Lieutenant Colonel Iftikhar ‘Shufti’ Chaudhri

By Hasan Chaudhri

My Dada Abu (or paternal grandfather), Lieutenant Colonel Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhri, known to his fellow servicemen as “Shufti”, was born in 1920 in the Gujrat district of what is now Pakistan. 

He graduated from Government College in 1940 and at the outbreak of World War Two enlisted in the British Indian Army. At 22, he was sent for officers training in Bangalore (now Bengaluru), and commissioned to the 4th Battalion of the 16th Punjab Regiment in 1942. 

Dada Abu took part in the Second Battle of El Alamein, leading reconnaissance patrols behind German military lines. He would often tell us of the camaraderie between the troops, the harsh conditions they experienced together, and the prayer that his mother taught him, which he would recite for solace. He felt very fortunate to survive the war unscathed, recounting numerous close calls. On one occasion, he had left his trench for a few minutes, only to return and find that his position had taken a direct hit, with the other soldiers becoming casualties.

In January 1944, his regiment was posted south of Arelli, in Italy’s Abruzzo region. During WW2, Arelli rested on the “Gustav Line”, a primary part of the “Winter Line”, a collection of Axis military fortifications. In the early hours of January 26th, he discovered that one of his platoon leaders and an NCO had gone missing after a heavy German attack. 

Driving through the rain under intense mortar fire, he found that the two officers had been taken prisoner and that their platoon was in critical condition, low on ammunition and facing strong opposition. No sooner had he reorganised the platoon’s defences that the enemy launched an intense attack. He ordered his men to hold their nerve and wait until the Germans were within forty yards, upon which they opened fire. For over four hours they fought bravely, until eventually being evacuated with seven wounded. 

Dada Abu was immediately awarded the Military Cross (MC) for his actions, with the citation stating that his conduct had been in the “finest tradition of Indian fighting men”. 

My grandfather admired the bravery of the men he served with, saying: “My biggest pleasure was to command the Sikhs. They were very pleasant, very effective and very aggressive”.  

With the creation of Pakistan in 1947, his regiment became part of the Pakistan Army. In 1951 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and wrote a paper on defence against the USSR in the Middle East, which was well received by the Ministry of Defence in London, and discussed at global military conferences. 

Dada Abu served in Baghdad from 1961-1964 as Pakistan’s Military Attaché and the following year was commissioned to Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistan war. He retired from the army in 1968 and became a successful entrepreneur. He remained in Pakistan until his passing. 

Dada Abu and his achievements are a source of great pride in my family and his legacy will be fondly remembered for generations.