Artillery Support to 7 infantry Brigade (Continued)

Baptism by Fire

Story of 2 Lt AJS Behl GPO at Tsangdhar

There were many unanswered questions in my mind about Tsangdhar both

related and unrelated to communications. The only person who could have
thrown some light on that was 2 Lt AJS Behl, Capt Talwar’s No 2 and the
GPO at Tsangdhar, I did not know his present whereabouts. On the spur of
the moment I rang up Talwar, who not only told me about Behl, now a
retired Brigadier and staying in Chandigarh, but also gave me his telephone
number. He was also kind enough to speak to AmarJit Behl about me. Post
haste I made a call to Brig Behl followed by a letter, we established a quick
rapport and he was more than willing to answer my queries and sent me an
account of the events from the time he and his boys left Agra on the morning
of 30th September 1962 till they became the POW’s on the afternoon of 20th
October 62.

No one has written an authentic account of the happenings on 20th at

Tsangdhar, at least to my knowledge. What was happening at Tsangdhar
from 04.45 on wards when we in the Brigade HQ were under attack with
Mortar Bombs? There were three wireless links working from Tsangdhar to
Brigade HQ-that of Signal Section, of your Troop and that of Mortar Bty.
None came on the air that morning? What happened to Maj Ram Singh and
Sqn Ldr Sehgal? There was another Bell flight from Ziminthaung to
Tsangdhar piloted by Williams to check as to what was happening at
Tsangdhar when Sehgal did not return I believe it was also fired upon. What
is the truth? While escaping from Rongla we could see small arms firing at
Tsangdhar. Who was firing at whom and of course what was happening in
your own Troop? These were the questions I put to Brig Behl in my letter,
not only he answered all of them, but also brought some new and startling
facts to light. Most gratifying was to learn about the high morale and the
fighting spirit of the men and the baptism of young Behl by fire; an inspiring
story of events unfolding at a rapid pace which would have taxed an officer
with a many times over seniority as compared to that of an oven fresh2Lt.
…We landed at Tezpur on 3 October. Capt HS Talwar received us all at the
airport.

…. We were lodged in the Light Anti Aircraft Officer’s Mess. Since we did
not possess mosquito nets, the only way to defeat the mosquitoes during the
night was to have a drink and go to sleep.

I happened to come across Lt Gen BM Kaul the Corps Commander 4

Corps, at the Tezpur airport the day I was leaving for Darranga, on the Indo
Bhutan border, with my gun position staff. He told me to ensure that I was in
Tsangdhar before 10 of October failing which I would face serious
consequences, some how I managed to avoid the same reaching Tsangdhar
along with my boys on the evening of 8 October full two days before the
dead line given to me…..

….can say with pride that inspite of no acclimatisation, all of us reached

Tsangdhar next day without any problem or sickness. This route involved
crossing Karpola pass, which is over 16000’ above mean sea level.

….. We were able to retrieve two guns, about 80 rounds of gun ammunition
and other gun stores and equipment. The wireless set was also switched on
and OP party and gun position were in communication. The Gun position
was getting ready progressively, the ground was total rocks and none of the
men including Capt Talwar and self were had done any
acclimatisation. ….

…..There was no indication of any type of any preparation of attack by the

Chinese. On the contrary everybody was talking of evicting the Chinese.

