AFVOA Newletters of Year 2003

Page 62 of 170 37. As mentioned earlier, brief accounts about Subedar Joginder Singh Salaria, and Major Shaithan Singh winners of the Param Vir Chakra are given below. Subedar Joginder Singh, PVC JC-4547 Subedar Joginder Singh 1st Sikh Regiment (posthumous) Date of Action: 23 October 1962 Place of Action: Tongpen La, Northeast Frontier Agency, India Date and Place of Birth: 28 September 1921, Mahla Kalan village, Moga, Faridkot tehsil, Punjab, son of Sher Singh Enrolled: 28 September 1936 38. Subedar Joginder Singh was the commander of a platoon of a Sikh Regiment holding a defensive position at a ridge near Tongpen La in NEFA. At 0530 hours on 23rd October 1962, the Chinese opened a very heavy attack on the Bum La axis with the intention of breaking through to Tawang. The leading battalion of the enemy attacked the ridge in three waves, each about 200 strong. 39. Subedar Joginder Singh and his men mowed down the first wave, and the enemy was temporarily halted by the heavy losses it suffered. Within a few minutes, a second wave came over and was dealt with similarly. But the platoon had by then lost half its men. Subedar Joginder Singh was wounded in the thigh but refused to be evacuated. Under his inspiring leadership, the platoon stubbornly held its ground and would not withdraw. 40. Meanwhile, the position was attacked for the third time. Subedar Joginder Singh himself manned a light machine gun and shot down a number of the enemy. The Chinese, however, continued to advance despite heavy losses. When the situation became untenable, Subedar Joginder Singh and the few men emerged from their position with fixed bayonets and charged the advancing Chinese, bayoneting a number of them before he and his