Havildar who took attack deep into the heart of enemy

Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd)

In the line of fire, not many have been known to be daring enough to crawl a furlong distance, go alone behind the enemy forward defences, eliminate the machine gun crew in a well-fortified bunker and return with the enemy's machine gun in a serviceable condition without any blood or sweat on the body. Well, Havildar Hem Chander of 3rd Jat Battalion did precisely the same, and with clockwork precision during the 1971 war with Pakistan in the western theatre.

Hem Chander, son of Chowdhry Jailal, was born on July 1, 1937, in Rasulpur village of Rohtak district of then undivided Punjab. Rasulpur is now in Sonepat district. Just after passing the fifth standard from the village school, Hem Chander got enrolled in 3rd Jat Battalion. Incidentally, for its gallant actions, 3rd Jat Battalion was awarded three Maha Vir Chakras, including Lt Col Desmond Hayde, the Commanding Officer, four Vir Chakras, seven Sena Medals, 11 Mentioned-in-Despatches and 11 COAS’s Commendation Cards — the highest tally for any unit of the Indian Army before or since Independence in just one battle, the battle of ‘Dograi’, during the 1965 war with Pakistan.

Before the outbreak of hostilities with Pakistan in 1971, 3rd Jat Battalion, under command 322 Infantry Brigade, camped at Sanu, towards northwest of Jaisalmer town in Rajasthan. On the declaration of war, the battalion was tasked with leading the brigade attack across the border and capture Sakhirewala Border Out Post (BOP). Around 8 pm on December 3, 1971, the Pakistan army opened fire with heavy mortars and machine guns on the forward posts of the battalion. After the fire stopped, the battalion under the cover of darkness, moved forward to Kishangarh, which was the launch pad for the attack. At 5.45 pm the next day, ‘C’ company of the battalion crossed the international border and spearheaded the attack, wherein Havildar Hem Chander, for his out-of-the-box yet extremely daring act, was awarded the Vir Chakra. 

Mange Ram, an ex-serviceman in his eighties who also belongs to Rasulpur village, was one of the section commanders during the action. He recalls, “Subedar Rup Chand, the Platoon Subedar, was going around the platoon to re-site the captured fire trenches. On not finding Hem Chander, he enquired about his whereabouts but no one had any clue. I knew all but kept quiet for some time. Just then Hem Chander emerged from the most unexpected direction carrying a foreign-made machine gun. And Subedar sahab let him have it. ‘Kit maran gaya tha?’ Hem Chander looked at the gun and coolly replied, ‘Eh nai lavan gaya tha. Bahoot dukhi kar ri thi’. Subedar sahab continued ‘Thodi der aur na aata to tera court marshal hona tha’. Just then Hem Chander handed over the gun to Subedar Rup Chand and said, coolly again ‘Aur eeb?’ Subedar sahab, by now relaxed, spoke reassuringly, ‘Eeb!, eeb tanai inam milaiga’. Subedar Rup Chand, an old hand but not devoid of humour, before leaving, smilingly quipped, ‘Hem Chander, dushman ki gun to le aaya, thodi bahoot goli bhi le aata’. Not to be outwitted and a cool cat that he was, Hem Chander very casually replied ‘Sahab ji, agle attack me saath me goli bhi le aaunga, batao kitni magazine laun?” 

The account of his brave act in War Diary of 3rd Jat Battalion reads...

Havildar Hem Chander was the platoon Havildar of No. 9 platoon of ‘C’ company during the attack. Before the first light, the BOP was captured. However, some sporadic fire kept coming from some enemy pockets from the rear and the flank. After the capture, while Hem Chander was searching around the objective and reorganising the defences, an enemy light machine gun started firing at his platoon from the right flank, hindering the process. Hem Chander waited for some time and then decided to do something about the gun. He told one of the section commanders to hold on and without orders from the platoon commander, with total disregard to personal safety, he alone moved forward. He went behind a ‘tibba’ (sand dune) and crawled towards the enemy machine gun bunker. He stealthily approached the bunker from behind and lobbed a hand grenade inside, killing the machine gun crew. He then exited the scene carrying the enemy machine gun and was back to his platoon just before dawn. On arriving, Hem Chander was given a good dressing down by the Platoon Subedar for leaving the post without orders. Nonetheless, the out-of-the-box bravery of Havildar Hem Chander was duly recognised by one and all.