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GAURAV C SAWANT
DRASS, JULY 16: It was the morning of May 15 when the Sikhs were told to recover Tiger Hills, the most dominating hill overlooking the Srinagar-Leh highway at Drass. The intelligence input was zero.
They were told that only a few infiltrators were defending the hills and they had to be evicted. Two months later, the brave `Tigers' of 8 Sikh sit in their camp at Pandrass, victorious but grappling with wounds.
In the operation to recover Tiger Hills, and later defend it, they lost 34 brave soldiers. Sixty were injured. The soldiers of 8 Sikh and 18 Grenadiers came down on Wednesday from Tiger Hills and recounted the operation, blow-by-blow.
With little intelligence back-up, two Companies of Sikh Regiment, comprising 250 men, launched the first assault. They tried to climb from the sole ridgeline. The enemy machine-gun beat back the assault. ``But we are the Singhs -- the lionhearted. We tried to climb but the enemy sitting at a strategic height simply rolled down heavy rocks and boulders,'' SukhvinderSingh, one of the injured soldiers, said today.
Subsequently, all the assaults launched to recover Tiger Hills failed. The casualties were mounting.``It was very humiliating to see Pakistani soldiers smirking and laughing at us, taunting us as they hurled down the rocks,'' Singh said.
In the third week of May, orders were passed to surround Tiger Hills. Reconnaissance parties were sent out in the last week of May to gather intelligence.
The D-day arrived. The entire operation was being held under the command of Brig M P S Bajwa, commander of 192 Mountain Brigade. Tension was palpable in Drass on July 3 afternoon. It had been 49 days since the first operation to recover Tiger Hills was launched.
At 4.30 pm on July 3, the artillery Observation Post (OP) officer, sitting high on the ridgeline, reported enemy movement on Tiger Hills. The first Bofors gun boomed. Firing rapidly, it pulverised enemy locations.
At 6 pm Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRLs) were moved in. They were parked right at the gateof Drass Brigade Headquarters.
From Tiger Hills, the enemy wireless intercepts reveal that the Pakistani soldiers were sending messages to their artillery in Pakistan asking for counter-bombardment. Seconds after the messages were intercepted, and even before they could be transmitted, a shell landed at the Brigade Headquarters' gate, killing a young Captain and three soldiers.
The MBRLs were moved out immediately. As Bofors guns intensified the attack on Tiger Hills, Pakistan's counter-bombardment also increased. The 155 mm Bofors Howitzer guns -- true to their USP of shoot and scoot -- kept changing flank and firing. At 10 pm, the Bofors guns stopped. From then on, they were simply on call, and the infantry began advancing.
In ordinary circumstances, artillery guns stop shelling when the infantry soldiers are 400 meters from the target. But in these extraordinary circumstances, even when the infantry soldiers were less than 100 meters from the target, the Bofors guns kept shelling.
``We knew oursoldiers would be injured by our own artillery fire,'' a senior officer at Drass explained. The soldiers were also facing counter-bombardment.
And unlike the first assault, when only one infantry outfit -- the 8 Sikh -- charged, this time it was a combined attack along with 18 Grenadiers. While Tiger Hills veterans -- the 8 Sikhs -- were tasked to capture India Gate, Helmet and the adjoining features, 18 Grenadiers surrounded the Hills from the rear, trying to cut the enemy route from Mushkoh Valley.
Together, the Sikhs and the Grenadiers began climbing Tiger Hills, taking every bunker on the way. The Hills reverberated with the war cry of ``Wahe Guruji da Khalsa, Wahe Guruji di Fateh,'' and ``Bole Sonehaal, Sat Shri Akal.''
``The enemy was taken aback. They expected the attack an hour later,'' an officer, requesting anonymity, recounted.
As soon as the Sikhs and the Grenadiers gave an all-clear signal, securing the flanks, a special attack team of the latter -- tasked to recover TigerTop -- launched the offensive. The fierce battle at the top lasted for four hours. Young Captain Sachin Nimbalkar and Lieutenant Balwan Singh of the Grenadiers were the first to reach the Top.
``It was not at all frightening. We were just very angry. All the pent-up fury, frustration and pain came out that night. We hit them wherever we could,'' said a young Sikh soldier. Twenty enemy soldiers were killed. The rest fled towards Mushkoh Valey.
At 6 am, the tricolour was unfurled at the Top.
The victory was capped by a crate each of Scotch and champagne, sent by Chief of Army Staff V P Malik as a token of appreciation and also to congratulate the soldiers who recovered Tiger Hills.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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