Defence Diary

Company commander captain Halam of 4 Frontier of Pakistani Army was killed by naik Talyalkar of my company.

A unity note from the war of 1971

An anecdote from the 1971 war,by Col (Retd) Sambhaji Patil: Our battalion,22 Maratha Light Infantry (MLI) was deployed in the Hilli sector of Dinajpur District in West Bengal. It was 25-26 November and the war was yet to be declared officially. We were very much aware of the tremendous damage,one of our sister battalions deployed earlier in the same area,had suffered after the attack was repulsed by Pakistan. Subsequently on December 3,1971,war was declared and we were given the same objective as the earlier battalion,capture Durra and Bara Chengram before the early morning of December 10 to facilitate the advance of the division on the Hilli- Rangpur access. Then a major,I was commanding the D company of 22 MLI that which was composed of 50 per cent Marathas and 50 per cent Deccani Muslims. As a company commander,I was tasked to carry out night silent attack by infiltration to capture Durra. Followed by 130 men,we infiltrated and went deep into the enemy lines attacking Durra from rear-hood. With a war cry- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai,we captured eight stubborn Pakistani soldiers along with ammunition,operational maps and weapons. Company commander captain Halam of 4 Frontier of Pakistani Army was killed by naik Talyalkar of my company. After we caught Havaldar Major Sondha Khan,the seniormost chap of the company,I called him by name to which he asked,How do you know my name? I said,I have 50 per cent Deccani Muslims in my company. He said,So how is it that your war cry is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai? I said,That’s called unity. My paltan got theatre honour for their courage.

Antony visits Command desert sector

Union Defence Minister A K Antony visited the desert sector of the Southern Army Command on May 2. He was received by Lt Gen A K Singh,GOC-in-C,Southern Command and Lt Gen Narendra Singh,GOC,Konark Corps. The defence minister was accompanied by General V K Singh,Chief of Army Staff and Pradeep Kumar,defence secretary. A detailed briefing on operational aspects was given to him by GOC-in-C. The need for enhancing infrastructure at key Military Stations and forward locations was stressed upon for enhancing the operational and fighting efficiency of fighting units. The defence minister interacted with jawans,JCOs and officers during a Barakhana,said a press release issued by the Press Information Bureau of the Ministry of Defence.

Sub Maj Nangre Patil passes away

Subedar major (hon capt) Shivram Nangre Patil of the Bombay Sappers passed away of old age at his residence in Bibvewadi. He was 99. Patil joined the Bombay Engineering Group the year 1934. During his military career spread over 32 years,Nangre- Patil was posted in Afghanistan,Nepal,Kashmir and England by the British Army. He was also involved in the operations during second world war.Even after retirement,he was closely associated with the Vidyarthi Sahayak Samitee. He was decorated with eight honours that included the military cross,General Service Medal 1947 with clasp J&K and Raksha medal. He leaves behind two sons and their families.

Humour in uniform,OTA style

An ex-major remembers during his days at the Officer’s Training Academy (OTA) in late 80’s. We were doing a map reading exercise. A gentleman cadet,I was supposed to identify my location to my platoon commander. Coordinates,landmarks,prominent signs- nothing worked. Finally,irritated,I asked him,can you see the moon? He said yes. I said I am exactly under it. In my course,this incident was something we laughed over again and again, says the officer.

Compiled by Pranav Kulkarni

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