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A good Read...Thanks to Hariprasad.
The battle of Rezang La was the only bright spot for India in the 1962 war with China. In this Walk the Talk with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24x7, Ramchander Yadav and Nihal Singh, two of the six soldiers who survived that battle, look back at the events of that icy November morning 50 years ago
It's sad that any time we talk about the India-China war of 1962, horrible words like debacle, disgrace, disaster come to our minds. This is the 50th anniversary of that war. It's a war that this country ideally would love to forget but cannot because it's etched in our memories as one of the saddest chapters of our independent history. And it's sadder still that because of that overwhelming sense of failure in that war, we tend to sometimes almost deliberately ignore the one chapter that I think is without parallel in modern post Second World War military history, the battle of Rezang La on November 18, 1962. I will give you a brief history. Charlie Company of a battalion called 13 Kumaon was divided in several platoons on one ridge of two kilometres, protecting the airfield of Chushul which was vital if India was to hold Ladakh. It was attacked on the morning of November 18 by maybe 5,000-6,000 Chinese with heavy artillery support. A crest behind this ridge prevented Indian artillery from being able to support these jawans. And what did these jawans do? They fought to last man, last round. That's an expression you hear in movies and read in war comics, but that is something that actually happened in the battle of Rezang La. Of the 120 men and officers of this Company, 114 died, five were taken prisoners as wounded—they all escaped—and one was sent back to tell the story of the battle to the rest of the world. And who sent him back? This Company's most remarkable commander, Major Shaitan Singh, who got a Param Vir Chakra for leading this battle. I am today in Rewari, the area from where these jawans came... It was a Kumaon battalion but this was an Ahir Company from Rewari in Haryana. With me are two of those six survivors—in fact, only four remain with us now—Honorary captain Ramchander Yadav and Havaldar Nihal Singh. So both of you were with Major Shaitan Singh?
Yadav: I was his radio man.
Singh: And I was his personal guard with the light machine gun (LMG).
And you saw the whole war?
Singh: I cannot sleep when those scenes come to my mind. It has been 50 years, yet it seems the war has just taken place.
You were handling LMG for the company commander's protection. After you were hit by bullets, did you stop firing?
Singh: I disassembled the LMG and threw it so that the enemy could not use it. I was in terrible pain. My body was still. After some time, they pulled me out from the bunker. They asked my name in English. They asked for the names of my Commanding Officer and Brigade Commander. I said no. And then they asked me to go for first aid by communicating in sign language.
You were at 18,000 ft and there was snowfall?
Yadav and Singh: Yes, and the wind was very cold.
Singh: They took me to their post around 5 p.m. I could see their artillery on the other side of the ditch. I thought of running but waited.
How did you escape from their custody?
Singh: The soldiers who took me in custody were walking around and talking. By then it became dark and it occurred to me that I should run. I slowly sneaked out from there. When I walked almost 500 metres, they fired three shots in the air.
You went back to the headquarters?
Singh: Yes, on November 19, around 1 p.m., I reached the headquarters. On November 22, we were admitted to a hospital in Jammu where we were treated.
Yadav saab, you were specially sent back so that others may know the story of the war.
Yadav: Yes, that was the motive of Major saab.
Major Shaitan Singh was not from Rewari. He was from Rajasthan.
Yadav: He was from Rajasthan. He was a Rajput. His name was Shaitan Singh but he was god.
Please describe the scene of that day. The attack started at 3:30 a.m.?
Yadav: I was a sepoy in Charlie Company of 13 Kumaon Regiment and was with the Major at Rezang La post. At 3:30 am, firing took place at the section of Naik Gulab Singh, who later got the Vir Chakra.
This one Company had one Param Vir Chakra, five Vir Chakras, and four Sena medals, including you. Medals were rarely awarded those days, still so many were given. What happened after that?
Yadav: We got alerts. When my officer asked, I said Platoon No 8 had informed that the enemy had attacked. The enemy was trying to climb but the LMG of Hukam Chand (Vir Chakra) killed four. After 10 minutes, Platoon 7 informed me about the attack on them. I asked Surja Ram (Vir Chakra) how things were. He said they had taken their positions and that 400 people were trying to climb from 14,000 ft to 18,000 ft.
