'I Was Hit By A Burst Of Gunfire'

A Kargil War Hero looks back at the victory of Tiger Hill and the men who didn't return.

Colonel Balwan Singh was awarded the Mahavir Chakra -- India's second highest honour for gallantry at wartime -- for extraordinary bravery in the capture of Tiger Hill, the most decisive battle in the Kargil War.

He was only 25.

"Our motto for the battle was 'Vijay ya Virgati' -- Victory or Death on the battlefield," the war hero tells Rediff's Archana Masih.

Every year since 1999, the months of June-July is a time when the nation commemorates the brave soldiers who fought the Kargil War.

I am sure many people must be asking you as well about your experience of fighting in one of the toughest battles of the war. What emotions do these months bring back for you?

Tiger Hill was captured on July 3-4. The entire Kargil operation ended on July 26 which is celebrated as Vijay Diwas.

Every year during this time, I think of the soldiers who fought alongside us and did not return. Their faces come before my eyes. They shed their blood for the country in capturing Tiger Hill, but are not with us to celebrate that victory.

Winning the battle was a team effort. They were part of our team. Their sacrifice will remain with us forever.

In 2019, I had spoken to your brigade commander Brigadier M P S Bajwa. He had told me about the tremendous effort behind the victory of Tiger Hill, especially since so many soldiers had died in the attack on Tololing a few days earlier?

We lost nearly 25 men on Tololing. But we learnt from our mistakes and what we needed to do differently. The lessons made us wiser for the Tiger Hill campaign.

That's why we have had only 6 fatal casualties and 6 wounded on Tiger Hill which was a far more challenging objective.

And you were part of both Tololing and Tiger Hill battles?

Yes, I was there right from the beginning of the Tololing operation.

Compared to Tololing, what were the difficulties and challenges on Tiger Hill?

Were they similar? What did you learn? What was the difference?

Information was the biggest difference.

Tololing was the first operation. Initially, we did not know where the enemy was hiding. It took us time to understand the ground situation.

But on Tiger Hill, we were aware of the enemy positions. Yet that did not make the conditions less challenging.

The Tiger Hill operation was far more difficult because of its height, terrain and weather conditions. Tololing was at 15,000 feet. Tiger Hill was at 17,500 feet. That difference in height meant less oxygen, steeper climb and bad weather.

Basically, we were fighting both the weather and the enemy.

The gradient was almost 60 to 80 degrees. It was an extremely difficult climb to get to the top of Tiger Hill.

It took you two nights and one day to scale it?

Initially we were launched for the Tololing operation and 8 Sikh was tasked to capture Tiger Hill. Tiger Hill was surrounded from three sides. But the fourth side -- the western spur, was still held by the enemy.

When we returned from Tololing, we were tasked to capture Tiger Hill. Even though it was surrounded by three sides, the campaign to capture it lasted almost 45 days and the enemy was still there.

Before launching the attack, we carried out reconnaissance between June 26 and June 30. We launched our final assault on July 3.

By the morning of July 4, we had established a foothold on the feature after nearly twelve hours of intense fighting. From there, the battle continued as we cleared the remaining enemy positions stretching almost 2.5 kilometres along the western side.

The top of Tiger Hill was captured on the morning of July 4, but the entire Tiger Hill feature was completely cleared by July 8.

And it was your Ghatak platoon that captured the peak of Tiger Hill?

Yes, I was leading my platoon.

Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav, who was later awarded the Param Vir Chakra, was also with me in this battle.

You reached the top at 4 am?

We made a foothold at 4 am after climbing a steep cliff with mountaineering equipment.

It was a cliff assault. We surprised the enemy and they panicked.

The enemy started firing towards us and we returned the fire. The battle soon turned into a close hand-to-hand combat fight.

We suffered a heavy casualty. The first section of my platoon -- 10 men -- reached the top. The rest were climbing up the cliffs towards us.

We fought at close quarters. Since the feature had a conical top, there was no place for them to run away.

