Military Digest: Regimental Medical Officers and their saga of bravery

In the post Independence era, there have been numerous gallantry awards which have been awarded to medical personnel for their bravery. This includes Ashoka Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Sena Medal, Vayu Sena Medal, Nau Sena Medal among others.

The recent recipient of Vir Chakra posthumously Naik Deepak Singh of AMC, who was attached to an infantry battalion as a nursing assistant, for his bravery in tending to injured troops during the Galwan clash with Chinese troops in 2020 serves as an example. It was also in Ladakh in 1962 that Sepoy Dharampal Dahiya, another nursing assistant attached to 14 Kumaon, was awarded Vir Chakra posthumously for bravery on the battlefield. His frozen dead body was found months later in the trenches with a syringe in his hand.

The memory of Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, who was also awarded Ashoka Chakra posthumously for showing bravery in the suicide terror attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2010, is still fresh. The brave medical officer confronted a suicide bomber and forced him to detonate his bomb saving the lives of others in the embassy. The award of Maha Vir Chakra to Lt Col A G Rangaraj of 60 Parachute Field Ambulance and Vir Chakra to members of the same unit while deployed in Korea is also well documented.

Squadron Leader (later Group Captain) Hari Nath Chaturvedi, who served in the medical branch of the Indian Air Force (IAF), is one of the highest decorated medical officers who received the Kirti Chakra and Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry). He was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal for pioneering efforts in the paramedical pool of the IAF.

His citation says that in order to render emergency medical aid by para trooping to marooned aircrew at inaccessible heights, he made a unique parachute descent in the treacherous snow-bound areas of the Kashmir Valley. This was followed by a 72 hour-survival exercise to gain first-hand knowledge of the utility, adequacy, and shortcomings of present-day aircrew clothing and personal survival packs, carried by our aircrew. It was mainly due to the efforts, guidance, and risk undertaken by Squadron Leader Chaturvedi that the exercise contributed significantly to the acquisition of unique snow survival knowledge for the IAF.

Before Independence too, medical officers, particularly RMOs, have been awarded many gallantry awards, including the Victoria Cross (only British recipients), the highest gallantry award of the British, and the Military Cross.

Lieutenant (later Lt Colonel) Codanda Madiah Ganapathy of the Indian Medical Service was awarded the Military Cross in World War I for saving the lives of injured troops under fire while serving as RMO of 101st Grenadiers in Palestine. Similarly, Captain (later Brigadier) Kitianda Ganapthy was awarded the Military Cross in World War II in Italy while serving as RMO with 2/3 Gurkha Rifles.

British RMOs were awarded numerous Victoria Crosses in 1857 while serving with British regiments in Delhi and Lucknow. As many as nine British RMOs were awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I, and a nursing orderly attached to 45 Commando Royal Marines, Lance Corporal Henry Harden, was posthumously awarded the medal in World War II for repeatedly evacuating casualties under fire. He was killed in his third attempt.

Captain Anshuman Singh’s gallantry as RMO of a Punjab Regiment battalion will not be forgotten and will be added to the annals of the bravery of AMC.