We had an accident while out on an ambush, on the night 30 Sep/01Oct 65. The total casualties to date are as follows:
| | Wounded | Killed | | Officers | 2 | - | | JCOs | 3 | 1 | | ORs | 70 | 24 |
We have since received our first reinforcement from the Centre.
I have submitted citations for the following decorations:
| Maha Vir Chakra | 1 (JCO) | | Vir Chakra | 6 (3 officers including RMO, 1 JCO and 2 OR) | | Sena Medals | 6 (2 officers, 2 JCOs and 2 OR) | | Mention - in - Dispatches | 1 (OR) |
They are all deserving cases and I do hope the awards materialise. The Battalion has earned a very good name but memories are short and decorations speak for themselves. I do hope and pray that we are as fortunate in the matter of receiving them as we were in accomplishing the task set us.
It has been a very rewarding experience and I am proud of the Battalion, as I am sure the Regiment must be.
As a tailpiece I must recount an incident that took place a few days ago. During a flag meeting with the enemy to settle some minor incident a PAKISTANI Hav was bursting to tell how he got away from us. As C Company charged on to their objective, of those of the enemy who were not killed or who had not already run away, a few who had hidden in the scrub jumped up and joined in the charge, shouting `SAT SRI AKAL' over and over again as the troops did, till they were swallowed up in the darkness and managed to get away. This is yet another way to stay on the position and still evade capture! They had the last laugh on C Company who can of course afford to laugh about it too. Our objective was held by C Company 19 PUNJAB of the PAKISTAN Army. The RCL guns and MMGs were from the Frontier Force Regiment.
I received a letter from His Highness on the 13th Sep in which he enclosed a telegram that he had sent to the PRESIDENT offering his services to the Nation and requesting to be attached to any of our Battalions in a forward location. He mentioned to me that he would like to join us. I passed the word around the Battalion and we were all very heartened and thrilled at this splendid gesture. We are very honoured, and I was personally delighted at the prospect, but in view of the prevailing situation I advised against his proposal. We all appreciate the fact that he was as keen to be with us in war as he is during peace.
This has been a very lengthy and rather rambling account of our recent doings. I hope it conveys in some measure the task assigned us and how we tackled it.
We started off as a very raw bunch - not more than perhaps a dozen of us ever having had a shell landing closer than 1000 yards or a bullet any nearer than is permitted during training, but 16 days of what can honestly be described as a period of intense war has certainly separated the men from the boys!
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