Military Digest: Army honours 1971 war hero Col Gurjeet Singh Bajwa, names auditorium after him in Jaisalmer

The Battle of BP 638 is often clubbed together with the Battle of Laungewala though this was an entirely different action which was fought by 13 Kumaon of Rezang La fame. Unfortunately, the fame of the Battle of Laungewala has overshadowed the Battle of BP 638 in military narratives. Even the official statement of Southern Command on social media platform X failed to make the distinction between the two.

Colonel Bajwa was the Forward Observation Officer (FOO) with 13 Kumaon. A young second lieutenant at the time, having been commissioned through the Short Service Commission just a year earlier, he was posted with the 168 Field Regiment. The regiment had been deployed in support of the Laungewala post along with a battery of 170 Field Regiment.

The citation of the award of Vir Chakra to Col Bajwa says, “On the 9th December, 1971, Second Lieutenant Gurjeet Singh Bajwa was the Forward Observation Officer attached to a Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment in the attack on an enemy Border post in the Rajasthan sector. During the attack, the enemy subjected our troops to sustained and accurate fire from automatic weapons inflicting heavy casualties. With complete disregard to his personal safety and unmindful of the heavy small arms fire and shelling, Second Lieutenant Gurjeet Singh Bajwa continued to bring down accurate artillery fire on the enemy locality thereby contributing to the success of the operations.”

Colonel Bajwa went on to qualify as a helicopter pilot and flew extensively with the Air OP, as the Army Aviation Corps was known then, and received a Shaurya Chakra for an audacious mission rescuing an injured mountaineer from the Zanskar range.

Battle of BP 638

This little-known battle involved chasing the retreating Pakistanis in the Jaisalmer sector. 13 Kumaon was initially deployed near Mokal, northwest of Jaisalmer. HQs 12 Infantry Division was responsible for the defence of the Jaisalmer area and there were plans to launch an offensive with 13 Kumaon and an armoured regiment as the advance guard of the 30 Infantry Brigade.

Well-known historian of the Kumaon Regiment, Colonel N N Bhatia (retd), has written a detailed account of this battle. He writes that on the night of December 4/5, 1971, the battalion was concentrating in Ramgarh when the news of the attack on Laungewala came. 30 Infantry Brigade was given the fresh task of evicting the enemy.

As the Pakistani offensive petered out in Laungewala and they started withdrawing, 13 Kumaon, supported by 6 Independent Armoured Squadron, was tasked to pursue the withdrawing enemy. They marched 17 km into Pakistani territory and that involved clearing the enemy from the BP 638, writes Col Bhatia.

The Kumaonis faced heavy firing from three companies of two Pakistani battalions – 1 Punjab and 10 Punjab – which were ranged against them. However, ably supported by the tanks of the 6 (I) Armoured Squadron, 13 Kumaon was able to rout the enemy.

Lt Col (later Brigadier) R V Jatar (Raghu) was the commanding officer (CO) of the battalion in this operation. The retreating Pakistanis left a large number of their dead behind, who were buried by the Kumaonis.

Major D S Shekhawat OC ‘D’ Company of 13 Kumaon and Havildar Laxmi Narain RCL detachment commander received Sena Medals while the CO and three other ranks of the battalion received Mention in Despatches.

Colonel Bhatia writes, “With 41 casualties and couple of Sena Medals, the awards were too less for too big an operation. It is not understood that while assaulting company commander (Shekhawat) was awarded the Sena Medal, who though being wounded, accomplished his task, the FOO Capt Bajwa attached with Shekhu’s company earned the Vir Chakra. ‘The Battle of BP 638’ was overshadowed by much hype that was created over ‘The Battle of Longewala’ fought a few days earlier”.