Examples To Cite

Accept heartiest congratulations on award of Special Unit Citation in Op. Vijay. Convey well done to all officers, jcos and unit."
Signed, director-general, Infantry.

Just two simple messages sent to the Commanding Officers of the 18 Grenadier battalion and the 2nd battalion of the Rajputana Rifles, yet they led to several rounds of back-slapping, chest-thumping and celebrations among officers and their men. At the end of four weeks of fierce fighting on the mountains of the Dras sector, the two battalions had returned triumphant. "We were elated," says an officer of the Grenadiers. "After all, such an honour doesn't come to a unit very often."

The fighting capabilities and sheer courage demonstrated by these two units were indeed exceptional. The 18 Grenadiers are the heroes of the battle for Tiger Hills while the 2nd Rajputana Rifles were instrumental in recapturing the crucial Tololing peak on June 12 and the Three Pimples and Black Rock peaks on June 28-29. The story of their valour, commitment and sacrifice will go down in the legions of our history. Paens of praise are already being showered on the units from the top army brass at army headquarters.

The Pole Star battalion, as the 18 Grenadiers are called, is currently manning Tiger Hills. More appropriately, it's on Cloud Nine. As Major Rajiv Kumar, the unit's adjutant, says: "We have lived up to the motto of the Grenadiers-Sarvada Shaktishali (always powerful). Among the first two units to get the prestigious Unit Citation awarded by the Chief of the Army Staff, the 18 Grenadiers are a young unit compared to many other battalions in the Indian Army. Raised in '76, it has achieved excellent results in the past 23 years, its latest the battle for Tiger Hills.

Entrusted with the task of evicting well-entrenched Pakistanis atop the Tiger Hill, the Grenadiers had launched their attack on the night of July 3. Three companies of the unit started climbing the Tiger Hill peak from three different directions. Backed by intense and well-directed artillery fire, the columns advanced through pitch darkness.

Captain Sachin Nimbalkar, commanding the Ghatak (deadly) column, was the first to reach the northeast side of the Tiger top. "On their way up, Sachin's boys were in direct line of attack from the enemy, but the column kept advancing," said Maj. Kumar, who heads the administrative camp at the base of Tiger Hill. In the meantime, two other columns climbed the peak from the east and the southeast directions. Despite a fierce counter-attack by the Pakistanis, these columns reached the top by 3.30 am. A terse message sent by Captain Nimbalkar said: "Sir, I am on top." It was July 4 and Tiger Hills, which had become a sort of a psychological obstacle in the minds of the strategists, was at last in Indian hands.

Reaching the top looked easier in the context of what happened over the next two days. Stung by the reverse, the Pakistanis launched a fierce counter-attack from the western ridge of the Tiger Hill which was still under their possession. It took the personal initiative of the CO, Col Kushal Thakur-who, contrary to practice, went into the thick of the battle-to finally mop up the peak, its surrounding areas and hoist the flag atop the point on July 8. The unit lost eight of its best men but the ultimate objective was won. "Hamein to yeh aasaan laga saheb (we found it easy, sir)," says Naik Sumer Singh, injured in the attack and now recuperating in the base camp. And it was a matter of honour for these men to be cited by the army chief and the top brass. In a way, it was also just desserts for the 18 Grenadiers since they had done similar good work in the battle for Tololing Top where the final assault was given to the 2nd Rajputana Rifles.

One of the oldest infantry units in the Indian Army, the 2nd Rajputana Rifles has a 190-year history backing it. "We were the first Indian unit to get the Victoria Cross under the British," says its CO, Col M.B. Ravindranath. "There have been several instances of bravery and valour." And yet, the unit has not encountered a situation where it has lost 50 per cent of its officers as it did in the battles for Tololing and Three Pimples within a period of a fortnight.

Asked to clear Three Pimples, Knoll and Hump peaks, east of the Tiger Hills, as a prelude to the attack on the point, Col Ravindranath sent three columns across a terrain that allowed only two ways to go up. The enemy sat perched well on top, dominating both the routes. Yet, all three columns climbed under consistent artillery and small arms fire. The valour of Capt Neikezhakuo Kenguruse, an intensely religious young Naga man, typifies the indomitable spirit the unit displayed. Says the citation recommending his name for a gallantry award: "Despite being injured in the abdomen and bleeding profusely, the officer kept on approaching the bunkers. At a steep climb, he took off his shoes to get a better grip, scaled the cliff face, fixed the climbing rope and took up a rocket launcher to fire at the enemy bunker. Unmindful of his personal safety, (he) charged on the top and personally killed two men with his rifle and two others with his knife before succumbing to his injuries."

The unit also recounts with pride the brave act of Naib Subedar Sunayak Singh in holding on to his post for four hours while being vastly outnumbered. "What Sunayak did is the perfect example of what this unit is all about-once given a task, we only know that it has to be done, whatever the cost," says Col Ravindranath. Sunayak, of course, does not look at it as anything exceptional. "Yeh to hamara farz tha (this was our duty)," he says. In the battle for Three Pimples, Col Ravindranath lost three of his best officers. Still, the officers and men of the 2nd Rajputana Rifles are awaiting fresh orders to get into another battle and live up to its motto-Veer Bhogya Vasundhara (Only the Brave enjoy the fruits of the earth).