108
THE TRAP IS SPRUNG
Headquarter Seven Brigade
Valley of River Namkachu
20 October
1962
T WAS 5 O' CLOCK IN THE MORNING; the
mountains and the valley were all asleep.
The gurgling small waterfall,
opposite the HQ, was quietly adding its music to the prevailing
tranquil environment, It was quiet in
the Brigade HQ at Rongla, 10500 feet above sea level, in the narrow valley of
river Namkachu lying sandwiched between
the Thagla feature, infested by the Chinese and Tsangdhar occupied by own
troops.
I was sleeping in my one-man
arctic-tent, fully clothed, as was my practice. Suddenly a mortar bomb landed
in the HQ with a big bang, rudely awakening the sleeping valley and shattering
the prevailing fragile pace, the make believe war over and so were the pious hopes of all and sundry, all the way, right up to Delhi.
The Chinese meant business. It took me a
few moments to locate my snow-boots and put them on and get going
My first and
immediate reaction was to get the Brigade Command Radio Net switched on. On checking the lines to the battalions were
found to be out. The Chinese had done the trick and cut the lines just before
commencing the shelling.
It was amazing
to see the raw signalmen, some of who had joined the section only a few days
back straight from the training centre, on job without fear or tension visible
on their faces. Maybe it was the team spirit;
perhaps it was confidence in their superiors or sheer ignorance of the danger
being faced. No one left the radio sets
or the Signal Centre even though mortar bombs were exploding over the Brigade
HQ fairly rapidly.
2 Rajput who
had faced the brunt of the initial Chinese attack came on air for about 15
minutes to inform that they were under attack; soon there was this ominous
silence. What had transpired, as we learnt later, was that the battalion’s
Signal bunker was demolished by enemy fire, killing all including the operators
of my section manning the link from brigade to battalion.
We
had also got through to 1/9 GR and Divisional Tactical HQ immediately. As
mentioned the Chinese had cut the telephone lines from Brigade HQ to the
battalions. However, the portion of the lines
from Div TAC HQ
passing through 9 Punjab
and 4 Grenadiers was still intact; both had tapped this line, clandestinely to
eavesdrop on the conversations between Division and Brigade. This
act, though unauthorised, kept us informed as to what was happening in
their locality through Headquarter.
Lt Col Tewari,
my commanding officer, on a short visit, who had spent the night with the
Gurkhas had by now come to the Signals bunker and was on the set, with me
sitting on the control at Brigade HQ. 1/9 GR remained on the air till about 8
O’ Clock and then went off.
According to Col Tewari, who was taken
prisoner by the Chinese, on his return, the Chinese converging on to the bunker
and firing had hit both the operators; one of the operators was riddled by
bullets and must have died immediately the other was also hit though partially
protected by the radio set.
First time in action for me it was all so
unreal - like a bad dream which would hopefully go away. To the Commander and his experienced staff it
was real.
I can still recall Brig Dalvi’s ashen face,
seeing his command disintegrating right in front of eyes, his helplessness to
do any thing, his frustration on what had been happening since 8th
September the date when the Chinese had
confronted our forward post Dhola. It
makes me sad even now as I can only now understand as to what must have been
going on through his mind at that time and his impotence to influence the
events.
Casualties had by now started
to trickle to Brigade HQ. The first officer
to land in Brigade HQ was Lt. Ravi Eipe of 2 Rajput, who staggered with a few
of his Jawans, worse for wear and rather incoherent, but made the gravity of
the situation more obvious to the Commander and all of us. Next to fetch up was Major Pawar of 1/9 GR
Company Commander of the forward company on the left of the Brigade HQ. He
walked in a dazed condition with his revolver pointing straight ahead and
informed the Commander that the Chinese were just 200 yards away and following.
The Brigade having lost both command and control could do little
to influence the battle. We could only
cluster together and look around and up, the question of bed tea and breakfast
never arose that day and for the next few days to follow.
With the deteriorating tactical situation we were told to organise
our-selves in 10 minutes flat and get out, the next destination being the
earlier location of Tsangdhar to where Brigadier Dalvi having taken permission
from the GOC planned to withdraw and hoped to re-establish his command: at
least two of our battalions 9 Punjab and 4 Grenadiers still appeared to be
intact.
In the short time available we started getting organised at a fast
pace for the move. I asked Manikam to arrange for some sugar and tea leaves for
the move to Tsangdhar, but according to him all the stock had already finished
by the previous evening, so much for Administration in War. There were no
porters and the equipment had been distributed on various personnel of the
section to carry on non existing tracks.
With this limited equipment and the approximately 40 Signals
personnel with me at this time I hoped to provide hard scale communications to
the Brigade HQ at Tsangdhar.
For the first time I was going to have excess of manpower than
required. Hard scale as a slogan coined by Gen Kaul had by now become famous.
My last look at the till now Brigade HQ location that we were
abandoning was that of a solitary goat tied to a tree scared to death and bleating loudly due to the deafening sounds
of the ongoing bombardment. It had travelled all the way from Gauhati by air,
parachuted at Tsangdhar, brought down to Rongla possibly on some one’s
shoulders as meat on hoof for the troops. The poor goat was now being left
behind by us to welcome the Chinese.
I do not recall my feelings at that time or what was going through
my mind. It is a total blank. A thought
did pass through my mind at that time, It may sound funny or improbable to some
but it is factual otherwise I would not have remembered it even after so long.
With mortar bombs falling all around, a couple of casualties already in the
Headquarter location with the prevailing confusion and chaos and the attacking
Chinese possibly very near with death or worse a serious injury happening any
time being very much on cards, I did think of approaching God. Though God fearing, I did not pray, nor
do I now: immediately after the first a second thought came fleeting in, about
the book of records up there of my deeds and miss-deeds, if any was being
maintained, a prayer at that time would be the only entry and may be considered
as a selfish action by an opportunist; an adverse entry on my report card. I
quickly discarded the idea; in any case there was no time even for a silent
prayer.
Possibly my unsaid prayer did some how reach
God otherwise I would have still remained ‘Missing in Action’ as I was soon to
be declared by AG’s Branch at Army HQ.
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