Commending unsung heroes who shaped wars
One of the very well-known facts of military history is that many acts of high bravery, valour, and self-sacrifice during wars go unmentioned, unrecorded, and unrewarded. The chaos of battle often means that witnesses to heroic acts do not survive, or that administrative systems fail to capture and process commendations in the aftermath.
In large-scale combat, official documentation is often overlooked or impossible to complete. Quite frequently, acts of extraordinary courage are performed by individuals who then die, leaving no one to testify to their actions, or the immediate chain of command is lost. Also often, the bureaucratic process of proposing, reviewing, and approving gallantry awards results in unfairness, where some acts are forgotten or overruled while others are approved. Many soldiers, particularly in support roles, display immense courage that is never formally documented because it is not seen as “above and beyond” by distant commanders. Often, citations are sent before the full extent of a soldier’s actions is known, leading to lesser or no awards for later acts of bravery.
Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh (Retd), former GOC-in-C, Southern Command, and Rajan Arya, who owns Pentagon Press and has published many books on military, strategic, and geopolitical affairs, co-authored this book with poignant and inspiring accounts of eighteen unsung heroes.
The first narrative is about Major Onkar Singh Kalkat, the Brigade Major at Bannu in the North West Frontier Province soon after Partition in 1947, when he came across the top-secret plan issued on August 20, 1947, for Operation Gulmarg, involving the invasion of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir in October 1947, very soon after the very bloody Partition planned well in advance by the British. Kalkat was shocked but decided to act normally, and in the dead of the night he and four Sikh soldiers who were posted there dressed as ordinary villagers and made their way to Delhi to forewarn the Indian Army hierarchy. Following Partition in August 1947, both Indian and Pakistani armies were initially commanded by British officers. Many British officers in Pakistan’s high command were supportive of Pakistan, resulting in some intelligence about Indian forces being passed on to Pakistan prior to and during the first India-Pakistan War in 1947-48.
Colonel Narendra ‘Bull’ Kumar, an outstanding mountaineer, is another legendary figure who, while he was the Commandant of the High-Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg, discovered that Pakistan was sponsoring mountaineering expeditions in the Siachen area. He then led an expedition to the Saltoro Ridge to gather evidence, photographed climbing activity organised by Pakistan, and then his team prepared accurate Indian maps at altitudes between 16,000 to 20,000 feet, where breathing is difficult. During his expedition in 1983, he gathered irrefutable evidence of Pakistan’s plan to occupy Siachen by stealth. His efforts led to the Indian Army occupying the Glacier in April 1984.
Another legendary story is that of Baba Harbhajan Singh, a soldier of 23 Punjab, who died while out on patrol in Sikkim in October 1968. He fell into a rivulet and was swept away. His comrades searched for him for three days but could not find him. On the third night, he appeared in the dream of his colleague, Pritam Singh, and told him the specific spot where his body lay under the snow. Today his mandir (temple) is a three-room structure; his bed is made, shoes polished, and uniform neatly pressed. All personnel posted in that area seek the blessings of this guardian.
Zafar-4 is the tale of an Indian spy in Pakistan during the 1971 war. He put his life at stake, shunned the limelight, but carried on the dangerous work of spying silently, with the threat of torture and death constantly on his mind. He believed in doing what he did without flinching, even though it is the kind of duty that never gets acknowledged, let alone rewarded.
Major Ashok Tara of 14 GUARDS was instrumental in saving the lives of the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman when they were under house arrest in December 1971. The ‘right man for an impossible task’. When we speak of the 1971 War, we should also remember the scene in the house in Dhanmondi: a frightened family, a group of defeated soldiers, and an Indian Major saying it’s over, come out, you are safe.
There are many more stories, including that of Captain Anuj Nayyar, who was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra in the Kargil War. Brigadier Navin Kumar Maini rose to the occasion on the night of December 2, 1971 and saved many lives during the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Badlu Ram, whose name has been immortalised by the Assam Regiment. The ghost of Lansdowne is another remarkable anecdote that revolves around the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre.
While fifteen of these accounts are of military personnel, including one lady army officer, three are of animals — a mule named Pedongi, a dog named Mansi, and a Himalayan Mountain bear named Bahadur. Mules are used by the army’s animal transport units in high-altitude areas for carrying food supplies, rations, weapons, ammunition, and construction material. Dogs of the dog units are very good at detecting explosives, narcotics, and mines, tracking militants, guarding installations, and conducting search and rescue operations, particularly in difficult terrain like avalanche-prone zones. They are also used as “silent warriors” for surveillance, infantry patrolling, and direct assault in high-risk missions. Bahadur is the story of a bear who bonded very well with the soldiers and became a source of joy for them.
As the Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, wrote in his foreword, “courage is often spoken about in moments of triumph, yet its truest expression is revealed in silence — when duty demands action without promise of recognition, when fear must be mastered without witness, and when duty continues despite personal cost”. The book is most inspiring and informative.
The book reviewer is a VSM (Retd), a strategic affairs analyst and former spokesperson, Defence Ministry and Indian Army; Views presented are personal.