  It was military purchasing commission consisting of Secretary Defence Iskandar Mirza, 10 Division GOC MG Iftikhar Khan, Military Finance Advisor Ghulam Abbas, Ordnance officer Lt. Colonel Saif ur Rahman and Major Faruqi.) In all likelihood, Sher Khan's trip was a follow up of this earlier visit. An evening before leaving Rawalpindi he talked Iftikhar Khan out of going by train to Karachi and  instead joining him on the PakAir flight from Lahore. Founded in 1948, Pak Air was a forerunner of the Pakistan International Airlines and its safety record was poor. It had already lost two aircrafts; one at Basra and the other near Vehariin Southern Punjab just 16 days prior to the crash in which all 21 passengers and crew had perished. 

          The flight to Karachi was aboard a Douglas DC-3 with the Registration Number AP-ADI. The aircraft was a built in 1941 and probably flewa large number of missions during the Second World War from airfields in Bengal and Orissa to China over the 'hump'. At the end of the war many aircrafts were sold to private companies at throw-away prices. It departed late on a four hours evening flight and 30 nautical miles short of Karachi, collided with the Karo Jabal Hills near Jungshahiat an elevation of about 1185ft above mean sea level. According to the crash report, the probable cause was: "An error of navigation on the part of the pilot in that the aircraft was not as near to Karachi Airport as he reported it to be in his last "position report", which had it been correct, would have placed the aircraft past the last range of hills." All 26 passengers and crew perished and two days later, under instructions from the Ministry of Defence, Pak Air suspended all their services for an indefinite period of time. 

Major General Iftikhar was buried in the family graveyard in Faisalabad and the body of Brigadier Sher Khan was flown to Peshawar where it was received by his father, Major General Ayub Khan (then serving as Adjutant General) and Brigadier (Later Lt. General) Habibullah Khan Khattak (nick named Bibo then commanding 100^th Peshawar Brigade. I'm unable to locate a historic picture of your archives that you sent a while ago. It is body of Brigadier Sher Khan at Peshawar airport followed by Ayub Khan and Habibullah Khan. Your father Shahid Hamid took over 100^th Brigade from Bibo in June 1950.  With undercurrents of conspiracy in late 1950s, your father took over Kohat 101 Brigade in October 1950). Following Sher Khan's death, his promotion to Major General was certified by the government and his widow drew the pension entitled to this rank. He left behind a son and three daughters one of whom married Reza Kuli, the son of Lt. General Habibullah (If I recall correctly Reza was sword of honor winner at Air Force academy at Risalpur.  He was destined to go far possibly air chief.  However, Bibo now running a huge business enterprise chose him to run business and he left air force early. Bibo wanted Ali Quli to get the top slot that he had missed when Musa was selected C-in-C in 1958. Four decades later in 1998, Ali Quli was the senior most lieutenant general when General Jahangir Karamat faded away.  Ali Quli had similar fate like his father when Nawaz Sharif selected General Pervez Musshrraf as army chief superseding Ali Quli.) and the other married Javed Burki, the son of Lt. General Wajid Ali Burki. (Wajid was from Indian Medical Service commissioned in August 1927.  In Pakistan army, special numbers were allotted to senior medical officers.  Senior most was Lt. General S.M.A. Faruki with number PA - 100001 and Wajid was given PA – 100002. He was part of the inner group around Ayub Khan after 1958 coup.  Ayub Khan's son married Habibullah's daughter.)

Author's Analysis of the Air CrashReport

The standard letdown procedure at Karachi Airport was to approach the directional beacon located close to the main runwayat 2500ft before descending and aligning for landing. In his last report which was only 30 nautical miles from the airport, the height stated by the pilot was 2500ft i.e. exactly the height required for the letdown procedure. The report states that "It is apparent, however, that the pilot continued to descend further after having reported last at 2500ft at 21.47 PST in contravention of the 'standard letdown procedure at Karachi Airport' which he was practicing."

The report presumes that the decent was a deliberate act by the pilot in violation the procedure. However that may not have been so. What if some technical problem had suddenly developed in the aircraft after the last report due to which it made a sudden decent and crashed at 1185ft? On this possibility the report is silent. If one now factors in the secondary cause of the Pak Air flight that disintegrated and crashed in flames near Vehari just 16 days earlier, it lends credibility to the chances of a technical failure. The secondary cause was"…….a generally low standard of maintenance due to lack of tools, spares, adequate lighting, hurried workmanship, and inexperience in lower staff grades". Pak Air did not have its own maintenance facilities. The Government of Pakistan along with Orient Airways and Pak Air had formed Pakistan Aviation Ltd, to handle the maintenance of aircrafts for all three entities and the standard and facilities were rudimentary.

According to Brig Zahid Zaman, the family used to mention that some important documents that were being carried by Brigadier Sher Khan were recovered short of the site of the accident. This could imply that the passengers were aware that the DC-3 was going to crash and the documents were jettisoned from the aircraft. Karachi control tower received no call of MAYDAY, but in those days aircrafts were not equipped with VHF radio sets and HF transmissions had problems in reception. A call may have been made but not received. (Sher Khan's son Aftab Ahmad Khan was at top of merit list at PMA and sent to Sandhurst.  Thus becoming member of a small group of father and son duo attending Sandhurst.  He was inducted in civil service by Ayub Khan and left army at the rank of Captain.  Retired as Federal Secretary.)

Acknowledgements: I want to thank SushilTalwar for providing me the bio data and citation of Brig Sher Khan, and answering my numerous queries related to his career. My thanks to Brig Zahid Zaman, a nephew of Sher Khan, for photographs of the brigadier and details of his life. The operations of 6/13^th FFR in Eretria have been extracted from 'Ball of Fire,the 5^th Indian Division in the Second World War'. I would also like to thank my old friend IjazHaqwho has a life time of experience flying for PIA and Emirates, for helping me analyze the crash reports.