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India's lightning raid inside Pakistan in 1971 war
After some minor tasks at Madarpur, picquet No 405 at Satwal (the group was
given a worth while job at Mandhol, a village about 12 miles South-West of Punch
(Map 28). Close to this village was a Pakistani battery of six 122mm Chinese
made guns. This battery supported the enemy position at Duruchhian, and was
a great nuisance to own 93 and 120 Infantry Brigades. On the night of December
13/14, 14 Grenadiers were to attack Duruchhian; Major-General Kundan Singh,
Commander of 25th Infantry Division, decided that the Para Commandos should
get rid of the guns at Mandhol at the same time.
The group, together with Captain D Tyagi, the OP officer from 195 Mountain
Regiment, reached Dhip at 5 PM, on Dec 13. After a short halt for an early dinner, they left for Mandhol, and reached a point on the East bank of the Punch River
opposite the village by 10.30PM. It was lucky for the Commandos that the villages
on the way were empty, and they encountered no enemy patrols. Wading through
the waist-deep water, the group soon climbed on to the spur north of the village.
A search showed that it was absolutely deserted, except for an old man.
He was quite helpful, and told the search party that the guns were located
about a thousand yards from his house. Half an hour before midnight, our
artillery opened up at Duruchhian in preparation for the Grenadiers attack. The
guns at Mandhol soon began to answer; that helped the commandos to locate
the position of each gun.
Raid Cdr split his group into seven assault teams and support detachments
to cover the move of the assault teams to their targets. About half an hour after
midnight, when the teams had taken up position for the assault, the support
detachment started for the place from which it was to cover them. Soon, the
scouts observed a sentry post on a bunker, they crawled up from behind to
finish him. He was killed, but the scuffle woke up the inmates of the bunker.
Meanwhile, an enemy gunner spotted one of the teams crouching for attack; he
raised the alarm.
This became the signal for the assault. For the next 10 minutes; says the
battalion War diary, there was utter confusion while a hand-to-hand fight went
on. Then there was a bang: No 2 Team led by Naib Subedar Zile Singh had blown
up one of the guns. Unfortunately, it was loaded, and the bursting of the HE shell
blew its barrel into bits, the flash temporarily blinding a few of the commandos.
By 2 AM, the commandos had gained complete control of the gun area and
they systematically dealt with the remaining five guns. Many of the enemy lay
dead; other had run for their lives.
Having finished its mission, the group withdrew around 3 AM. The men
naturally felt the elation that comes from success. The group suffered 16
casualties in this action, two other ranks killed, and 14 wounded (including an
Officer and a JCO).
C Group was attached to 80 Infantry Brigade on December 17 for a repeat
performance at Chauki. But after the troops had moved to forward assembly
areas, the operation was called off due to the cease-fire.
Lance Havildar Yeshwant Singh of C Group had the distinction of winning
two awards for conspicuous gallantry during the operations. He received the
Vir Chakra for his part in the action at Nagali, and a Sena Medal for the raid at
Mandhol. Other recipients of awards in the battalion were Capt MA Kariappa and Second-Lieutenant AV Taskar; both were awarded the Sena Medal. The Battalion commander and an NCO were mentioned in despatches.
The above action was part of operations carried out in the Western sector during
the Indo-Pak War of 1971. Apart from the destruction of guns, ammunition and
other vital equipment, the Pakistanis suffered 37 killed, 41 wounded and a great
loss of face. This raid, launched at a crucial time to enable Indias 25th Infantry
Division to continue their operations on Daruchian (a Pakistani occupied post).
For overall operations in this sector, the Para Commandos were awarded the Battle
Honour, Defence of Poonch in the 1971 war. This is the one and only classical raid
ever executed by the Indian Special Forces.
http://www.claws.in/SW/Spring 2011- Final Issue.148-150.pdf
