Remove ads
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.
Patrick Oswald Dunn | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 May 1911[1] |
| Died | 16 September 1977 (aged 66)[2] |
| Allegiance |  British India (1938-1947)  India (1947-1967) |
| Service |  British Indian Army Indian Army |
| Years of service | 1938–1967 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant-General |
| Service number | IC-193 |
| Unit | 10th Baluch Regiment 3rd Gorkha Rifles |
| Battles / wars | World War II Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan |
Dunn was an Anglo-Indian.[3][4] Dunn took a law degree from Cambridge University.[1] He was married to Bonny, who passed away in the early 1970s.[5]
Pre-Independence
He was commissioned in the British Indian Army on 15 July 1938.[1] He was a King's Commissioned Indian Officer, from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.[6] 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.[7]
He served in 7/10 Baluch during the Burma Campaign.[4] He was mentioned in dispatches during his time in Burma.[8]
Dunn attended Staff College, Camberley in 1945, and commanded a Gorkha battalion from November 1946.[1]
Post Independence
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.[1]
On 20 August 1955, Dunn, now an acting colonel, was given command of an infantry brigade.[9] He was appointed Commandant of the Infantry School on 16 September 1959.[10]
General officer
In September 1961, he was promoted to the acting rank of major general and appointed Chief of Staff, Southern Command.[1] On 17 December 1962, he was given command of an infantry division.[11][12] In January 1964, he was appointed Deputy Chief of General Staff (DCGS),[1] serving for one year until the post was abolished on 15 January 1965.[13] He was then appointed Director of Staff Duties (DSD) from that date until April 1965,[14] when he commanded troops in the Rann of Kutch following Pakistan's Operation Desert Hawk.[1]
At the end of May, Dunn was appointed GOC of the newly raised I Corps,[13] 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.[15]
Remove ads
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
|---|---|---|---|
_OF-1a.svg){kind=small} | Second Lieutenant | British Indian Army | 15 July 1938 |
_OF-1b.svg){kind=small} | Lieutenant | British Indian Army | 29 November 1939[16] |
_OF-2.svg){kind=small} | Captain | British Indian Army | 10 October 1940 (acting)[16] 10 January 1941 (temporary)[16] 16 March 1942 (war-substantive)[16] 29 August 1945 (substantive)[17] |
_OF-3.svg){kind=small} | Major | British Indian Army | 10 January 1941 (acting)[16] 16 March–12 May 1942 (temporary)[16] |
_OF-4.svg){kind=small} | Lieutenant-Colonel | British Indian Army | 12 February 1942 (acting)[16] 12 May 1942 (temporary)[16] |
| Captain | Indian Army | 15 August 1947[note 1][18] |
| Lieutenant-Colonel | Indian Army | 1947 (temporary)[note 1] |
_OF-6.svg){kind=small} | Brigadier | Indian Army | 1949 (acting)[note 1] |
 | Captain | Indian Army | 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[18] |
 | Major | Indian Army | 29 August 1950[19] |
 | Lieutenant-Colonel | Indian Army | 29 August 1951[20] |
 | Colonel | Indian Army | 29 August 1955[21] |
 | Brigadier | Indian Army | 20 August 1955 (acting)[9] 29 August 1960 (substantive)[22] |
 | Major General | Indian Army | September 1961 (acting) 16 April 1963 (substantive)[23] |
| Lieutenant General | Indian Army | 29 May 1965 (acting)[13] 8 June 1966 (substantive)[24] |
- 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."
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads