The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories Read online

  I learn that it took seven days for the battalion to clear the bodies that numbered in thousands. The enemy did not claim its dead. After nearly three days the stench was such that the defences could not be occupied.

  A little more of what I know comes from retired Brigadier N. Bahri of 4 Grenadiers, who now lives in Noida. Brig. Bahri tells me that when he joined the battalion in 1960 and was appointed the adjutant, Naik Yadunath had already been dead for 12 years. But Subedar Major Ami Singh, who was the 9 Platoon commander during the battle of Tain Dhar, would often tell him about Yadunath. ‘Ami Singh would talk vividly of the operation and would start crying each time he spoke of Yadunath Singh,’ Brig. Bahri remembers.

  But I still did not have Yadunath’s complete story and as a last-ditch effort, I take on the nine-hour drive from Delhi to Beas that will bring me to the battalion’s present location. There, I’ve been told, they have an archive where old war- diaries lie preserved. They are my last hope.

  Shortly after crossing the Beas River that murmurs conversationally along the mustard fields that glow a faint yellow in the moonlight, I see a big gate looming. Param Vir Paltan, 4 Guards, it proclaims proudly. Inside, we cross Broon’s Bungalow (the commandant’s residence, named after Major George Sackville Brown, the first commandant). I’m told that since the Indians pronounced his name Broon in those days, the nomenclature has stuck and the battalion has continued to call itself Broon ka Paltan. A smiling Mess Havaldar R. D. Tiwari waits beside a painted signboard that says Yadunath Parade Ground. He guides us to the mess, where a shining bust of Yadunath is placed.

  Lieutenant Aditya Tanwar, a tall, lanky fourth-generation officer, springs forth to open and close doors for me and then escorts me to the battalion archives where framed pictures of Yadunath and the other braves of the Battle of Tain Dhar look down from a wall. In the next room are neat stacks of war diaries, with fading yellow parchment paper that have been treated at the Indian Military Academy; they are bound carefully and covered with plastic.

  Aditya bends over and proudly points out the exact noting, done in pen on paper on 6 February 1948, recounting the battle where Naik Yadunath Singh got his Param Vir Chakra. He points to 23 glass jars that are neatly lined in a corner. Filled with stones and mud, they are labelled with the names of all 23 places where the battalion has fought various battles and received battle honours.

  As I lean over to read—while Havaldar Pramesh (archives-in-charge for fourteen years) and Lt Tanwar discuss Yadunath’s last battle in respectful whispers—I am struck by a fascinating thought. Soldiers don’t die when bullets pierce their hearts and heads through their olive green shirts and woollen balaclavas. They don’t die when they fall before an enemy onslaught, or even when they get buried in trenches, staining the earth with their warm crimson blood. It is only when we forget their acts of bravery that soldiers die. And, though we have killed many that way, the officers and men of 4 Guards, Param Vir Paltan, have made Yadunath immortal by remembering him every single day of their lives. He lives in their battalion parade ground, in their mess, their archives, their thoughts and their conversations. He might not be around anymore but, strangely enough, Naik Yadunath, of the dark eyes and upturned moustache, continues to stride across their mess and their unit lines as pulsating with life as you or I are. Or, as he himself was on 6 February 1948, when he commanded a section of nine men and defended Tain Dhar when thousands of raiders launched an offensive to capture Naushera and the Jammu province.

  The trouble

  When India became independent, Jammu and Kashmir was one princely state that refused to accede to either India or Pakistan. However, Pakistan hatched a plot to attack and take over the province, and built up a huge force of raiders. The raiders began to attack the border towns and created a terrible atmosphere of murder, mayhem, loot and rape. The maharaja of J&K approached the Indian government for help, but the Indian government told him the army could not fight outside their own country’s borders. The maharaja was asked to sign the document of accession to India and as soon as he had done so, the Indian Army was sent to defend its borders.

  1 Rajput was one of the chosen battalions. It had a brief stay of two months at Gurdaspur to integrate two new companies and prepare to move operations to J&K. The unit moved to Naushera by road and reached there by 8 December 1947. It came under the 50 Para Brigade and soon the companies were spread out over posts that included Pt. 2533, Area Kot, Tain Dhar, Pt. 3319 and Pt. 3754. They were given the task of defending the Jammu-Akhnoor-Naushera-Rajouri-Poonch road axis.

  The men went in for heavy patrolling of the area but there were strong reports of the enemy forces building up for an attack. On the night of 5-6 February, the listening posts warned of the enemy accumulating north of Naushera. An attack could be expected, most probably at Tain Dhar, where Naik Yadunath manned a picket with very limited men and ammunition at his disposal.

  6 February 1948

  It was dawn and a weak orange sun was slowly lighting up the horizon. Looking into the distance Yadunath noticed moving specks that appeared to be coming closer. The fog was hampering his vision and he wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion of the mind so he nudged the soldier standing next to him and they both watched in quiet concentration.

  Yadunath had not been mistaken. The Pakistani raiders were here and, even as his eyes adjusted to the translucent haze, he noticed that they were slowly coming closer. The time for battle had come. As Yadunath’s eyes darted from one speck to another, he realized that there were hundreds of them; fully armed and striding across the vegetation. A cold shiver ran down his spine. He had only nine soldiers with him. The enemy had surrounded them in numbers he couldn’t even count. He and his men had only choices. To surrender or fight till the last man. He knew what he was going to do.

  Even as Yadunath and his men watched from their trenches, the specks in the distance turned into the bearded, sunburnt faces of Pakistani raiders and Pathans. Guns in hand they were now emerging one after the other from the thickets and behind rocks and boulders.

  The moment they were within firing distance, they started shooting, and soon the surrounding hills rang with the sound of machine-gun and mortar fire. The raiders had a mad ferocity about them. They had been promised wealth and women. Some of their comrades had already returned home with the booty and the women they had abducted after raiding border villages and the others were looking forward to the same experience. They had not expected the Indian Army to come to Kashmir’s aid, but they were prepared for battle and they knew the Indian soldiers were heavily outnumbered.

  Yadunath shouted to his men to take position and together the ten brave men directed their light machine guns at the first wave of attackers.

  Cries of ‘Allah hu Akbar’ rang out as the two warring sections met. As soon as an enemy soldier fell dead, two more would take his place. The men came like a swarm of locusts. In hundreds. One after another. They made their way to the picket in droves, shooting continuously.

  Yadunath and his men started flinging hand grenades at them but despite that some of the raiders managed to enter the trenches. Bloody hand-to-hand combat followed with clashing bayonets glistening in the morning sun. The first wave of raiders was eventually beaten back, but at a heavy cost.

  Of Yadunath’s force of ten, four men had been wounded. They had barely recovered when the second wave of the assault came—stronger and even more brutal. The raiders managed to get so close that Havaldar Daya Ram, the mortar NCO (non-commissioned officer), took a big chance. Putting his own life at stake, he removed the secondary charges from the tubes to fire within 35-50 yards of the unit defences.

  The mortar fire became more accurate, but it was so close that there was danger of Daya Ram killing his own men. It is to his credit that the risk was overcome and great devastation caused amongst the attacking raiders.

  The brave men were unfortunately completely outnumbered and almost all the soldiers of Yadunath’s section had been injured. The cries
of the injured men rent the air but even then those who could stand continued to hold their guns despite their injuries and fought.

  Yadunath himself had received bullet injuries on his right arm and thigh. Though badly hurt, he dragged himself to his wounded Bren gunner and took over the gun. By this time the enemy had reached the walls of the post, but Yadunath and his men did not give up. One of the non-combatants, who was not even trained to fight, also picked up an enemy rifle and shot dead a few attackers. Records say that when his ammunition finished he picked up an enemy sword and charged bravely at the raiders till he was finally shot dead.

  There are many such stories of bravery, but Yadunath’s towered above all the others. Battered and bleeding yet completely unmindful of his own safety, he encouraged his men to fight and battled valiantly by their side. He fought so bravely and with such unflinching courage and determination that what looked like certain defeat was turned into victory. The post was saved a second time.

