Patrick Dunn (Indian Army general) explained

Honorific Prefix:Lieutenant-General
Patrick Oswald Dunn
Birth Date:1911 5, df=yes
Death Date:[1]
Allegiance: (1938-1947)
India (1947-1967)
Branch:
Serviceyears:1938–1967
Rank: Lieutenant-General
Servicenumber:IC-193
Unit:10th Baluch Regiment
3rd Gorkha Rifles
Battles:World War II
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Awards:Padma Bhushan

Lieutenant-General Patrick Oswald Dunn (29 May 1911–16 September 1977) was an Indian Army general. He commanded the I Corps during the Indo-Pak War of 1965 for which he was awarded the third-highest award of India - the Padma Bhushan.

Career

Dunn took a law degree from Cambridge University.[2] He was commissioned in the British Indian Army on 15 July 1938.[2] As was customary, on 10 August 1938 he was attached to a battalion of a regular British Army regiment, the 2nd Worcestershire Regiment, for a period of one year prior to his official appointment to the Indian Army.[3] Joining the 10th Baluch Regiment, Dunn attended Staff College, Camberley in 1945, and commanded a Gorkha battalion from November 1946.[2] As 10 Baluch was allocated to the Pakistan Army following Indian independence and Partition, he transferred to the 3rd Gorkha Rifles, and became officiating commander of an infantry brigade in January 1949.[2]

On 20 August 1955, Dunn, now an acting colonel, was given command of an infantry brigade. He was appointed Commandant of the Infantry School on 16 September 1959.[4]

General officer

In September 1961, he was promoted to the acting rank of major general and appointed Chief of Staff, Southern Command.[2] On 17 December 1962, he was given command of an infantry division.[5] [6] In January 1964, he was appointed Deputy Chief of General Staff (DCGS),[2] serving for one year until the post was abolished on 15 January 1965.[7] He was then appointed Director of Staff Duties (DSD) from that date until April 1965,[8] when he commanded troops in the Rann of Kutch following Pakistan's Operation Desert Hawk.[2]

At the end of May, Dunn was appointed GOC of the newly raised I Corps,[7] which he commanded during the conflict between India and Pakistan that August. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his service, and voluntarily retired from the Army on 19 May 1967, after nearly 29 years of service.[9]

Dates of rank

Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
15 July 1938
British Indian Army 29 November 1939
British Indian Army 10 October 1940 (acting)[10]
10 January 1941 (temporary)
16 March 1942 (war-substantive)
29 August 1945 (substantive)[11]
British Indian Army 10 January 1941 (acting)
16 March–12 May 1942 (temporary)
British Indian Army 12 February 1942 (acting)
12 May 1942 (temporary)
Captain 15 August 1947[12]
Lieutenant-Colonel Indian Army 1947 (temporary)
Indian Army 1949 (acting)
Indian Army 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[13]
Indian Army 29 August 1950[14]
Indian Army 29 August 1951[15]
Indian Army 29 August 1955[16]
Indian Army 20 August 1955 (acting)[17]
29 August 1960 (substantive)[18]
Indian Army September 1961 (acting)
16 April 1963 (substantive)[19]
Indian Army 29 May 1965 (acting)
8 June 1966 (substantive)[20]

Notes and References

  1. Sainik Samachar . 1977 . 24 . 16.
  2. Web site: Press Note. Press Information Bureau of India – Archive. 30 December 2022.
  3. Book: 1939 . Supplement to the Indian Army List: January 1939 . New Delhi . Government of India .
  4. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 256 . 17 October 1959. The Gazette of India.
  5. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 19 . 19 January 1963. The Gazette of India.
  6. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 126 . 13 April 1963. The Gazette of India.
  7. Web site: Maj. Gen. Dunn Promoted as Corps Commander. Press Information Bureau of India – Archive. 30 December 2022.
  8. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 73 . 6 February 1965. The Gazette of India.
  9. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 499 . 24 June 1967. The Gazette of India.
  10. Book: 1945 . Indian Army List: October 1945 . New Delhi . Government of India .
  11. Book: 1947 . Indian Army List: Special Edition (August 1947) . New Delhi . Government of India . 236 .
  12. Upon independence in 1947, India became a Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations. As a result, the rank insignia of the British Army, incorporating the Tudor Crown and four-pointed Bath Star ("pip"), was retained, as George VI remained Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. After 26 January 1950, when India became a republic, the President of India became Commander-in-Chief, and the Ashoka Lion replaced the crown, with a five-pointed star being substituted for the "pip."
  13. Web site: New Designs of Crests and Badges in the Services. Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193914/http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20807-BR/HOM-1950-01-06_484.pdf. 8 August 2017. dmy-all.
  14. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 6 . 13 January 1951. The Gazette of India.
  15. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 236 . 1 December 1951. The Gazette of India.
  16. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 216 . 3 November 1956. The Gazette of India.
  17. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 200 . 15 October 1955. The Gazette of India.
  18. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 335 . 24 December 1960. The Gazette of India.
  19. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 185 . 1 June 1963. The Gazette of India.
  20. News: Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) . 500 . 27 August 1966. The Gazette of India.