This photo (copyright Usman Shabbir) reportedly shows a Jeep left behind by Indian Maj. Gen Prasad near Lahore, Pakistan, at the end of the Indo-Pakistani War of August-September 1965. The fact that he left his nice Willys/Mahindra (with the flag holder at the front of the hood) sitting in a field with his lugagge in the back, might suggest a retreat. But the consensus is that India had the upper hand when the U.N mandated a ceasefire.
The war, precipitated by a Pakistani attempt to infiltrate Kashmir, resulted in over 3,000 deaths on each side, and saw the largest tank battles since World War II, with hundreds of tanks lost by each side. (See more details at Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 on Wikipedia.)
One of the other long-simmering border disputes around the world, is between Greece and Turkey on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The United Nations has had peacekeeping troops on the island from 1964 to the present.
This photo of Turkish troops training in a Jeep in Cyprus was taken in 1964 according to CORBIS, who manages the copyright for photographer David Rubinger. However, the caption there also incorrectly describes the troops as Greek.
Serhat Güvenç identifies this and another photo (250K JPEG) apparently taken at the same time, as showing a 75mm recoilless rifle on a Tuzla-assembled CJ-3B of the Kibris Turk Kuvvetleri Alayi (KTKA or "Cyprus Turkish Forces Regiment".)
Serhat sent this photo of another Tuzla-assembled CJ-3B of the same regiment, modified to carry a machine gun.
The KTKA had been stationed on the disputed island since 1960, but Turkey finally mounted a full invasion of Cyprus in 1974. See Wikipedia for more on the 1974 invasion.
This column of Turkish Jeeps is seen speeding out of the landing beach on 22 July 1974 with the second wave of the Turkish amphibous assault. This photo and a rear view (200K JPEG) are reproductions from a now-defuct Turkish weekly newsmagazine, Hayat ("Life".)
Another CJ-3B is seen on the beach in a grainy picture (50K JPEG) which reportedly shows the amphibious landing near Kyrenia.
See more photos of Turkish Jeeps in Army Service on The CJ3B Page.
The LIFE Magazine Photo Archive, made available online starting in 2008, has provided some new glimpses of CJ-3B's present at significant moments in history.
Looking a bit like the start of a Formula 1 race, Indian Army Jeeps pull away from a staging area in Assam in northeast India in November 1962. The caption in the LIFE Archive reads, "Indian troops on the move towards the Northeast border to stop Red Chinese invaders."
Another picture taken by LIFE photographer Larry Burrows moments earlier shows the convoy ready to move (130K JPEG).
The Sino-Indian War involved a month of heavy fighting in harsh, high-altitude conditions, with huge logistical problems. There is no definitive history of the conflict, but reportedly some 1,300 Indian troops and 700 Chinese were killed before China declared a ceasefire, having seized much of the territory it claimed in both the northeast and northwest (Ladakh.) The fighting was followed by thirty years of standoff across the border of the disputed areas. (1)
This Burrows photo, taken on another mountain road in Assam, is certainly a contender for the most high hood Jeeps ever seen in one picture, although there are also some other small 4x4 vehicles and a few trucks visible.
See an enlargement of the bottom half of the photo, giving a closer look at the vehicles (130K JPEG).
Footnote (1): For more on the 1962 India-China War, see The China-India Border War by Lt. Commander James Calvin, U.S. Navy (Marine Corps Command and Staff College, 1984.) Also Restrictions on the Use of Air Power by R. Sukumaran at Strategic Analysis, Indo-China War of 1962 at GlobalSecurity.org, and Remembering a War by Claude Arpy.
The city of Goa and the surrounding area on the west coast of India had been a Portuguese colony since 1510, while the rest of India was colonised by the British, who left in 1948. The Portuguese remained, despite increasing pressure from India through the 1950's. Indian Prime Minister Nehru was himself under pressure to continue to take the leadership in the anti-colonial movement in Africa and Asia, a position that China was eager to asssume.
This August 1954 photo by James Burke from the LIFE Archive shows "marchers on Goa encountering Goan Customs guards at the border." It's hard to identify all the characters visible, but the fellow on the left is clearly a Portuguese soldier.
A military invasion of Goa became unavoidable, and in December 1961 the Indian armed forces executed Operation Vijay, in which the 3300 defending Portuguese troops were outnumbered approximately 10 to 1. It was the Indian Air Force's first opportunity to take its substantial fleet of jet-powered Hunter fighters and Canberra bombers into combat. The fighting was over in two days, and Lieutenant General (later General and Chief of Army Staff) J.N. Chaudhuri entered Panjim on 19 December 1961. This Indian Army photo of the General in his Mahindra Jeep, is courtesy of the Indian military website Bharat-Rakshak.
Thanks to Serhat Güvenç, Federico Cavedo, Todd Moulton, Chris Pamplin, Joe Mathias, Luis Mariano Paz and Roberto Flores. -- Derek Redmond
Also on The CJ3B Page, see:
Return to the Index of Unusual CJ-3B Photos.
Return to CJ-3B and M606 Military Jeeps.
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