Pattan-Baramulla-Uri: Small Unit Leaders' Actions Stopped 1947 Srinagar Drive

• Small-unit actions by company and platoon leaders along the Pattan-Baramulla-Uri axis were crucial in stopping the 1947 drive on Srinagar.
• The Uri-Baramulla-Pattan road was the primary invasion route for tribal fighters backed by Pakistani officers towards Srinagar in 1947.
• Major Somnath Sharma's company at Budgam held ground against overwhelming odds, buying critical time for Indian forces and setting the tone for subsequent small-unit resistance.
• The advance involved challenging urban combat in Baramulla, securing river crossings in Pattan, and slow, contested pushes towards Uri, demanding independent decision-making from junior leaders.
• The cumulative effect of these small, unglamorous infantry actions secured the Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri axis by early 1948, a strategic lesson still relevant today for controlling Kashmir's terrain.

Why It Matters: It reveals how small-unit leadership secured Kashmir in 1947, relevant today.