  By now, however, all the men of the post had become casualties. Realizing this, the enemy was quick to attack again. In the third attack, Naik Yadunath Singh, now wounded and alone, rose to fight singlehandedly.

  Like a warrior blessed with eternal life, he came out of the trenches, bloody and limping, gun in hand. Firing at the enemy, his injured arm dripping blood, he charged. Shocked by his mad disregard for personal safety, the surprised enemy fled in disorder.

  Yadunath was still walking when a bullet came whizzing and lodged in his chest. He ignored it and continued to fire till another one whipped into his head. Eyes still open and breathing fire, Yadunath dropped to his knees and crumbled in front of No. 2 picket of Tain Dhar. His bullet-riddled body lay there with his eyes still staring at the retreating enemy soldiers. And there Naik Yadunath Singh breathed his last. He had not allowed the enemy to take over his picket.

  It was discovered later that Yadunath suffered eight bullet wounds during the three waves of the attack. There were many other heroes besides him who died fighting that day. They were men who had lived up to the highest traditions of bravery and glory.

  Yadunath Singh stood tall for his own sacrifice. For his gallant action in the face of the enemy, he was honoured posthumously with the Param Vir Chakra. His story has been immortalized in the battalion war records.

  The war record of 6 February 1948 that I come across in the 4 Guards archives, written in ink on parched paper that feels brittle to the touch, reads; ‘No. 2, 9, 7 and Kipper’s post attacked simultaneously. Enemy put in about 1500 to 2000 on each piquet. Enemy launched the attack in several waves. The battle lasted for two hours. Last wave beaten back by cold steel and bayonet. Enemy retired leaving 260 bodies, 131 rifles, and over 200 swords. Total enemy casualties believed 3000 killed, 1000 wounded. Own casualties— 21 killed and 62 wounded.

  Naik Yadunath Singh was born on 21 November 1916 in Khajuri village of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh to a poor farmer called Birbal Singh Rathore. The young Yadunath was attached to his mother, Jamuna Kanwar. He was one of eight siblings—seven boys and a girl.

  The family was not very well off—there were many mouths to feed—and Yadunath had no access to a good education. Till he was in class 4, he attended the village school, working in the fields or at home after school to contribute to the family.

  He was noticed in the village because he became a wrestling champion and would often sort out goons who misbehaved. He was also deeply religious and a staunch devotee of Hanuman, so much so that he took a vow to remain a bachelor for life and followed it.

  When Yadunath was 25 years old, he enrolled in the Rajput Regiment on 21 November 1941 at the regimental centre, Fategarh. After he had completed his training he was sent to the 1st battalion of the Rajput Regiment. He took part in World War II, showing glimpses of leadership and gallantry even then. He was promoted to the rank of naik and appointed commander of a section of troops. His true colours showed in the battle of Tain Dhar, where he bravely battled a fierce enemy despite his men being completely outnumbered.

  Yadunath’s performance continues to be a great inspiration to the men of his battalion even now. Every year, Naushera Day is celebrated in 4 Guards with great solemnity and a presentation is made on the battle of Tain Dhar by the officer commanding C Company to acknowledge and remember the great act of bravery performed by Naik Yadunath Singh in 1948.

  The hero lives on.

  Piru Singh Shekhawat

  The Battle of Darapari

  18 July 1948

  It is a dark-purple moonlit night. But Company Havaldar Major (CHM) Piru Singh cannot afford to look up. The route is steep and filled with loose stones; one misstep can send him plunging down into the valley, leaving a mass of broken flesh and bones.

  Piru Singh’s boot has just struck a rock that has gone tumbling down. For a fraction of a second, he stops to look at its deep descent. And then he looks up at the treacherous ridge he and his section from Delta Company, 6 Rajputana Rifles (Raj. Rif.), are trudging up. If he arches his neck right up, at an angle of nearly 180 degrees, he can see where the mountain ends, dark, craggy, uninviting. That is where the enemy sits and that is where he and his men are headed.

