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{{Short description|Indian Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Brigadier (India)|Brigadier]]
| name = John Dalvi
| honorific_suffix =
| image =
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| native_name =
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| birth_date ={{birth date|df=yes|1920|7|3}}
| birth_place = [[Basra]], Iraq
| death_date = 28 October 1974 (aged 54)
| death_place = [[Bombay]], India<ref name=MD>{{cite web |author-link=Michael Dalvi|last1=Dalvi |first1=Michael |title=Lest We Forget: The Life and Times of my Father Brig. John Dalvi |url=https://missionvictoryindia.com/in-memory-of-my-father-brig-john-dalvi-2/ |website=Mission Victory India |access-date=31 October 2021}}</ref>
| placeofburial =
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| allegiance = {{flag|India}}
| branch = {{army|India}}
| serviceyears = 1940–1967
| rank = [[Brigadier (India)|Brigadier]]
| servicenumber = IC-739<ref name="dalvi">{{cite book |date=1947 |title=The Indian Army List, Special Edition (August 1947) |location=New Delhi |publisher=Government of India |page=269D |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72303/page/n95/mode/2up}}</ref>
| unit = [[Baloch Regiment|Baluch Regiment]]
| commands = Indian 7th Brigade
| battles = [[World War II]]<br />[[Sino-Indian War]]<br>[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]
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| awards =[[Mention in Despatches]]
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| children = [[Michael Dalvi]]
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[[Brigadier (India)|Brigadier]] '''John Parashuram Dalvi''' (3 July 1920 – October 1974) was an Indian Army officer. During the [[Sino-Indian War]] of 1962, he was the commander of the Indian 7th Brigade, which was destroyed, leading Dalvi to be captured by the [[People's Liberation Army]] on 22 October 1962.

==Early life==
Dalvi was born on 3 July 1920 in [[Basra]], [[Iraq]] where his father was serving with the British administration. He returned to India in 1923 and studied at St. Mary's High School, [[Bombay]]. He graduated and joined to study under the Jesuits at St. Xavier's College, Bombay. In 1940 with the outbreak of World War II he joined the [[British Indian Army]].<ref>Dalvi, Brig. J.P., "Himalayan blunder – the curtain raiser to the Sino-Indian war of 1962" [Bombay, 1969, Rep. Natraj, Dehradun 1997] pp 498</ref>

==British Indian Army==
Dalvi was commissioned into the [[Baloch Regiment|Baluch Regiment]] on 22 February 1942, was promoted war-substantive lieutenant on 1 October, and was promoted substantive lieutenant on 22 August 1943.<ref name="dalvi"/> To the end of World War II he served with the regiment's 5th Battalion. He took part in Field Marshal [[William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim|Sir William Slim]]'s pursuit of Japanese Army. From October 1944 to March 1945 he saw fighting with 19th Indian Division notably at the Crossing of the [[Irrawaddy River|Irrawaddy]].
For his services he was mentioned in despatches for gallant and distinguished service.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37730|supp=y|page=4713|date=17 September 1946}}</ref>

In 1945 he was selected to join the staff of General Sir [[Montagu Stopford]], GOC XXXIII Corps and later GOC-in-C of 12th Army [[Burma]].{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} He ended the war a temporary captain.<ref>{{cite book |date=1946 |title=The Indian Army List for October 1946 (Part II) |location=New Delhi |publisher=Government of India |page=1527 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285031/page/n197/mode/2up}}</ref>

