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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dalvinder Singh Grewal" data-source="post: 225703" data-attributes="member: 22683">Amazing Bravery of Sikh platoons in Kargil War Colonel Dr. Dalvinder Singh Grewal 1925, Basant Avenue, Ludhiana, 919815366726Amazing bravery of 8 Sikh BattalionOn 14 May, 8 Sikh was tasked with recapturing Tiger Hill. The information received about enemy deployments was very scanty. It was news that only a few Mujahideen were in the upper heights. The attack began with an initial probing operation along the southern approach. Intense and observed fire, both direct and indirect, came from the enemy. Regardless of the shelling from the front, Subedar Joginder Singh and his platoon continued their march and successfully reached the base of the spur leading to the top of Tiger Hill. In this action, Subedar Joginder Singh, who along with Lance Naik Ranjit Singh led the retaliatory fire, made a great sacrifice. Subedar's breakthrough in the final capture of Tiger Hill proved to be crucial.From the amount of shelling of the enemy, there was no doubt that the number and strength of the enemy shelling was much more than expected and the enemy's hold on Tiger Hill was very strong. The hill complex includes Tiger Hill (Top), Eastern Spur, Western Spur, India Gate, Rocky Knob and Helmet.The army planned to isolate Tiger Hill before occupying it. This was achieved by 8 Sikh Sepoys Rashwinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh by 21 May to occupy prominent heights to neutralize enemy fire. With complete disregard for their personal safety, these brave men succeeded in capturing key targets for making foothold.Between 31 May and 2 July, the men and officers of this battalion continued to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy through both direct and indirect fire and moved forward to encircle the enemy. Each night, they would crawl through the snow, make a crawling trench and set up a new post—slowly but steadily moving toward the top. Unaware of the extremely harsh weather conditions with rain, and snowfall along with enemy firing every day, the brave soldiers dared to defeat their enemy and prepared for their final destination.For die-hard Sikhs, extreme weather and snowy heights did not matter. Subedar Nirmal Singh, Naib Subedar Karnail Singh and Naib Subedar Ravel Singh laid a firm foundation. Lt. RK Sehrawat was to coordinate the attack by three teams. By midnight, all three teams were adequately prepared to capture India Gate, Helmet and Rocky Knob. As soon as Bole so Nihal was shouted, the chants of Sat Sri Akal resounded and the Sikh warriors advanced. From there, the enemy rained bullets. Heavy enemy shelling and direct firing began. A "fierce battle" ensued during which the bunkers were cleared one by one. By 4 a.m. the India Gate had been reached and in view of the violent retaliatory action from the enemy, all preparations were made to thwart any attack.In fact, two major attacks were foiled in which Pakistan's Major Iqbal and Captain Kamal Sher of 12 Nl were killed along with 30 others. Three JCOs - Sub Nirmal Singh and Karnail Singh and Naib Subedar Ravel Singh - and 18 jawans paid the supreme sacrifice. Besides Major Ravinder Singh and Lt. Sherawat among the wounded, the capture of Western Spur made it possible to capture the top of Tiger Hill on 7 July. The unit lost a total of 35 men. About 70 were injured - a huge cost. But with all due diligence, 8 Sikhs won Tiger Hill. This article will be incomplete without mentioning the amazing bravery of some of the 8 Sikh brave hearts.Subedar Nirmal Singh [ATTACH=full]23105[/ATTACH]Subedar Nirmal SinghSubedar Nirmal Singh joined the 8th Sikh in 1976. On July 4, 1999, he was among those seriously injured in a Pakistani counter-attack but retained command of his troops and was in wireless contact with the brigade commander (Brig MPs Bajwa) who continued to motivate him. Brigadier Bajwa said “8 Sikh jawans fought their way to the top but came under heavy fire from the Pakistanis who were well prepared. 8 Sikh soldiers had to retreat and hang on to the top. I gave them a pep talk on the radio and told them not to back down even an inch in the face of repeated Pakistani counter-attacks. With two officers wounded and three JCOs killed, Subedar Nirmal Singh was the only leader left and I told him that he had to ensure that the honour bestowed upon the Sikhs by the Dasmesh Pita (Guru Gobind Singh) was preserved. Honour should not be allowed to diminish”.Subedar Nirmal Singh led his stalwart men in heavy hand-to-hand combat to repel the Pakistani attacks, despite being seriously injured and eventually succumbing to a gunshot wound to his head. “Before he was killed by a direct shot at the head, Subedar Sahib asked us to shout 'Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal' and send message to the attacking enemy and the officer leading them”. Havildar Satnam Singh said.Havildar Satpal Singh[ATTACH=full]23104[/ATTACH]Havildar Satpal Singh was a brave soldier of 8 Sikh who killed Captain Karnal Sher Khan and others in a hand-to-hand fight. According to Satpal Singh, on July 6, 1999; their first task was to reach India Gate, which would help conquer Tiger Hill. Satpal Singh, whose father Ajaib Singh was martyred fighting in the border of Ferozepur in 1971, considered himself a very responsible soldier, said: "8 Sikh Regiment was tasked to occupy the left bank of Tiger Hill and form the base for the attack on Tiger Hill. They sent up their small platoon consisting of two officers, four JCOs and 46 men. On 4th July 1999, the Ghatak platoon started climbing after reciting Japuji Sahib and Ardas (saying prayer). Their target was to reach the India Gate and take possession of it so that an easy way for them to climb the Tiger Hill can be made and the Tiger Hill can be liberated from the Pakistani army.”He further said that ‘on the morning of 5th July, they attacked the India Gate by raising the slogan of 'Bole So Nihal'. Some Pakistani soldiers were killed but some escaped. On the second day on 6th July, those Pakistani soldiers attacked again in very large number but the Sikh soldiers bravely repulsed the advancing Pakistani soldiers twice while raising Bole so Nihal slogans. Pakistan commander was Captain Karnal Sher Khan who having again assembled his troops, attacked us for the third time, but we gave him such a blow killing Captain Sher Khan himself’.Captain Sher Khan was in a track suit. At that time, we didn't know that he was an officer. We had a five-minute fight with him and there was a lot of swearing. He kept cursing us. I opened fire on him and injured him. He then collapsed and within seconds I fired another shot but he too fired at me before he collapsed and died. I received four rounds of AK 47 fire from Captain Sher Khan which hit my right leg, stomach, left hand and left shoulder. I still controlled myself and fired. By then Pakistanis had either been killed by other soldiers or have escaped, I was evacuated to the Battalion Headquarters where I was given the first treatment and then evacuated to the Army hospital, where I was saved from the clutches of death from serious injuries. Captain Karnal Sher Singh was honoured with the highest award of Pakistan on the basis of Brig Bajwa’s chit and I got Vr.C.”Bravery of 14 Sikh BattalionHaving completed their task in the high traditions of the Sikh Regiment, it was the turn of the 14 Sikhs of the Sikh Battalion to teach the enemy another lesson.On 27 May the battalion was airlifted to Leh. An advance party led by Major Rohit Sehgal had already been sent to Channigund to prevent enemy incursions into Kasar area. This party occupied a defensive position to prevent any further incursions into the sensitive Batalik sector and provided a strong base for offensive operations.On 27th May, the enemy opened effective and rapid fire on this defensive position. To neutralize the enemy's shelling, Sepoy Buta Singh, showing exemplary courage and bravery, deployed the medium machine gun at an effective position and opened effective fire on the enemy for about four hours. The enemy concentrated their fire to neutralize this effective fire. Sepoy Buta Singh, despite being hit by enemy small arms fire, continued to fire his MMG till he breathed his last and prevented the enemy from capturing the company's protected area.On June 7, 14 Sikhs were assigned the responsibility of Chorbatla. It advanced along the Line of Control towards the Commanding Heights and captured it. Soon after reaching Leh, 14 Sikhs dispatched a company column to Chorbatla to reinforce the lightly held position there. The company proceeded to Hanuthang and Handenbroek, covering a distance of 22 km at an altitude of over 15,000 feet. This was a feat in itself and showed the physical and mental fortitude of the brave Sikh soldiers.Enemy activity in the sector was somewhat light. Naib Subedar Jasbir Singh established a section post at point 5620 (about 19,000 feet) in an exemplary effort. His venture secured the eastern part of Chorbatla. After this the enemy was completely overwhelmed. Thus 14 Sikh too showed exemplary courage and determination and held the ground at crucial moments.Similarly, other regiments of Punjab also showed bravery in the war, the details of which have not been given for fear of making this article long.</blockquote>

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