The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories by Rachna Bisht Rawat Page B
Authors: Rachna Bisht Rawat
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and 57 mm recoilless (RCL) guns that they have brought there on wheelbarrows. The four-foot-deep craters found in solid rock indicate that that they also use 132-mm rockets. ‘It was such a massive attack that no one could help anyone else,’ says Ram Chander. ‘We could not hear each other over the din; shells just came and blew up our bunkers. Of our main operators, one had his head and the other his legs blown off. Wooden planks were reduced to matchwood and sandbags to shreds of gunny. It was all over in 15 minutes and there was a trail of death and devastation left.’
When the bombing ceases, the men who survive see yaks and horses on the ridgeline. Company Havaldar Major (CHM) Harphul Singh initially thinks it is Alpha Company coming to their aid, but when he looks through his binoculars he realizes it’s the Chinese bringing reinforcements to attack 8 Platoon. At the same time, 7 Platoon reports that nearly 700 enemy soldiers are climbing up to their post.
Maj Shaitan Singh, who has been hit by a shell and has his left arm in a bandage, rushes from man to man instilling courage in them. He asked injured jawans to get first aid and be ready to fight. ‘All our bunkers were destroyed, our men were injured and dead, our ammunition was running out, many of the jawans could not even cock their. 303 rifles since their fingers had frozen in the cold, but Maj Sahab did not lose his nerve. He stood there calmly and directed the men, telling them to be brave and to battle on, ‘ remembers Ram Chander.
Nihal Singh is on the LMG at the company HQ with his partner Ram Meher Singh. Ram Meher is hit by a shell and collapses. Left alone in the trench with no means of communicating with anyone, Nihal keeps firing till he is shot. He manages to pull apart the pieces of his LMG so that it does not fall into enemy hands. He has grenades but no strength in his arms to pull out the pins and throw them. Finally, he is pulled out of the trench by enemy soldiers and taken away.
Maj Shaitan Singh is on the ridge when a medium machine gun-burst hits him in the stomach. It also burns down the radio set with Ram Chander so they are now completely cut off from everyone else. CHM Harphul Singh grabs an LMG and kills the enemy soldier who has hit Maj Shaitan Singh. He is hit by RCL fire and collapses. Breathing his last, he tells Ram Chander, ‘Don’t let Maj Sahab fall into the enemy’s hands’.
Maj Shaitan Singh is losing blood and slipping in and out of consciousness. He repeatedly tells Ram Chander to open his belt since his stomach is hurting. Ram Chander puts his hand inside his shirt to find his intestines spilling out. ‘I didn’t open his belt because everything would have fallen out,’ he says.
Ram Chander holds him in a tight embrace and rolls down into the ravine with him. Then, carrying his company commander on his back, he walks 800 metres and, stopping near a boulder, lays down the major. He meets another soldier, who is injured and bleeding. They get caught in enemy crossfire.
Realizing that his men will not have a chance to escape if they have to carry him, Maj Shaitan Singh orders them to leave him where he is and save their own lives. ‘Go back and tell them how we fought till the last. This is my company. I want to die here. Yeh aapke liye aadesh hai,’ (This is my order) he insists, his breath coming in painful gasps.
It is 8. 15 a. m. The snow is still falling and the sky is a dull grey. Reluctantly, the soldiers leave. They find their way to the quarter master’s shed only to find it burning. It has been set on fire by their own men, who had received orders to destroy everything and come back to battalion HQ in Chushul. The survivors walk six miles to reach the battalion.
Meanwhile, Nihal escapes that night from enemy custody and manages to reach his post. He finds bodies scattered like rag dolls. Maj Shaitan Singh’s tent lies shredded to bits. His friend Chiman has his head blown off. Mahender from
When the bombing ceases, the men who survive see yaks and horses on the ridgeline. Company Havaldar Major (CHM) Harphul Singh initially thinks it is Alpha Company coming to their aid, but when he looks through his binoculars he realizes it’s the Chinese bringing reinforcements to attack 8 Platoon. At the same time, 7 Platoon reports that nearly 700 enemy soldiers are climbing up to their post.
Maj Shaitan Singh, who has been hit by a shell and has his left arm in a bandage, rushes from man to man instilling courage in them. He asked injured jawans to get first aid and be ready to fight. ‘All our bunkers were destroyed, our men were injured and dead, our ammunition was running out, many of the jawans could not even cock their. 303 rifles since their fingers had frozen in the cold, but Maj Sahab did not lose his nerve. He stood there calmly and directed the men, telling them to be brave and to battle on, ‘ remembers Ram Chander.
Nihal Singh is on the LMG at the company HQ with his partner Ram Meher Singh. Ram Meher is hit by a shell and collapses. Left alone in the trench with no means of communicating with anyone, Nihal keeps firing till he is shot. He manages to pull apart the pieces of his LMG so that it does not fall into enemy hands. He has grenades but no strength in his arms to pull out the pins and throw them. Finally, he is pulled out of the trench by enemy soldiers and taken away.
Maj Shaitan Singh is on the ridge when a medium machine gun-burst hits him in the stomach. It also burns down the radio set with Ram Chander so they are now completely cut off from everyone else. CHM Harphul Singh grabs an LMG and kills the enemy soldier who has hit Maj Shaitan Singh. He is hit by RCL fire and collapses. Breathing his last, he tells Ram Chander, ‘Don’t let Maj Sahab fall into the enemy’s hands’.
Maj Shaitan Singh is losing blood and slipping in and out of consciousness. He repeatedly tells Ram Chander to open his belt since his stomach is hurting. Ram Chander puts his hand inside his shirt to find his intestines spilling out. ‘I didn’t open his belt because everything would have fallen out,’ he says.
Ram Chander holds him in a tight embrace and rolls down into the ravine with him. Then, carrying his company commander on his back, he walks 800 metres and, stopping near a boulder, lays down the major. He meets another soldier, who is injured and bleeding. They get caught in enemy crossfire.
Realizing that his men will not have a chance to escape if they have to carry him, Maj Shaitan Singh orders them to leave him where he is and save their own lives. ‘Go back and tell them how we fought till the last. This is my company. I want to die here. Yeh aapke liye aadesh hai,’ (This is my order) he insists, his breath coming in painful gasps.
It is 8. 15 a. m. The snow is still falling and the sky is a dull grey. Reluctantly, the soldiers leave. They find their way to the quarter master’s shed only to find it burning. It has been set on fire by their own men, who had received orders to destroy everything and come back to battalion HQ in Chushul. The survivors walk six miles to reach the battalion.
Meanwhile, Nihal escapes that night from enemy custody and manages to reach his post. He finds bodies scattered like rag dolls. Maj Shaitan Singh’s tent lies shredded to bits. His friend Chiman has his head blown off. Mahender from
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