The Big Bang

On night of 19/20 Oct, I could see the big bonfires on the Chinese side.
When I attempted to contact the Brigade headquarter there was no reply. The
wireless set was also not getting through due to very thick trees along the
Namkachu River. ….I had my dinner checked the sentries and went to sleep.
Next morning even before the ‘stand to’ heavy shelling started all around. I
gave orders to my men to get into the trenches. All gun ammunition was
ready and we had our personal weapons ammunition next to us.
In the initial shelling two of my men got serious splinter hits Gunner
Awtar Singh and Operator Chamkaur Singh. I tried to take them to the ADS
but it was not possible due to shelling. I poured brandy on their wounds told
them to put there tongue under their teeth, cleaned my hands with brandy
and pulled out the big sharpnels and tied up shell dressing on the wounds.
By this time it was about 9 AM. There were no communications, line was
not through nor the wireless set. I gave orders to the operators to keep on
trying. However, there were no communications of any type with any-body.
I sent a small patrol of line maintenance party to see if the line could be put
through but it was all in vain. (The Chines had cut all the lines from Div TAC HQ to
the Brigade HQ from Brigade HQ to the Battalions and the DZ at Tsangdhar, from
Battalions to the Companies before starting the shelling. The Signals Bunker of 2 Rajput
was destroyed along with the signals operators of B1, by enemy shelling, the two
operators of B1 at 1/9 GR were also shot by the Chinese -author) It was past 9.30 AM
and there was no information of any type from any side. I was worried about
Capt Talwar and his OP party. Without any target indication engaging any
enemy location was not possible.

We saw a helicopter approaching the helipad. By that time small arm fire
had also started from the black rock area and shelling was also going on.
There was no sign of the helicopter taking-off again. I sent a patrol of two
men to see what had happened. They came back and told me that that the
helicopter was there, and two persons; one pilot and another person in a red
turban were lying dead near the helicopter. Next day, when we buried them
as prisoners of war (POWs) I could identify one as Sqn Ldr Sehgal and the
other as Maj Ram Singh of Signals.

I saw a man crawling towards my gun position and shouting don’t kill me.
He came and stood in my trench with me. He was the Battery Havildar
Major (BHM) of the mortar battery deployed ahead of us and wanted to
know about the latest information. I told him that we were out of
communication with any body. While I was explaining the local situation he
was hit by small arms fire and died there only. It was a sad end to a keen
soldier. The situation had become very desperate. I ordered my two guns to
fire on the only area we could see clearly, the black rock by direct firing. We
fired about 10 rounds per gun. By this time it was getting to be mid-day, we
saw another helicopter approaching our position but it went away while it
was half way to Tsangdhar, I am sure it must have been hit by the Chinese
MMG fire from ground either from the black rock area or spurs right of
Tsangdhar. By this time the small arms fire from the black rock (the
dominating feature on our left) had increased.

The withdrawal from Tsangdhar and areas below had started along the track
which passed from left of my gun position about 150-200 yards away. Some
of the people yelling at us to hold on and keep the enemy away. Even some
of the officers who passed that way did not bother to stop and ask a young
officer if he needed any help. All they wanted from us was to keep firing so
that the Chinese do not follow them uninterrupted. I felt ashamed of those
who were running away. I felt proud of my troop everybody wanted to fight
it out at the gun position.

The enemy was closing in but the ground was such that much of the direct
artillery fire was not possible. We still fired about 20 rounds per gun towards
black rock and beyond supply point. The melee of the battle was confusing;
our personnel withdrawing, Chinese devastating shelling and small arms
firing. My three LMGs were firing and we were using our personal
weapons….. At this stage when the direct firing of the guns was not
possible, I reluctantly gave order to dismantle the guns and throw the parts
in the nullah on our right. The gunners did this but with a heavy heart.

I will say this with pride that at no stage did any of my jawans suggested to
me that we should withdraw or tried to runaway from the fight, though three
jawans had died by this time, they all obeyed me till the end. They saw a
large number of all ranks running past our gun position but not even one
person deserted. (Shades of the Boy named Casabianca from he poem by
Feliacia Hemans ;
Quote The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but him had fled Unquote. -Author)
Our stubborn resistance came to an end by about by about 3-4 PM and it
changed our position from proud soldiers to helpless prisoners. We were
made to stay at Tsangdhar that night and next morning, I buried Sqn Ldr
Sehgal and Maj Ram singh with all the military respect I could manage.

I was shocked to realise that I was a prisoner of war but felt consoled in my
own way that all my jawans had stood by my orders and fought to the last.
Even during the period we were prisoners in Tibet, their loyalty and
discipline remained above board and exemplary at position where not even
one person deserted.