All the names of your comrades are written on the memorial here in Rewari. The list here says that 114 jawans killed 1,300 Chinese enemies that day.
Yadav: I saw that with my own eyes. Bodies were lying all around.
So when you knew that thousands of Chinese were coming, that they had artillery support while your artillery wouldn't reach you because of the huge mountain behind you, was it evident that you had to stay put?
Yadav: Yes, there was no going back then.
Did anyone think of saving their own lives, withdrawing? What did the Major tell you?
Yadav: The Major said if we have to withdraw, then do it. But the jawans and the JCOs said we will not leave Rezang La. We have the blessings of Lord Krishna. The Major said I am with you and I am a Yadav too, so what if my name is Bhati?
What happened next? Where were you and the Major when the fire came?
Yadav: I was at the command post with platoons on either side on the two-kilometre ridge. I was with the Major. After a while, a message came from Platoon No 8. Hari Ram (Vir Chakra) said the enemy was coming through the ridge, but we would kill them once they are in range. They repulsed that attack.
Many Chinese died. Did you see their bodies?
Yadav: Yes. They were lying scattered like berries in a market. They kept climbing up, and we were at our post. Two attacks were repulsed. Then, Platoon 7 was attacked. They didn't attack Platoon 9 even though it was at the front. Their plan was to isolate Platoon 9. But they didn't know that our commander had made arrangements so that no one could climb up.
So you had made a killing ground?
Yadav: Yes, the third and fourth attacks on Platoon 8 were also repulsed. Then they attacked with full force. That's when Surja Ram declared, Ramchander, now is the time when we will all fight out of our posts in the name of hand-to-hand combat. My communication with Platoon 7 stopped. Communication started with Platoon 8 when 14-15 yaks and around 700 Chinese took position on the ridge in between us and Platoon 8.
They came from behind?
Yadav: Yes, first we thought it was our battalion's Alpha Company that had come to help us. We thought the CO might have sent them for our help but when they started positioning their yaks and machine guns, then Havaldar Major Harphool Singh said this is the enemy. After that, the Major ordered for nine platoons to be sent from the headquarters. Since the enemy was going to attack Platoon 8, we would attack them from behind and they would be trapped between Platoon 8 and us and we would finish them.
The battle of Rezang La was the only bright spot for India in the 1962 war with China. In this Walk the Talk with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24x7, Ramchander Yadav and Nihal Singh, two of the six soldiers who survived that battle, look back at the events of that icy November morning 50 years ago
It's sad that any time we talk about the India-China war of 1962, horrible words like debacle, disgrace, disaster come to our minds. This is the 50th anniversary of that war. It's a war that this country ideally would love to forget but cannot because it's etched in our memories as one of the saddest chapters of our independent history. And it's sadder still that because of that overwhelming sense of failure in that war, we tend to sometimes almost deliberately ignore the one chapter that I think is without parallel in modern post Second World War military history, the battle of Rezang La on November 18, 1962. I will give you a brief history. Charlie Company of a battalion called 13 Kumaon was divided in several platoons on one ridge of two kilometres, protecting the airfield of Chushul which was vital if India was to hold Ladakh. It was attacked on the morning of November 18 by maybe 5,000-6,000 Chinese with heavy artillery support. A crest behind this ridge prevented Indian artillery from being able to support these jawans. And what did these jawans do? They fought to last man, last round. That's an expression you hear in movies and read in war comics, but that is something that actually happened in the battle of Rezang La. Of the 120 men and officers of this Company, 114 died, five were taken prisoners as wounded—they all escaped—and one was sent back to tell the story of the battle to the rest of the world. And who sent him back? This Company's most remarkable commander, Major Shaitan Singh, who got a Param Vir Chakra for leading this battle. I am today in Rewari, the area from where these jawans came... It was a Kumaon battalion but this was an Ahir Company from Rewari in Haryana. With me are two of those six survivors—in fact, only four remain with us now—Honorary captain Ramchander Yadav and Havaldar Nihal Singh. So both of you were with Major Shaitan Singh?
Yadav: I was his radio man.
Singh: And I was his personal guard with the light machine gun (LMG).
And you saw the whole war?
Singh: I cannot sleep when those scenes come to my mind. It has been 50 years, yet it seems the war has just taken place.
You were handling LMG for the company commander's protection. After you were hit by bullets, did you stop firing?