==Post-Independence==
In 1947 he was posted as instructor to [[Indian Military Academy]], [[Dehradun]]. He was then moved to [[5 Gorkha Rifles]] as 2nd in command. In 1949 Dalvi was attached with [[Brigade of the Guards]]. In 1950, he was selected for Staff College, which he graduated in 1951. He then commanded the 4th Battalion, Brigade of the Guards and later 2nd Guards.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Dalvi was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 13 October 1957.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=172 |date=18 July 1959 |url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1959/O-1989-1959-0029-89820.pdf |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> On 2 October 1960 he was promoted acting Brigadier, and appointed Brigadier Administration to XV Corps.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=300 |date=19 November 1960 |url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1960/O-1948-1960-0047-87706.pdf |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> In January 1962, he was given the Command of 7th Infantry Brigade in [[North-East Frontier Agency|NEFA]], with promotion to colonel on 15 March.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=395 |date=23 November 1963|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1963/O-1841-1963-0047-83560.pdf |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>

==Sino-Indian War and prisoner of war==
Dalvi fought in the [[Sino-Indian War]], and was taken [[Prisoner of War]] on 22 October 1962; held captive by the Chinese for seven months, he was repatriated in May 1963.<ref>Dalvi, Himalayan Blunder, pp 496–497</ref> Left embittered by the failings of the Indian political and military leadership, he described his return to India as follows: <blockquote>We landed in [[Dum Dum airport]] in Calcutta on May 4, 1963. We were received cordially, appropriately. But the silence there was disquieting. I realized later. We had to prove we weren't brainwashed by Chinese ideology. We had to prove we were still loyal to India. My own army maintained a suspicious distance. The irony cannot be harsher: this treatment from a country, which for more than a decade had brainwashed itself into holding the Chinese baton wherever it went.</blockquote>

==Subsequent career==
Two months after his repatriation, on 9 July 1963 Dalvi was appointed Commander, Poona Sub-Area.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=282 |date=24 August 1963|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1963/O-1840-1963-0034-83502.pdf |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> He was promoted substantive brigadier on 13 October 1964,<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=15 |date=9 January 1964|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1965/O-1729-1965-0002-79002.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> with appointment as Commander, Bihar and Orissa Independent Sub-Area on 4 May 1965.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=332 |date=26 June 1965|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1965/O-1726-1965-0026-78899.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> With the outbreak of war with [[Pakistan]] later that year, he was given command of a brigade on 12 September.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=546 |date=23 October 1965|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1965/O-1728-1965-0043-78948.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>

On 29 September 1966, Dalvi was posted to Army HQ as Deputy Director of Staff Duties (DDSD).<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=653 |date=29 October 1966|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1966/O-1665-1966-0044-75957.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> He took voluntary retirement from the Army on 3 March 1967.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=232 |date=1 April 1967|url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1967/O-1609-1967-0013-72608.pdf|publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>

==''The Himalayan Blunder'' and later life==
In 1968, Dalvi authored a book about the 1962 war, entitled ''[[Himalayan Blunder|The Himalayan Blunder: The curtain raiser to the Sino-Indian War of 1962]]''.<ref>https://www.amazon.com/dp/8185019665 Himalayan Blunder</ref> His book directly contradicted that authored by his erstwhile commanding officer, [[Brij Mohan Kaul]].<ref>Lt. Gen. B.M. Kaul, "The untold story" [Jaica Publishing House, New Delhi, 1967]</ref>

Dalvi died of cancer in October 1974.<ref name=MD/>

==Bibliography==
* Dalvi, Brig. J.P., "Himalayan blunder – the curtain raiser to the Sino-Indian war of 1962" [Bombay, 1969, Rep. Natraj, Dehradun 1997]
* Kaul, Lt. Gen. B.M., "The untold story" [Jaica Publishing House, New Delhi, 1967]
* Maxwell, Neville, "India's China War" [Bombay 1970, Rep. Natraj Dehradun, 1997]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://missionvictoryindia.com/book-himalayan-blunder-by-brig-john-dalvi-1969 ''Himalayan Blunder'' by John Dalvi] (free, digitised version)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalvi, John}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Indian memoirists]]
[[Category:People of the Sino-Indian War]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners of war]]
[[Category:20th-century memoirists]]
[[Category:Expatriates in Iraq]]
[[Category:Indian expatriates]]

John Dalvi - Revision history

Bot at 07:01, 12 March 2022