73rd Raising Day of Army’s Western Command celebrated

Chandigarh, September 15

The 73rd Raising Day of the Western Command, the frontline operational command of the Indian Army, was celebrated on Tuesday.

To commemorate the occasion, Lt Gen R P Singh, Army Commander, Western Command laid wreath at the ‘Veer Smriti’, Chandimandir, near here, to pay homage to the gallant heroes of Western command.    

He also conveyed felicitations and best wishes to all ranks, veterans, civilian employees and families, a defence release said here.  He also inaugurated the facility of a web page based grievance redressal portal at Chandimandir Military Station to further ameliorate and address the grievances of the veteran community.

The Command was raised in 1947 as Delhi and East Punjab Command and subsequently re-designated as ‘Western Command’ in January 1948, it said. In 1954, the headquarters of the Command moved to Shimla.

After the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971, Northern Command was carved out of Western Command to assume operational responsibility of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Finally in 1985, headquarters of the Western Command moved to its present location at Chandimandir.   With ‘Ever Westwards’ being its clarion call, the Western Army was instrumental in blunting the Pakistani aggression in 1947, 1965 and 1971. Notably, the Western Command has also time and again, provided succour to the civilian population, it said.

Be it during natural calamities or participating in nation building activities, troops of the Western Command have always been in the forefront in providing aid to civil authorities, it said.  PTI

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