COL SONAM WANGCHUK, MVC
 

Navreet Milton shares the trials and tribulations of a Ladhaki officer who led from the front in the Kargil war and brought the Indian Army the victory it deserved

He had promised his two year old son Riggyal Otbum that he would be back home soon for his birthday with a present of his choice. Instead, his duty in olives advanced him to a ridge at 18,000 feet. He led a column of Ladhak Scouts for occupation of the Chorbat La ridgeline on the LOC in a glaciated area.

“Though belonging to mountains of Ladhak who have been my best friends, this climb was no mean task”. says the dynamic mountaineer, Sonam.

He recalls the initial days of his mission when his platoon comprising of a JCO, and 28 men were told to establish an observation post on the line of control. Under his command a major infiltration attempt was foiled.

There was no time to mourn the death of his comrades during the operation, when the snow all around them would turn blood red all of a sudden and then the realization would dawn that they had lost one of their boys due to enemy shelling. “Day temperatures were minus six degree celsius while the mountain slopes were a steep 80 degrees which was a test for even the most skilled of mountaineers”, remembers Wangchuk. Information filtering in over wireless dispatches from the LOC describe how while leading a platoon of 36 young soldiers with artillery support from the rear gun positions, Wangchuk was able to negotiate an ice wall in the dead of the night on May 31.

That was when he heard sounds of picks and hammers on the other side of the ridge. He quickly flashed a wireless message to his Base. Wangchuk and his men made it to the ridge top in three hours under heavy fire by Pakistani troops. The mountains rang with the Ladhak Scouts war cry, Ki Ki So So Lhargyalo ( the gods will triumph), as the superbly fit Wangchuk – he was a top athlete at Delhi’s Modern School - led his men towards the well entrenched enemy.

From there, they spotted a group of intruders trying to scale the ridge from the Pakistan side. Wangchuk told his men to hold on till the enemy came within firing range and when they opened fire four intruders were killed in the gun battle. Wangchuk became a hero when, on May 31, he and his team of men from the Ladhak Scouts captured a key ridge bang on the LOC held by Pakistani soldiers. This 18, 000 feet high mountain ridge falls in the Chorbat La sub sector of the Batallik sector.

The soldiers then retrieved the bodies of the intruders who turned out to be Pakistani army regulars. Next day, Wangchuk led the charge to clear the adjoining heights and return to India the dominating positions that the intruders wanted so desperately to occupy. The Kargil war hero is full of admiration for the Ladhak Scouts soldiers and tells Salute that “they were particularly being used for the battle in Kargil because of their natural acclimatization to frigid cold desert of the war zone as their body was tuned to such environment”.

The son of a paramilitary soldier, Wangchuk is a very pious Buddhist and before going to the battle he and some of his men went to Dalai Lama, who was visiting Leh, to seek his blessings.

It was on 15th of August 1999 Sonam Wangchuk was decorated with the MAHA VIR CHAKRA for his heroic actions during the Kargil War.
 

COL AJIT SINGH, 22 GRENADIERS

Navreet Milton met one of the Kargil war veterans to learn about the story of valour and courage displayed by his team under most trying circumstances

Major Ajit was 50 meters short of the ridge line when his men came along a cliff face. Ajit could hear the enemy moving on the ridgeline and shortly machine guns opened fire upon his men. When Major Ajit asked for volunteers to scale the cliff, his men responded with alacrity, “sahib hum taiyar hai.” Complimenting the muslim troops of his company, Ajit shouted at the top of his voice the muslim war cry, “Narra- e Taqbir.” This stimulated an automatic response from his men, “Allah – O- Akbar.” Laughingly, (now a Col) he recounts, the war cry played a trick as the enemy stopped firing, perhaps they got confused. This enabled Ajit and his team of Lt SS Shekawat, Subedar Ayub Khan and 24 jawans to occupy a rocky knob of 25 meters on 1 July.

He could not believe that they were actually on the ridgeline. Even his Commanding officer listened to this achievement in disbelief. Col Ajit shares that before this, five companies had made attempts and were not successful. He was told by his CO to hold the feature for 48 hours till reinforcements reached up. “I was tense as I didn’t know how to manage with my very few men and little ammunition,” shares Col Ajit.

The enemy naturally launched a counter attack on the same day. Col Ajit quietly acknowledges the sacrifices of his men who fought bravely at the cost of their lives. He speaks highly of the strong dedication of GD Azim, who guarded a ledge for 48 hours and kept the enemy at bay despite being hit by a bullet in his helmet. There were times when there was no food and water and they survived on chocolates. He remembers Sepoy Amrit lal Meena who reached them carrying a bag full of puris - subsequently rationed to all his troops who had to survive on three puris. There were times when he felt helpless on seeing his men bleeding to death in front of him. This feeling of losing comrades is something that can’t be explained, says Col Ajit.

The morning of 3 July brought a ray of hope when Col Lalit Rai of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles with his nine men joined Major Ajit. A counter attack on the nearest sangar of the enemy was carried out.

Col Ajit narrates a close encounter (15 metres away) with the Pakistani company commander Major Sayeed asking the grenadiers to surrender, assuring good treatment. With presence of mind, Ajit replied, “we will not surrender, but you will surrender to us. Our 150 soldiers have surrounded your location.” This was actually was not true. After this there was a lull in the firing. Major Ajit picked up his rifle, that had only six rounds left (as did Col Rai and other soldiers). After a silent prayer, Col Rai, Major Ajit and their men opened fired on the enemy, killing a few and forcing the rest to pull back. Later it was found that Major Sayeed had been killed during this exchange. Section commanders, Naik Zakir Hussain and Lance Naik Abid Hussain (sniper) showed raw courage by crawling close to the enemy, effectively holding them back, and beating the counter attacks and were granted sena medals, posthumously.