India-Pakistan border-VIII

1983-84     

 (LINE OF CONTROL on India-Pakistan Border)

(This is a continuation to the conversation set between me (S.G) and my nanu (grandfather),a former brigadier, (Y.R).This initiative was taken so that people know about the incidents that have taken place in the army unfiltered by the media.RAW

BAKARWAL

Monday,June 2020

Y.R-

    On the first day, they covered a distance of about 5 kms & rested for the night at a suitable place. Next day, they covered a little more distance; of 8 kms, & again stayed at a suitable place on the second night.   On the same night, it started snowing , which continued on the next day too. Therefore, they could not cover much distance & , after covering a distance of about 4 kms, they found an abandoned BAKARWAL’s( local shepherds’) hut & halted there for the better part of the after noon & the third night.  All this while, we were in touch with each other through the Radio Set & , though slightly worried about the slow progress of their speed yet, we were happy to note that all the members of the Patrol were hale & hearty.

Y.R-

    On the fourth day too, the snowfall & blizzards continued. The Patrol Leader reported that moving forward  was risky. However, out of a total of 7 days that were given to this Patrol to complete their task, three days had already gone past & they had not reached even half of the total distance. I then consulted my Adjutant, the Quartermaster, the Subedar Major & the IN CHARGE REAR PARTY & made a plan that we need to help out this Patrol by physically linking up with it, by carrying & delivering some more vital items, like batteries for the Radio Sets, some food items etc; to them.

Y.R-

    So, I decided to launch two Patrols simultaneously, one each from Leepa Valley & from our REAR AREA on the next morning, if this Patrol was unable to recommence its journey by that evening or early next morning. The Patrol from our REAR AREA was to be lead by the INCHARGE REAR AREA himself, (since there was no other officer available there & hence there was no other option) & I decided to lead the Patrol from LeepaValley myself. Although, all the four Company Commanders, the Adjutant & the Quarter Master, all of whom were younger than me by 10-12 years & therefore physically fitter than me; spoke to me & volunteered to lead the planned Patrol from Leepa Valley, but I had firmly decided in my own mind that I shall do it myself, instead of allowing any other officer to do so. My reasons for insisting on leading this planned Patrol were (a) I wanted to prove to everyone in my PALTAN as well as to myself  that I was as physically fit as anyone else & (b) the fact that I would be leading the Patrol myself, to link up with our stranded Patrol near BAKARWAL’s HUT, would put pressure on the Patrol Leader of our stranded Patrol to push forward with renewed vigor & achieve its mission within the given time frame of one week. 

Y.R-

    While all this planning was being done, the personnel who were to be part of it, were being selected, equipped with appropriate weapons, equipment, rations & other items needed for about one week. I nominated one young officer ( a Lieutenant who was just about 20-21 years old) & one J.C.O. ( a Naib Subedar who was about 37-38 years old) & gave them the freedom of selecting the rest of the members of the Patrol; between 10 to 12 Jawans.

The whole night, the Adjutant kept getting information from the stuck Patrol on the Radio Set( I had instructed  him to do so, inform me immediately if he felt that I ought to be informed about any untoward happening; & to give me the entire gist in the morning if all was normal. Luckily, nothing abnormal happened at night, by morning the Weather Gods were apparently pleased & the snowfall as well as the blizzards stopped. When my Patrol & I were just about to start on our mission, good news came from the stuck Patrol that they too were planning to recommence their journey in view of the improved weather. On receipt of this news, we informed our INCHARGE REAR AREA not to start from there & I too decided to wait for some more time. However, from both the ends we were keeping ourselves in readiness to start at short notice, in case that Patrol got stuck again. However, they kept proceeding further & further on their mission & covered more than 8 kms on that day. By now, five days had gone & the Patrol had covered almost 25 kms, which was almost 75% of the total distance that they were supposed to do in seven days. I felt that perhaps we may not have to launch these two Patrols at all, after all. So, we decided to hold our horses for the next night, in order to watch the progress of that Patrol on the sixth day.

Tuesday,June 2020

Y.R-

    On the sixth day, the weather was clear & , therefore, the stuck Patrol continued its journey. Let me tell you something about how a Patrol moves forward- it is not  anything  like marching on a road or on plain surface. It is, in fact, a TACTICAL move; i.e. the Patrol has to move forward not in a single line one after the other but in a manner that its members have to look in all directions including towards the sky, even while moving;  have to have their weapons in a Ready-to-fire position, investigate anything suspicious coming their way, search all the BAKARWAL huts on their way & still maintain reasonably good speed. Even when they halt for a meal, they do not sit together in bunches but in a manner that they can still keep an eye all around them. 

On that day, they covered a distance of 6 kms & only a distance of another 4-5 kms was left for the last day. However, on the next day the weather took a turn for the worse. It started snowing mixed with rain, which became something like sleet, & made the walking  slippery & difficult. They were now going down the hill & had to walk very very carefully lest someone slipped & sustained injuries/ sprains.  Finally, they made it to our REAR AREA by late afternoon & their mission was successfully accomplished.

RADHA POST

Y.R-

    They were received by the INCHARGE REAR AREA & were give hot coffee/ tea ( THAMBEES prefer coffee), were shown their shelter where they were to spend the next 48 hours, arrangements had been made for their hot water baths, fairly lavish hot dinner & good night’s rest.  They spent the next 48 hours there & then on the 8th evening started for their return journey to Leepa Valley. They came upto RADHA POST in vehicles & walked from there over TUTMARI GALI PASS on to KAIYAN BOWL in the same manner as I had done about two weeks back when I had returned from my short leave. After reaching at my Headquarter, they were made comfortable & told to have their bath , breakfast & some rest and to reassemble there at 1.30 PM for DEBRIEFING.

Soon after arrival at KAIYAN  BOWL, a thorough physical check was carried out of their weapons, ammunition & equipment etc to make sure that nothing had been lost or damaged , nobody had sustained any injury and all of them were hale & hearty. 

Y.R-

    De-briefing is a process or an activity which is exactly the opposite of BRIEFING. The Briefing is done before any Patrol sets out on its mission when all the members of a Patrol are assembled at a suitable place where maps & drawings; & if possible sand models; are made available to the Patrol Leader as well as to all the members of his Patrol. Here, they are oriented & made familiar with the area over which they are to operate during their mission & a thorough briefing is done by a senior officer to explain every minor detail of their mission/ task, the route that they are to follow, the time & place of departure, the weapons, other military equipment like Radio sets/ batteries etc, the ammunition, rations & snow clothing etc that is to be carried along; the method & timings of inter communication between them & the Base and every one is encouraged to clarify his doubts, if any. The place & time of testing of their weapons is told to them & before dispersing them each & every member is asked if he is clear about his as well as of their Patrol’s tasks. In the DE-BRIEFING, after checking that all those who had gone for the Patrolling were present, the same officer who had Briefed them, starts the process of De- briefing. The first person to speak & give a detailed account of their patrolling, is the Patrol Leader himself. He does it with the help of the same maps, drawings & sand model on which his Briefing was done. He gives a day-by-day & sequential account of his Patrol’s activities, confirms that his Patrol had achieved its mission successfully & gives out details of the terrain so that our own maps can be corrected. After the Payril Leader finishes speaking, all the members are encouraged to speak, if they have anything to say on any aspect. In this case too, the same process was followed & after the De- briefing, the Patrol Leader was asked to submit his written report to the De- briefing officer in a day or two. The Patrol was then dispersed &  all the members were asked to go back to their parent sub-units & start carrying out their routine military duties.