As we mourn the tragic and untimely death of CDS Bipin Rawat , his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 other Army/ IAF personnel in Tamil Nadu a similar black day of mourning comes to mind – when as many as six top brass of Indian army and Air Force died in a similar helicopter crash on November 23, 1963 in Poonch.
All the deceased were highly decorated and respected officers – Lieutenant General Daulat Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Command; Air Vice Marshal E.W. Pinto, Air Officer Commanding, Western Command; Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps; Major General K.N.D. Nanavati, Military Cross, General Officer Commanding 25 Infantry Division; Brigadier S.R. Oberoi, Military Cross, Commander 93 Infantry Brigade and Flight Lieutenant S.S. Sodhi. Death of so many top level officers in a single crash was unprecedented and it sent a shock wave not only in India but also across the world.
The chopper in which they were flying on that fateful day of November 23, 1963 was an Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter of the Indian Air Force. They were on their way to Poonch town after inspecting a new water head Betar Nullah in Poonch.
During those days the electricity and water supply to Poonch town used to come through a channel from Betar Nullah and in October that year Pakistanis destroyed the headworks of the channel which was actually located in Pak Occupied Kashmir. It was then the Indian Army engineers built a new water-head and it restored the water and electricity supply to Poonch on November 21, 1963.
The six top Army and IAF officers were scheduled to inspect the new headwater.
Lieutenant General Daulat Singh, then GOC-in-C Western Command and the AOC-in-C Western Air Command Air Vice Marshal Erlic Pinto were came to Poonch from New Delhi in a Dakota aircraft at around 10.25 am where they were met by Brigadier S.R. Oberoi, Commander 93 brigade. The GOC XV Corps Lt Gen Bikram Singh and AOC J&K Air Commodore had already arrived at Poonch from Udhampur . Around the same time, Major General K.N.D. Nanavati GOC 25 Division arrived in the Alouette III piloted by Flt Lt S. S. Sodhi. Another Alouette also reached around 1055 hours.
An inspection of two outposts around Poonch was also planned, which had been recced already by Flt Lt S. S Sodhi. The first outpost was small and dusty, as reported by Sodhi and two helicopters would not be able to land. So, Air Vice Marshal Erlic Pinto decided that the second helicopter would proceed to the second outpost and await the arrival of the officers. The others trooped into the first helicopter and proceeded towards the first outpost. The helicopter landed and the inspection got underway.
After the completion of the inspection, the party took off for the second outpost which was 15 miles away. Flt Lt Sodhi took the route along the Poonch River. Three minutes after getting airborne, the Alouette collided with two parallel line of telegraph cables. The cables ran between two poles – one on a cliff at a height of 300 feet and the other on the opposite bank of the river at a height of 100 feet. The helicopter stuck the cables at a height of around 200 feet. Sodhi lost control and the helicopter crashed into the river bed, about 400 yards away. The crash spot was 2.5 miles from the Cease fire line. ( Wikipedia inputs)
The six officers died in the crash.
Lieutenant General Bikram Singh was held in very high esteem by the people of the area. As a mark of their love and affection towards the departed souls, people from Poonch and surrounding villages organise ‘Akhand Path’ every year to commemorate the tragic accident.
In 1980, a memorial was constructed in Poonch called the Generals’ memorial which paid tribute to the victims. A monument has been built at the site of the air crash, commemorating the names of the victims. Apart from these, the Daulat Singh Park in Shimla, named for Lieutenant General Daulet Singh, has a bust of the general.[15] A statue of Lieutenant General Bikram Singh is installed in Jammu and a memorial in his ancestral village of Siana in Nawanshahr. A library and a museum dedicated to the general is also being constructed. The Bikram Chowk in Jammu is also named for the general. Two committees – the Lieutenant General Bikram Singh Society at Kahma village and the Lieutenant General Bikram Singh Yadgaar Committee in Jammu organise ceremonies, akhand paths, blood donation camps among other events to remember him. (Wikipedia inputs).
On that fateful day an extraordinary black bordered Gazette Notification was also issued by the Union government.
A PIB reports of those days said Prime Minister attended the cremation of the three senior officers also came straight to AVM Pinto’s residence while funeral was being prepared. On January 26, 1964 PIB report said the officers were conferred with military honors posthumously.
https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/ArchiveSecondPhase/DEFENCE/1964-JAN-JUNE-MIN-OF-DEFENCE/PDF/DEF-1964-01-25_074.pdf
