Author Topic: History of Garhwal Rifles - गढ़वाल रायफल का इतिहास  (Read 41723 times)

एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Dosto,

We are sharing here information of Garhwal Rifle Regiment.

Soldiers recruited into the Garhwal Rifles are from the Garhwal Hills, which is arguably[citation needed] one of the most beautiful areas of theHimalayas. These men are known for their hardiness, simplicity and upright manner.[citation needed] Garhwal consists almost entirely of rugged mountain ranges running in all directions, and separated by narrow valleys which in some cases become deep gorges or ravines.
Millions of boys have left their mountain villages of Uttarakhand in search of good fortune or a better life than in the hills. For brave Uttarakhandi soldiers to enlist, it has been common practice to leave the villages in the hills in search of adventure and fortune, indeed it has become a tradition in Uttaranchal, which still continues unabated. The sole source of solace for the hills has been the Indian Army, for it is the only institution that has somehow been able to check the migration of village youth.[citation needed] Paharis (the people "of the mountains") have always played a formidable role in defending the frontiers of India.[1]
"Garhwal" is the land of many 'Garhs' meaning forts.[2] This region was made up of many small forts which were ruled by chieftains. Garhwal originally consisted of 52 petty chieftainships, each chief with his own independent fortress (garh). The rulers of Garhwal remained independent and repeatedly expelled the attacks of the Mughal rulers of Delhi. During the 19th century, the Gurkhas attacked Garhwal and drove the rulers of Garhwal down to the plains. Thereafter the rulers of Garhwal took the help of the British forces in India and regained their kingdom. The rulers of Garhwal gave away 60% of their kingdom for the support the British gave them in driving back the Gurkhas.
The Regimental Training Centre and Headquarters is located at Lansdowne. Named after Lord Lansdowne who founded the place in 1887, Lansdowne, is one of the most notable, albeit small, hill stations in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is situated 45 km from Kotdwara en route Kotdwar-Pauri road in the Pauri Garhwal district. The training centre was built on the site of the old Kaludanda Fort.[3] They have maintained the old-world charm of the 19th century and the place is still an ideal getaway.[citation needed]




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एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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Early History

Prior to 1887, there was no separate battalion of the Garhwali soldiers. They used to be recruited in the Gorkha regiments, Bengal Infantry and Punjab Frontier Force.[4] Impressed by their honesty, courage and dedication, the British government decided to form a separate battalion for Garhwali soldiers. The Garhwal Rifles was raised in 1887 to give the Garhwali Hillmen their own regiment. This was propagated by Field Marshal Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts, VC, who realised that many Garhwalis had served in Gurkha regiments, and a large proportion of the early awards to Gurkha regiments were actually won by Garhwalis.[4]

On May 5, 1887 the first battalion was constituted under the command of Lieutenant Colonel E.P Mainwaring at Almora. It was designated the 2nd Battalion, 3rd (Kumaon) Gurkha Regiment, and it comprised six companies of Garhwalis and two of Gurkhas.[4] On November 4 of the same year, this battalion reached Kalundanda in Garhwal. In 1890, Kalundanda was renamed as Lansdowne after the then Viceroy of India. In 1891, the two Gurkha companies were dropped and the battalion was redesignated the 39th (The Garhwal Rifles) Regiment of Bengal Infantry. This was the first all Garhwali battalion.[4]

Following this, the Garhwalis served along the Tibet border, in the Chin Hills and on the North-East and North-West Frontiers of India, where they earned the battle honour 'Punjab Frontier'. In 1901, another battalion was raised as part of the Bengal Infantry. This was designated the 49th (Garhwal Rifles) Regiment of Bengal Infantry. Later that same year, this battalion and the 39th were regimented together to form the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 39th Garhwal Rifles.

(Source - wikipedia)

एम.एस. मेहता /M S Mehta 9910532720

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The First World War (1914–18)

In the First World War, the Garhwal Rifles were involved in the war's first trench raid on 9/10 November 1914. The 1st and 2nd Battalions saw action in the trenches in France, where Naik Darwan Singh Negi and Rifleman Gabbar Singh[6] were both awarded the Victoria Cross. Members of the regiment also earned many other bravery awards including: 6 Distinguished Service Orders, 25 Military Crosses, 14 Indian Orders of Meritand 21 Indian Distinguished Service Medals. There were also a number of foreign awards, including French, Russian and Romanian awards.[7]

The 3rd Battalion was raised in 1916 and the 4th Battalion in 1917, this battalion became the 1st Kumaon Rifles in 1918, but the 4th Battalion was raised again in October 1918. These two battalions were raised in order to maintain security in India whilst the Indian Army fought overseas. As a result of their outstanding bravery in France and Flanders, the Garhwal Rifles received the rare honour of being conferred with the 'Royal' title, which was made official on 2 February 1921.[3] 721 soldiers of the Regiment laid down their lives during the course of the war.

