Commandos behind enemy lines 211/30/2022 ![]() ![]() The higher commanders decided to task the Commandos to neutralise at least one fire unit (a battery of six guns). Pakistan’s heavy concentration of artillery was having an effect on the battle. Moving in stealthily at 8 pm, they swiftly killed all the three occupants of the position with shots from silenced carbines. 8 Team (what the Commandos called their platoons) who were given this task, spent the whole of 6th December observing the post. Malhotra having succeeded in keeping his command concentrated requested for some commando tasks.Ĭharlie Group was then asked to capture Madarpur post to plug a suspected infiltration route. Naik Yashwant Singh and Second Lieutenant Ashok Tasker were awarded the Vir Chakra and Sena Medal, respectively. Having been located, the enemy were routed by reinforcements from the 33 Infantry Brigade. They proved this to the sceptical brigade staff by producing forty bloodstained right-foot boots before them! A short sharp action saw the Paras killing forty of the enemy. Patrols sent to investigate found an enemy battalion along with elements of their Special Services Group (SSG) ensconced there having successfully infiltrated. ![]() From their encampment, the Commandos noticed unusual movement high above them on Nagali Ridge. He tried his best, sometimes unsuccessfully to prevent the deployment of his highly-trained troops on routine infantry tasks. Major Chander Malhotra, commanding the Group, was a forceful personality and an outstanding leader. The staff at 93 Brigade headquarters tried to reinforce the hard-pressed defences on the cease-fire line with the Para Commandos, the only troops at hand. The Pakistanis struck on the intervening night of December 3 and 4. Capturing Poonch would provide depth to their Haji Pir defences as well as ready-made infiltration routes into the Kashmir Valley.Īlso Read | How the Marathas mastered Israeli mortars in 1971 For this Major General Akbar Khan commanding the 12th Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir Division was provided with an additional two brigades in a strike role supported by no less than sixteen batteries of artillery. In conjunction with the offensive in Chhamb Pakistan had planned to capture Poonch through infiltration and domination of ridges in the Indian rear. ![]() Charlie Group under Major Chander Malhotra found itself at Poonch. ![]() Bravo Group took part in the wringing of the Chicken’s Neck in the Jammu sector. Overcoming its birth pangs, 9 Para Commando was poised to prove itself in 1971.Īlfa Group (what sub-units were called in the special forces) was deployed in Chhamb where it played a significant role in the defence of the vital bridge over the Munnawar Tawi. Besides a high physical profile, the unit trained in infiltration, operating behind enemy lines, living off the land and high-altitude warfare. A visit by the Western Army Commander, Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh and his intervention mercifully brought about special enhanced scales of food for the commandos. Long forced marches with heavy loads at regular intervals meant that the troops were losing weight. This meant that the commandos were on the same ration scales as conventional troops. The Army had little experience with special forces. It specialised in mountain warfare and was based permanently in Jammu and Kashmir. As a result of the lessons learnt in 1965, 9 Para Commando was raised under Megh Singh’s command in 1966. ![]()
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