AFVOA Newsletter 03 of 2020

Section 4 – War Diary CV 2 No. 03 / 2020 Page 44 of 167 Back on my tank, I found confusion reigning supreme. While my dismounted ordeal was going on, our tanks had joined the fray, firing away blindly, unable to see upfront, positioned in single file along the road. The squadron commander, alarmed by the sound of all the firing going on, was on the radio, demanding a situation report. The lieutenant commanding the tank troop had added to the confusion by reporting that I was missing believed dead, while on foot reconnaissance. To cut to the chase, we were ordered to withdraw. However, in the pretext of maneuvering to withdraw, I moved my tanks forward closer to the enemy positions and, all guns blazing, blasted those from one end to the other, giving vent to my anger. Switching on my search light, I saw the contours of a small township. When we stopped firing, the enemy positions were quiet, apparently subdued. We pulled out even as a battalion of the MLI was moving up to occupy the place. Back with the squadron, we identified the town on the map as Phulbari. No one ever told me where exactly the mysterious stranded troop was, that we went looking for. We were off on our mission at first light next day. After a day-long ordeal of mine blasts, bogged- downs and arty shelling we, accompanied by a Gurkha Battalion, overran the enemy brigade headquarters at Charkoi to the rear of Hilli during the dusk hours that day, rendering the enemy position at Hilli untenable. Hilli eventually fell on 11 December after our ‘A’ Squadron enveloped it with 4 Madras doing the mopping up, while my squadron went on advancing further inland. With the involvement of the squadron in far larger engagements during the war, Phulbari was reduced to a footnote in official records and the loss of Mohinder attributed to an ambush. I knew better. Even if he didn’t die in a bid to save my life, I was alive because of him. A gallantry award he was recommended for never came through. Neither did my task force find any mention in the ‘capture’ of Phulbari, which, as far as I know, couldn’t have been more than a walkover, after the hammering we subjected the place to.