Themes of Glory

Author- Darshan Khullar

Publisher- Vij Books, Rs850 

The book makes a valuable addition to Indian Military. All military libraries in India and abroad would benefit from this immensely valuable work, writes lt Gen PC Katoch

This book is one of its own kind masterpieces that takes you through the wartime history of the Indian Artillery spanning some eight decades, and given the fact that the Regiment of Artillery is the second largest arm of the Indian Army. It is to the credit of the author, Brigadier DK Khullar, VSM, who conquered Everest in 1984, that he takes the reader through this incredible journey in just 200 odd pages with succulent metaphors of history, battles, courage, valour and glory.

The narratives of six field Generals, eight Gallantry Awardees, four Artillery Intensive Battles, 24 Battle Honours won and Vignettes of Valour have all been selected carefully and woven in a manner that covers the complete wartime saga of Indian Artillery from its raising to the current times. This by itself was not an easy task considering the huge galaxy of Gunner Generals, award winners that the Regiment of Artillery has to its credit, besides participating in numerous battles.

The six Field Generals covered in the book include General PP Kumaramanglam, lieutenant General KP Candeth, Major General Mohinder Sngh, lieutenant General Sartaj Singh, lieutenant General JFR Jacob and Major General lachman Singh lehl. While most military readers would have known, met or heard of these celebrated General, our civilian friends would know lieutenant General JFR Jacob better who was the Chief of Staff at HQ Eastern Command during the Indo-Pak War of 1971 and played a singular role in the formation of Bangladesh by flying to Dhaka on December 16, 1971 and obtaining unconditional surrender from lieutenant General AAK Niazi, then Governor of East Pakistan, which was later formalised through an official surrender ceremony by Pakistani troops, as well as formal signing of the surrender by lieutenant General AAK Niazi in presence of lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Eastern Army Commander, lieutenant General JFR Jacob and others.

Sagas of courage, daring and sacrifice of the eight Gallantry Award winners include the sole Victoria Cross winner of the Regiment of Artillery — Honorary Captain Umrao Singh, VC. In addition, seven winners of Maha Vir Chakra are covered in the book, three of them being posthumous recipients. These Maha Vir Chakra winners are Captain DD Mistri, Second lieutenant (later Major) SD Goswami, Major General SK Mathur, Major General Mohinder Singh, Brigadier KP Pande, Captain PK Gour and Captain Pratap Singh.

The four Artillery Intensive Battles covered in the book are Battle of Asal Uttar (1965), Battle of Poonch (1971), Battle of Basantar River (1971) and Kargil Conflict (1999), latter covering Battle of Tiger Hill and Battle of Point 4875 (called Gun Hill). The narrative of the Kargil Conflict in 1999 will be particularly enjoyed by readers at large because given the connectivity and media explosion, these battles could be viewed from the bedrooms of the public, who keenly watched the progress of these battles and could see the formidable height of Tiger Hill and Point 4875 devoid of any cover and how accurate artillery bombardment  facilitated their capture.

The 24 Battle Honours span the wartime history of some 58 years; from the Battle of AD Teclesan (March 1941) to Operation Vijay in Kargil (1999). This part of the book covers two battle honours won in 1941, three in 1942, two in 1945, one in 1948, one in 1962, three in 1965, eleven in 1971 and one in 1999. Vignettes of Valour cover the J&K Operations (1947-48), the Sino-Indian War of 1962, Indo-Pak War of 1965, and Indo-Pak War of 1971 both in the Eastern and Western Theatres.

Brigadier Khullar, a prolific and erudite writer has already authored five books: The Call of Everest; A Mountain of Happiness; When Generals Failed; Security, Peace and Honour; and, Pakistan our Difficult Neighbour and India’s Islamic Dimension. He has put in incredible amount of research in authoring this book. The four artillery intensive battles very lucidly bring out the tremendous contribution of Artillery in winning battles. The individual narratives make the reading all the more interesting. The accounts are contemporary and gripping, and the language used is simple that would keep both military and civilian readers equally engrossed.

The book makes a valuable addition to Indian Military and to the annals of the history of the Indian Artillery in particular. Brigadier Khullar is a celebrated Gunner and his love and commitment for the Regiment of Artillery is evident from authoring this book and the fact that royalty from this book will be going to the Regiment of Artillery Association Martyr’s Fund. Aside from interested individual readers, all military libraries at home and abroad would benefit from the immense value of this book.

lt Gen PC Katoch, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SC is former Special Forces officer and Colonel of The Parachute Regiment