As a Major General he had commanded the 54 Infantry Division during the war that had moved from its peace time location in Secunderabad to Punjab

Lieutenant General Walter Anthony Gustavo Pinto

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 27

Lieutenant General Walter Anthony Gustavo Pinto, who had played a key role in the Indian victory in the Battle of Basantar, one of the most crucial operations in the Punjab-Jammu Sector during the 1971 war, passed away at the age of 97.

As a Major General he had commanded the 54 Infantry Division during the war that had moved from its peace time location in Secunderabad to Punjab. Tasked for offensive operations in the Shakargarh bulge, the Division crossed the border on December 6 and captured key areas. Troops from the division were conferred as many as 196 gallantry medals including two Param Vir Chakra and nine Maha Vir Chakra, while Maj Gen Pinto was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

The Indian Army won a hard-fought battle on the banks of the Basantar river from December 4 to 16 that secured this area. It was a strategically vital area for both sides as it comprised road links to Jammu from Punjab, which could be cut off by the enemy. Pakistan Army generally regards this as their most humbling defeat despite numerical superiority, next only to the Battle of Laungewala in Rajasthan.

Born in 1924 at Poona (now Pune), he was commissioned into the 13th Frontier Force Rifles in 1943. The unit moved to Burma during the Second World War, where then Second Lieutenant Pinto commanded a Medium Machine Gun Platoon.

Post Independence, he assigned to the 2nd battalion of Assam Regiment and when the Brigade of Guards was raised, he was transferred to 3 Guards. Later he commanded 4 Guards, which moved to Sikkim during the Chinese aggression. As a Brigadier, he commanded 66 Mountain Brigade in Binnaguri.

After the 1971 war, he became the Colonel of the Rajput Regiment. He also served as Director, Military Training where he also headed the Joint Training Committee, Services Sports Control Board, Army Mountaineering Federation and Army Rifle Association. He was also vice president of Indian Hockey Federation and Indian Olympic Association.

On promotion to Lieutenant General, he took over as General Officer Commanding 33 Corps in Sukhna and then moved as the Commandant, National Defence College. In July 1980, he was elevated as Army Commander and took over the Central Command in Lucknow from where he retired after a two year tenure. After hanging up his boots, he had settled in Pune.

Maj Gen Pinto’s father, Alexander Pinto, worked in the military accounts department. His elder brother Sydney Alexander was a Major General in the Corps of Engineers, while his elder sister, Phyllis Mary, served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps in India and later in Burma. He was an alumnus of Robertson College in Jabalpur.