Singh: I disassembled the LMG and threw it so that the enemy could not use it. I was in terrible pain. My body was still. After some time, they pulled me out from the bunker. They asked my name in English. They asked for the names of my Commanding Officer and Brigade Commander. I said no. And then they asked me to go for first aid by communicating in sign language.
You were at 18,000 ft and there was snowfall?
Yadav and Singh: Yes, and the wind was very cold.
Singh: They took me to their post around 5 p.m. I could see their artillery on the other side of the ditch. I thought of running but waited.
How did you escape from their custody?
Singh: The soldiers who took me in custody were walking around and talking. By then it became dark and it occurred to me that I should run. I slowly sneaked out from there. When I walked almost 500 metres, they fired three shots in the air.
You went back to the headquarters?
Singh: Yes, on November 19, around 1 p.m., I reached the headquarters. On November 22, we were admitted to a hospital in Jammu where we were treated.
Yadav saab, you were specially sent back so that others may know the story of the war.
Yadav: Yes, that was the motive of Major saab.
Major Shaitan Singh was not from Rewari. He was from Rajasthan.
Yadav: He was from Rajasthan. He was a Rajput. His name was Shaitan Singh but he was god.
Please describe the scene of that day. The attack started at 3:30 a.m.?
Yadav: I was a sepoy in Charlie Company of 13 Kumaon Regiment and was with the Major at Rezang La post. At 3:30 am, firing took place at the section of Naik Gulab Singh, who later got the Vir Chakra.
This one Company had one Param Vir Chakra, five Vir Chakras, and four Sena medals, including you. Medals were rarely awarded those days, still so many were given. What happened after that?
Yadav: We got alerts. When my officer asked, I said Platoon No 8 had informed that the enemy had attacked. The enemy was trying to climb but the LMG of Hukam Chand (Vir Chakra) killed four. After 10 minutes, Platoon 7 informed me about the attack on them. I asked Surja Ram (Vir Chakra) how things were. He said they had taken their positions and that 400 people were trying to climb from 14,000 ft to 18,000 ft.
All the names of your comrades are written on the memorial here in Rewari. The list here says that 114 jawans killed 1,300 Chinese enemies that day.
Yadav: I saw that with my own eyes. Bodies were lying all around.
So when you knew that thousands of Chinese were coming, that they had artillery support while your artillery wouldn't reach you because of the huge mountain behind you, was it evident that you had to stay put?
Yadav: Yes, there was no going back then.
Did anyone think of saving their own lives, withdrawing? What did the Major tell you?
Yadav: The Major said if we have to withdraw, then do it. But the jawans and the JCOs said we will not leave Rezang La. We have the blessings of Lord Krishna. The Major said I am with you and I am a Yadav too, so what if my name is Bhati?
What happened next? Where were you and the Major when the fire came?
Yadav: I was at the command post with platoons on either side on the two-kilometre ridge. I was with the Major. After a while, a message came from Platoon No 8. Hari Ram (Vir Chakra) said the enemy was coming through the ridge, but we would kill them once they are in range. They repulsed that attack.
Many Chinese died. Did you see their bodies?
Yadav: Yes. They were lying scattered like berries in a market. They kept climbing up, and we were at our post. Two attacks were repulsed. Then, Platoon 7 was attacked. They didn't attack Platoon 9 even though it was at the front. Their plan was to isolate Platoon 9. But they didn't know that our commander had made arrangements so that no one could climb up.
So you had made a killing ground?
Yadav: Yes, the third and fourth attacks on Platoon 8 were also repulsed. Then they attacked with full force. That's when Surja Ram declared, Ramchander, now is the time when we will all fight out of our posts in the name of hand-to-hand combat. My communication with Platoon 7 stopped. Communication started with Platoon 8 when 14-15 yaks and around 700 Chinese took position on the ridge in between us and Platoon 8.
They came from behind?
Yadav: Yes, first we thought it was our battalion's Alpha Company that had come to help us. We thought the CO might have sent them for our help but when they started positioning their yaks and machine guns, then Havaldar Major Harphool Singh said this is the enemy. After that, the Major ordered for nine platoons to be sent from the headquarters. Since the enemy was going to attack Platoon 8, we would attack them from behind and they would be trapped between Platoon 8 and us and we would finish them.
