Page 25 - Seniors Today December 2020
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locals standing nearby. Jessore when they were counter-attacked by
Our 25 Pdr guns then had only 32 rounds the enemy.
in each gun trailer and another 32 rounds in Capt Kulkarni’s guns were on the move,
each of their gun towing vehicles. but the other guns of the Artillery Brigade
The requirement of the gunfire support on ground as available continued the fire
was so tremendous (we were firing in the support as required.
highest charge that is Charge 3 or Super for
more range to hit targets in depth, and at A hero falls
intense rate), that we were running short I was very upset to hear the sad news of
of ammunition. We hailed out for the gun my cousin Flt Lt Pradip Apte a Fighter
towers, the FATs, to send the ammunition Pilot who was on an HF 24 Fighter, and
which were some distance away. But was shot down, and Killed in Action over
those vehicles were strung on the narrow Dhoronaro on the western front on 4th
road with no possibility of moving ahead December. Pradip was very dear to me, and
closer to our gun areas. The road was he left behind his young newly-wedded wife.
on a higher embankment and our guns That upset me very much. He was rightly
had been deployed below the road in low awarded a Vir Chakra for his conspicuous
paddy harvested areas. This was a crisis gallantry in the line of duty for the nation.
situation. Our Dogra gunners had no Jessore an important town, would be
knowledge of Bengali but somehow they captured on the night of December 6/7, thus
could communicate our predicament to the enabling our PM to recognise Bangladesh as
locals who promptly took the initiative and a new nation. The world would soon follow
helped in carrying our ammunition boxes to suit.
the guns. A few villagers also brought cycle I was fortunate to enter Jessore at about
rickshaws and weaved their way through to 3am on December 7in a captured fire
get the ammunition boxes to the gun areas. tender vehicle of the Pakistan Army. It
Our guns were firing nonstop and the breech was a memorable drive with my Battery
of the gun was hungry to be loaded and fired Commander Maj Sudhir Misra and Capt
immediately. Instead of Hand to Mouth it Harwant Singh, to reconnoitre gun areas for
became Hand to Breech. the subsequent tasks.
Just a little later when the vehicular traffic We would then swing down south-east-
on the road got readjusted, it was a welcome wards and race to Daulatpur, Siramani and
sight to see the FAC of our 350 Inf Bde Flt Khulna, and capture it on December 17. The
Lt Savur, (later Air Marshal) come to my enemy did give stubborn resistance outside
gun position. He was of great help, when Khulna, but we finally broke their last-ditch
he voluntarily gave his own vehicles to stand.
ferry ammunition for us from the Mobile
Ammunition Point (MAP) across the road ‘The war is over’
about 500m away. That accelerated the On the night of December 16/17, 1971, I had
ammunition movement and we fired onto the great experience of taking my bty of six
and beyond Jessore. This enabled my bty guns, at 3am through a minefield, which had
to fire for an OP Officer Capt Kulkarni of just been breached by our engineers. Soon
another field regiment after the capture of after I had deployed the guns and opened
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #18 | DECEMBER 2020 25
