India Command in 1943 where he argued successfully against the then prevailing view that anything other than light tanks could not be used in Burma. This was to have a significant impact in 1944 and 1945 when medium tanks were used to telling effect against the Japanese. In July 1943, Messervy was appointed GOC of the 7th Indian Infantry Division, in succession to Major-General Thomas Corbett, which was sent to the Arakan in Burma to join XV Corps in September. In the Japanese offensive in February 1944, despite having his headquarters overrun and scattered and his supply lines compromised, Messervy's brigades conducted a successful defence whilst being supplied by air (Battle of the Admin Box). After going on the attack in late February, 7th Indian Division was relieved in mid-March. In March 1944, Messervy lost two brigades sent to reinforce the hard-pressed defences at Imphal and Kohima in India. By May, the whole division was back in the front line in the Kohima sector, fighting a key five-day battle at the Naga Village. It then advanced towards the Chindwin river, combining with Indian 20th Infantry Division to inflict a heavy defeat on the Japanese at Ukhrul. In December 1944, Messervy was appointed to command IV Corps, which he led in the 1945 offensive during which, he captured the key communications centre at Meiktila in Burma and advanced to Rangoon between February and April. When Messervy returned from home leave hostilities had ceased. He was made Commander-in-Chief Malaya Command in 1945 after the Japanese surrender. Pakistan and Kashmir Close to the Partition of India, Messervy was made General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command, India from 1946 to 1947. Finally when Pakistan came into being on 15 August 1947, he was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army. On 20 August, a letter signed by Messervy went out to all the brigade headquarters in northwest Pakistan, attaching plans for a certain Operation Gulmarg. According to the plan, 20 lashkars of Pashtun tribesmen were to be armed and trained in various brigade locations in northwest Pakistan for an armed invasion of Kashmir. The information leaked out, one of the letters having fallen into the hands of an Indian officer Major Onkar Singh Kalkat. Kalkat was put under house arrest, but he escaped and made his way to India. By the D-day of 22 October, when the attack was launched, Messervy was away in