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The Kotkai War (1920)

During the Kotkai war in 1920 (sometimes referred to as the Waziristan Campaign), Lieutenant William David Kenny of the 4th/39th Garhwal Regiment won the Regiment's third Victoria Cross, when he led a small force of men in a desperate counterattack against a superior force ofMahsud tribesmen in order to allow the rest of his company to withdraw to safety. Lt Kenny, along with the rest of the assaulting party, was killed in the action, and the award was made posthumously on 9 September 1920.[8]

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Link to the Indian Nationalist Movement

Against the backdrop of growing civil unrest and Indian nationalism in the 1930s, some historians[8] have asserted that the Regiment fell into disfavour with the British following an incident at Peshawar on 23 April 1930, when a detachment of the 2/18 Garhwal Rifles apparently refused to obey an order to open fire on an unruly crowd that was causing a disturbance. Following the controversial arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Khudai Khidmatgar (nationalist satyagrahis) gathered to protest, and the troops were called out in response to the demonstration. What followed next is disputed — some historians have claimed that the crowd was peaceful and unarmed, and that the members of the Regiment were ordered to open fire by their British officers but, under the leadership of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali refused to do so against unarmed civilians. It has been asserted that the whole incident galvanised the entire freedom movement.[10] Other accounts, however, have painted a different picture. At the time, it was felt that the Garhwalis had failed in their duty, however, the official report following the incident cited evidence that the crowd had turned violent and that the regiment did in fact open fire, as per their orders, and that the crowd then dispersed.[11]

The aftermath, however, seems clearer. Following the incident at Peshawar the Regiment received a black mark against its name, and the loyalty of its members was called into question. Matters were made worse when, the following day, two platoons refused to fall in, and several men declared that they wished to be discharged. Because of this, higher command believed that the battalion was disaffected and, as a result, the disaffected men were ordered to return their weapons and dismiss. Later the entire battalion was disarmed. A Court of Inquiry afterwards found that the men of the Regiment had acted properly according to the confused orders that they had received on the day of the incident in Peshawar, but on the subject of the incident the following day it was quite swift in handing out the punishments. The riflemen of the two platoons that had refused to fall in were all dismissed from the service, whilst of the seventeen non-commissioned officers, one received transportation for life, another was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment and the other fifteen also received various smaller terms of imprisonment.[11]

These punishments seem quite harsh in the circumstances, but probably serve to highlight the concern that the British had surrounding the incident at the time, when it was felt on both sides, not without reason, that British rule in India was coming to an end.[12] This did not turn out to be completely correct, of course, for the Raj still had another seventeen years to run, but it almost certainly served as a portent of the future.

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The Second World War (1939–45)

During the Second World War, five more battalions of the Garhwal Rifles were raised. These were: the 4th (re-raised having been converted into a training battalion and designated 10th Battalion earlier), the 5th, 6th, 7th and 25th (Garrison) battalion.[13] The Regiment saw active service in almost all of the theatres of the war, including: Burma, Malaya, Egypt, Iraq, Eritrea, Abyssinia.[14]

The 2nd and 5th Battalions were captured in the fall of Singapore and remained in captivity until the end of the war.

The Regiment's casualties during the war were high, with some 350 killed and approximately 1,400 wounded.[13] However, whilst other regiments received due reward for their sacrifices, the Garhwal Regiment received very few — no Victoria Crosses — a fact which has never been explained, although there has been speculation that this was due in part to the memory of the 1930 Peshawar incident.[15]

Following the war the 1st and 3rd Battalions served briefly in a garrison role in Sumatra and Italy before returning to India. The 4th Battalion was used to reconstitute the 2nd Battalion in May 1946. The 5th Battalion was not raised again and the 6th Battalion was disbanded at war's end.[13]

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Post Independence
Princely flag of Kingdom of Garhwal.
Main article: Indo-Pakistani War of 1947

After the formation of India in 1947 and the subsequent merger of the various states in India at the time, the Garhwal Princely State was among the first to be merged in with the Indian Union. Subsequently, the Regiment was transferred to the newly independent Indian Army. Following this, the Regiment was involved in the conflict in Jammu & Kashmir for a time, during which the 3rd Battalion's role with the 161st Brigade in the Uri-Punch linkup was of particular note.[16]