We were able to eliminate the enemy in the intense fire fight.

How many men were there in your platoon?

20 lightly equipped soldiers. 10 of us reached the top, and 10 were hanging on the cliff. Apart from that, there were 20 soldiers carrying heavy weapons who were slightly behind us.

A further group of 20 were carrying other arms and weapons.

This was followed by Charlie Company. But because of the difficulty of the terrain, only the first and second section were able to climb up.

The rest of the troops came up on July 5 after the fierce gun battle and close combat.

You lost six soldiers from your platoon and were injured yourself. What injuries did you sustain?

I was hit by a burst of gunfire. One bullet in my left hand and one in the left leg.

How did you continue leading your troops and engaging in combat despite the injuries?

At that moment, your blood is warm. You don't think about the pain.

We treated the wounds with Field First Dressing. We were carrying morphine injections and I took painkillers.

I was told by my commanding officer over the radio set to come back. But there was no question of coming back.

As per our training we are taught that if a commander returns, it depletes the morale of the boys.

Moreover, climbing down was far more difficult than climbing up. The only option was to continue the mission.

You were so young at that time, just 3 months into service. Where did that courage and determination to move ahead despite injuries come from?

I was fresh from the academy. The training at the academy prepares us mentally and physically for such battle situations. The three qualities needed for a Ghatak platoon commander are -- physical fitness, mental robustness and sharp firing skills.

Also the Indian Military Academy's Chetwode Creed is ingrained into every officer of the Indian Army. It teaches us that the safety, honour, welfare of country comes first; followed by the safety, honour, and welfare of your men and your own safety comes last -- always and every time.

Along with that, the Indian Army's principles of camaraderie, regimental spirit. Self-esteem keeps us motivated.

One more lesson I realised during the war was the concept of small teams and role of junior leaders.

Junior leadership is more important in war. In battle, especially in the mountains, small teams operate independently. If a junior leader leads from the front, his men follow him without hesitation.

That, I believe, is one of the most important factors in combat.

What was the most difficult part of this operation?

Fighting against the weather and the enemy simultaneously.

There were loose boulders, and icy heights ranging from 15,000, 17,500 feet.

Every inch of ground was different. The enemy was sitting on top and firing at us continuously.

In fact, when we reached the top, they were throwing boulders down.

It was about survival.

I remember we had not eaten for five, six days. We carried shakkar paras and dry ration which was the only thing we ate.

Our Ghatak team had set out with the motto 'Vijay ya Virgati' -- Victory or Death on the Battlefield.

Our CO had told us that the Indian flag has to fly from the top of Tiger Hill, no matter what.

That was our main and only objective that carried us forward.

We hoisted the Tricolour on July 8. Our whole unit, including the Commanding Officer Brigadier Kushal Thakur were there. There is a famous photo on the top of Tiger Hill that was seen by the whole nation.

When did you come down Tiger Hill and when was the bullet taken out of your body?

On July 9. The bullet was taken out after a minor operation. I was in hospital for around 15 days and after recovering slightly, I went on a month-long leave.

So you continued to fight for 3 days with the bullet inside you?

Yes. It was very difficult to come down. A minimum 3 to 4 persons are needed to carry a stretcher down. We first evacuated Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav who took 7-8 bullets.

[Grenadier Yogendra Yadav continued fighting in complete disregard for his life. He lobbed a grenade into the Pakistani machine gun bunker and killed four enemy soldiers with his weapon. He is the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra. He retired from service in 2021.]

We then brought down the bodies of men who laid down their lives.

I felt fine after the FFD [Field First Dressing] and painkiller injections. I felt that I would be ok because the FFD had controlled the blood flow. The doctor was en route. He was just a little way downhill at Point 4460 which took almost 6-7 hours and he gave first aid to everyone.

Finally, were you brought down in a stretcher?

No, I walked down with the help of fellow-soldiers.

• Part II of the Interview: 'Battles Of Tololing And Tiger Hill Were Among The Toughest Battles Ever Fought'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff