Remembering War Heroes of India: Major Shaitan Singh, PVC

 

The battle of Rezang La of the 1962 India-China war will long be remembered in the annals of military history because of the incredible heroism displayed by a small group of Indian soldiers led by Major Shaitan Singh against overwhelming hordes of Chinese. Major Singh’s supreme courage, leadership and exemplary devotion to duty inspired his company to fight almost to the last man. Following his brave example, Major Singh’s men not only fought gallantly but also inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. The nation’s highest decoration for gallantry, the Param Vir Chakra was awarded to Major Shaitan Singh posthumously.

 

 

The enemy had tried to surprise the defenders of Rezang La by launching a silent attack but were discovered by a patrol from the Kumaoni Company. When the Chinese attack materialised, the Kumaonis were waiting for them with machine guns on fixed lines and mortars on registered targets. As the Chinese came within range the Kumaonis opened up. The Chinese casualties were very heavy and with every weapon of the Kumaonis firing, the gullies in front of the three platoons were soon full of dead and wounded Chinese. The surprise attack having failed, the Chinese began shelling Rezang La with a variety of mortars, RCL guns and rockets to blast the bunkers and sangars. No bunker in Rezang La could have survived such a heavy concentration of fire but there was never any thought of withdrawal. After the forward platoons and the mortar position had been destroyed, the Chinese turned their attention to the company HQs and the depth platoon.

 

Major Shaitan Singh knowing he was surrounded, reorganised the company position. During this phase, he was hit by a burst of fire in one arm followed by a machine-gun burst in the abdomen. When Rezang La was later revisited, dead Jawans were found in the trenches still holding on to their weapons. By any test, every man of ‘C’ company 13 Kumaon who fought and died at Rezang La was a hero. A grateful nation will remember them as such, and the name of Major Shaitan Singh who fired these men to fight to the last will live forever in the pages of Indian history.

 

 

 

Major Shaitan Singh was commanding a company of an infantry battalion deployed at Rezang La in the Chushul sector at a height of about 17,000 feet. The locality was isolated from the main defended sector and consisted of five platoon defended positions. On 18 Nov 1962, the Chinese forces subjected the company position to heavy artillery, mortar and small arms fire and attacked it in overwhelming strength in several successive waves. Against heavy odds, our troops beat back successive waves of enemy attack. During the action, Major Shaitan Singh dominated the scene of operations and moved at great personal risk from one platoon post to another sustaining the morale of his hard-pressed platoon posts. While doing so he was seriously wounded but continued to encourage and lead his men, who, following his brave example fought gallantly and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. For every man lost to us, the enemy lost four or five.

 

When Major Shaitan Singh fell disabled by wounds in his arms and abdomen, his men tried to evacuate him but they came under heavy machine-gun fire. Major Shaitan Singh then ordered his men to leave him to his fate in order to save their lives. Major Singh’s supreme courage, leadership and exemplary devotion to duty inspired his company to fight almost to the last man.

 

 

Major Shaitan Singh was born at Jodhpur, Rajasthan, the son of Lt. Col Hem Singhji. From a young age, Shaitan Singh had decided to join the army. He was commissioned in the Kumaon Regiment on 1 Aug 1949.

 

During the 1962 India-China war, his battalion, 13 Kumaon was deployed in the Chushul sector. The Brigade Commander of this sector was also a Kumaoni, Brigadier TN Raina. 13 Kumaon was, at that time, the only all-Ahir battalion of the regiment. The regiment arrived in J&K from Ambala in June 1962. They had never seen snow, and they were destined to fight the battle of their lives in one of the coldest and highest battlegrounds of the world. The Chinese troops in this sector were from the mountains of Sinkiang. The Chinese were equipped with modern weapons, whereas our troops were equipped with the .303 single-action Lee Enfield rifle which was an obsolete and outmoded weapon of World War II. Notwithstanding the disadvantages of climate, terrain, and weapons, Major Shaitan Singh and ‘C’ company, 13 Kumaon went all out to make the enemy pay heavily if they attacked. Every approach was covered by automatic and mortar fire. The disadvantage of Rezang La position was however that because of its high Crestline it was difficult for our artillery to support it.

 

The Chinese suffered very heavy casualties during their successive attacks on Rezang La, and the gullies and ground around the defences of ‘C’ company were filled with the bodies of Chinese soldiers. However, the preponderance of numbers and the superiority of their weapons titled the balance in their favour. So heavy was the bombardment by the Chinese artillery and mortars of various calibre that the post at Rezang La was totally obliterated and all the defenders killed. Major Shaitan Singh was wounded first in the arm and subsequently by a machine-gun burst in his abdomen. His men tried to evacuate him, but realising that he would be an impediment to them, he ordered them to leave him where he was. Three months later, his body was found at the same spot.

 

The man who inspired the troops to fight to the last man and the last round was Major Shaitan Singh. Except for a very few, every man of ‘C’ Company, 13 Kumaon, died at his post, and all ammunition had been exhausted. Months later, the bodies of the defenders of Rezang La were found frozen at their posts, defiant in death to the very last. The body of Major Shaitan Singh was recovered and flown to his hometown Jodhpur, where it was cremated with honours befitting a national hero.