 Officers of 1 SIKH LI celebrate atop a captured bunker
While A Company was going in, elements of B Company and D Company under Capt TALWAR and Lt TIRATH SINGH respectively entered the village and shot up enemy that tried to hide in houses. TALWAR had a narrow escape when an enemy hiding up a tree threw a grenade at his feet. He got away with a bit of shrapnel in his eye and a bruised face.
When we took stock, we found we had lost 13 killed and had 36 wounded. We captured 9 prisoners, including the enemy CHM and some enemy dead. We also took a mounted RCL gun, two mounted MMGs, four LMG (BARs), the enemy `F' echelon vehicle with trailer filled to the brim, nine .30 calbre semi automatic rifles, some stens and a whole load of ammunition of various types. Also some documents.
Our tanks and re-org stores came in at first light. This was shortly after followed by the enemy Air OP and he was closely followed by enemy medium artillery fire. To give the devil his due I must say that the enemy Air OP was a very brave and resolute officer. He ignored the fire that came at him from stens, rifles, LMGs, MMGs and tank MMGs and skimmed around doing figures of eight and generally having a close look at us. I heard that he was shot down by one of our GNATs a week later. We all admired this man's audacity - our Air OP made his debut the morning after the cease-fire!
We received a lot of shelling that day and it continued without abate for 7 days. The astonishing thing was that during these seven days of intense shelling not a soul received even a scratch; digging saved us.
We were counter attacked on the first night i.e. 8/9 Sep. I was called to a conference to be held at the battalion holding the right flank. As the shelling increased the venue of the conference shifted about 6 miles back! In the end neither the other CO nor I could go to the conference and I unfortunately could not get back to the battalion. The enemy counter attacked both battalion defended areas simultaneously.
Our area was attacked by a squadron of armour. MUDHOLKAR did a very fine job that night and was very ably assisted in his task by the gunner Major CHOPRA. With incomplete defences (no mines and wire were as yet laid) the Battalion put up a magnificent show. In clear moonlight tanks came as close as 500 yards from the FDLs. The medium artillery was elsewhere engaged and so only field artillery was used. The guns laid a curtain of fire in front of the tanks and checked every move made by them. The RCL guns were for some reason unfortunately not available that night and I feel the enemy thought we had something up our sleeve when we did not open fire with the RCL guns. To give you an idea of artillery support we received that night - each gun fired 500 rounds. Our own mortars also plastered them till they were blinded by the dust. We lost one man shot through the neck by an MMG.
On the morning of 9 Sep, when our RCL guns were moving up, the leading detachment were all severely wounded by fire from an enemy CHAFFE tank, one of a troop that attempted to block the axis. The second RCL gun with 4437693 Sep KARAM SINGH as gunner and 4435762 L/Nk GAJJAN SINGH as a loader closed with the enemy tank and destroyed it with their fourth shot. And so we also got a tank.
We were never really bothered by them after that. Their artillery of course took its toll - another 9 killed and 36 wounded.
We continued patrolling and ambushes, drew enemy fire and kept the ball in his court and in the process secured three out posts, 2000 to 4000 yards ahead and on the flanks of our defended area. Enemy aircraft strafed us thrice but with no effects.
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