Narratives from the Heart of a Veteran by Lt-Gen Baljit Singh is a powerful account of extraordinary courage, sacrifice, and duty beyond the call
I wonder how many of those who would be reading this piece have heard of Subedar Kali Das of the 8th battalion of the J&K Militia. Perhaps not one unless he/she has read Narratives from the Heart of a Veteran by Lt-Gen Baljit Singh AVSM, VSM (Retd), which tells the story of his courage and sacrifice far beyond the call of duty. On December 7, 1971, Pakistani troops, supported by tanks, had attacked Dewa, a post near the battalion’s headquarters in Jammu & Kashmir. Defence having become unsustainable, orders to evacuate was issued at 14.45 hours on December 8. Retreat in broad daylight and under the eyes of Pakistanis who had their tails up, was not easy. They had to be held at bay with automatic fire as Indian troops made their way back.
It was then that Subedar Kali Das volunteered to stay back as a single-man rearguard. Trading his sten machine carbine for a light machine gun (LMG) and six to eight magazines of ammunition, he crawled into a bunker suitable for LMG firing and held the enemy back until he was shot dead. His raw courage drew admiration even from the Pakistanis. Baljit Singh says that after the ceasefire, they sent his body back in a coffin with a citation that read, “This is the body of Subedar Kali Das of 8 J&K Militia. He died while fighting very bravely in Area Tank ahead of Dewa Post.
He did not leave his trench to the last breath. After inflicting heavy casualties, he became a target of a Ghazi’s bullet. His badges of rank are available. A piece of paper was found in his pocket, revealing his name.”
Baljit Singh’s book carries a number of such accounts of outstanding valour and bravery displayed in combat. Among the more important of these is the one about 2nd-Lieut Shyamal Dev Goswamy’s role as Observation Post Officer in directing artillery fire against the Chinese attacking an important defensive position in Gurung Hill, guarding the airfield in Chushul, Ladakh, during the India-China border conflict of 1962.