  D Company has been tasked with attacking and dislodging Pakistani irregulars from Darapari in the Tithwal sector of Kashmir. It is at a height of 11, 481 feet and the attacking company has been told that the enemy is sitting there watching the narrow path that winds its way up though they have probably not had enough time to dig in deep. Piru Singh takes a few deep breaths and resumes his climb; the air is starting to get colder and the long march of 30 miles all the way from Tangdhar has started telling on the spirit of the soldiers. He knows they are tired. So is he. But in war tiredness is the least of a soldier’s concern.

  To distract himselffom the long climb ahead, Piru Singh lets his thoughts drift to nine months back. His battalion had been in Gurgaon, involved in internal security duties when orders came for them to move to Kashmir. The hill state needed to be defended from raiding Pathans and Pakistani Army regulars. The soldiers were airlifted to Srinagar on 5 November 1947. For many of them it was the first ride in an airplane and for a few moments at least the threat of war was overshadowed by the thrill of that first plane ride.

  Once in Kashmir, the battalion was thrown in the midst of action and the brave men more than proved themselves in the first few months. In April 1948, they were sent to Uri and had fought back a vicious enemy attack where they inflicted major damages on the enemy. They went on to capture an enemy position on the night of 29 April for which Rifleman Dhonkal Singh was awarded a Maha Vir Chakra posthumously. He had immediately become a battalion hero. Dhonkal had guided his platoon through a thick pine forest along a ridge and had faced the brunt of enemy light-machine-gun fire. In spite of suffering a serious injury on his left shoulder, Dhonkal Singh had crawled ahead and destroyed the enemy post by flinging a hand grenade at it. Hit by splinters in the face and chest, he had known he would not live long, and had used all his remaining strength to lob another grenade at the retreating enemy soldiers, killing them instantaneously. The post had been captured by 6 Raj. Rif., but Dhonkal Singh had succumbed to his injuries.

  Piru Singh, full of respect for his brave comrade, does not know then that he will soon perform an act of bravery that will be as incredible as Dhonkal’s. Humming a tune to himself, he marches on.

  The entire spring of 1948 had been used by the Indian Army to launch a major attack to throw the intruders right out of Kashmir. Orders came for 6 Raj. Rif., which was at Uri, to march to Tithwal to strengthen the 163 Infantry Brigade across the Nastachun Pass. The brigade was planning an offensive to dislodge the Pakistanis sitting in this sector. The pass was at 10, 264 feet and the companies were deployed in areas flanked by Point 11481 on Kafir Khan Ridge that was a feature occupied by the Pakistanis.

  The battalion had to move at 24 hours’ notice and was to take up position on the Baniwala Dana ridge on 12 July. But a deep nala separated the ridge from
where the Indian Army was positioned and the engineers had to be called in to build a bridge across this so that the soldiers could cross over. Time was at a premium and the deadline given for the bridge to be in place was the evening of 11 July.

  Though all efforts were made, it was tough task and the engineers could not meet the deadline. Since the attack could not be delayed further, the engineers put a big log of wood across the nala. This was the makeshift bridge that B and D companies of 6 Raj. Rif., along with modified battalion headquarters, used to cross over on the night of 11 July.

  B Company led the advance and, at 5. 30 a. m. on 12 July, they managed to capture one of the features without facing any opposition from the enemy. D Company was told to pass through and secure the second feature. The attacks by 6 Raj. Rif. and 3 Royal Garhwal Rifles continued. The enemy was chased away, arms and ammunition captured and a counterattack repulsed. Reconnaissance parties and patrols were then sent out to ascertain the enemy positions and the soldiers came back and reported that a feature called Darapari, which was at 11, 481 feet, dominated the 163 Brigade-defended sector. It was heavily defended by Pakistani Army irregulars.

  Just a bit further was yet another feature held by the enemy. It was felt that if the Indian Army wanted to make any further progress, Darapari and the second feature would have to be captured. The task of capturing Darapari was given to 6 Raj. Rif. under the command of Lieutenant Colonel S. S. Kallan on 16 July 1948. On 18 July, the battalion attacked along the narrow and razor-sharp ridge. This was going to be the operation where CHM Piru Singh would fight until death and secure for his battalion the coveted Darapari and also bring home the Param Vir Chakra.