In 1950, the Royal title was dropped from the Regiment's name when India became a Republic. Other regimental symbols that were associated with the British were also discontinued, although the regimental lanyard continued to be worn on the right shoulder in traditional 'Royal' fashion.[17] In 1953, the Regiment contributed to the United Nations custodian force in Korea.[18]

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Indo-China War of 1962
Main article: Sino-Indian War

The 4 Garhwal Rifles played a significant role in the India-China War of 1962.[19] The sacrifice along the frontier of Garhwali lives was enormous, as the Indian Army was ill-prepared for the rapidly advancing Chinese. Badly equipped for high altitude combat, short on supplies, and reconnaissance of the enemy, the Indian troops struggled valiantly onward, despite fighting a losing war to both the invaders and frostbite. Indeed, one battalion of the Garhwal Rifles was surrounded and suffered many casualties in the short, but bloody engagement that followed. Rfn. Jaswant Singh Rawat of the 4 Garhwal Rifles (Mahavir Chakra — posthumously), was honoured after being executed, by the Chinese themselves. He has a temple in his honour at Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh).

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Indo-Pakistan War of 1965
Main article: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
[edit] Battle of Gadra City

The 1 Garhwal Rifles were deployed along the border in Rajasthan Sector. The battalion commanded by Lt. Col O.P.Lahiri launched attack on Gadra City at 6.45 a.m. and captured it by 1.00 p.m.[20] In the morning of 18 September one company of the battalion repulsed Pakistani attack who fled leaving behind 12 bodies and 1 Jeep.[20] On 22 September the battalion offered a stubborn resistance to the Pakistani multi pronged offensive to recapture Gadra City and were supported by Pakistan Air Force. But the battalion stood the ground and repulsed all the attacks.[20]

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Battle of Buttur Dograndi

The 8 Garhwal Rifles played a vital role in the Battle of Buttur Dograndi where the Major Abdul Rafi Khan of 8 Garhwal Rifles had managed to regroup his scattered companies after the first failed assault and it was decided that A Sqn Poona Horse along with 8 Garhwal would launch another attack on Buttur Dograndi which had in the meantime been occupied by some elements of 3 Frontier Force. D company of the 8 Garhwalis led the advance and met only minor opposition and the village was retaken.On 17 September, Pakistan's 4th Corps artillery sporadically fired on the Garhwali positions with medium and heavy guns. Later during the day some enemy armour also appeared with infantry. The Garhwalis fought on with their small arms, well concealed as they were in the thick crops. Two tanks ( 25 Cavalry) entered the defended area and started spraying the Garhwalis with their machine guns from close range. Rifleman Balwant Singh Bisht took up a rocket launcher and managed to put one of these tanks out of action. He was himself blown to pieces by a shell shot from the tank gun. Casualties were heavy on both sides but 3FF and the tank troop had to withdraw against the determination of the Garhwalis. Although the later battle saw the Garhwalis being ordered to withdraw under heavy artillery fire of the enemy as the position had become untenable, yet the determination of Major Khan allowed them to withdraw to safety, but Major Khan stayed back with the wounded who could not be evacuated. Major Khan was awarded Vir Chakra posthumously in the battle.[21] After the battle statistics of killed were 2 officers and 47 other ranks. On the other hand 3rd Battalion The Frontier Force Regiment: Killed 3 JCO's and 64 other ranks, wounded 3 JCO's and 100 other ranks.
[edit] Operation Hill

The 2nd Battalion battalion was part of the battle during Operation Hill. On October 6/7, 1965 the battalion was nominated by the GOC for the task of attacking and capturing the area where the Pakistani infiltrators had managed to build up their defences. The attack by the battalion was launched with great courage and determination. However, due to wrong intelligence assessment of enemy strength and disposition with insufficient time to reorient itself and very little fire support, the battalion suffered heavy casualties and the attack was beaten back by a battalion strength of Pakistanis. The battalion took part in second attack on enemy position in conjunction with other battalions. In this operation, B company laid an ambush and captured one Pakistani officer. Capt C N Singh of the "Superb Second" won the only Mahavir Chakra of the regiment during the 1965 operations. Reacting to specific information about presence of infiltrators, Capt CN Singh attacked them with great ferocity and valour. In a close quarter hand-to-hand fight, he was fatally wounded and later succumbed to his injuries. For his gallant leadership and valour, he was awarded the coveted Maha Vir Chakra. after Major Khan death Maj HS Rautela took the command and successfully fought and evaucated the injured till the replacement could arrive. He later won the Sena Medal for his gallantary when he captured the village of Gurkhi in Pakaishtan and was named after his name. The battalion won 1 MVC, 2 SMs and 5 COAS Commendation Cards.[22]

 

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