It would come as no surprise that “Jugaad” ; improvisation, make-do, whatever we may choose to call it; has come to settle as an (unofficially) accepted principle of war for the Indian Army, more so for us Sappers. Whether it is forced upon us by virtue of our “slightly” retro equipment, or due to the vagaries of combat or simply because “Bhoop Singh” wants to do his job faster and more efficiently, it is a fact that “Jugaad” has probably won more battles, eliminated more Anti National Elements and conducted many more successful exercises than any other Army training or operational doctrine!!
Training in “Jugaad” operations begins at the infancy of one’s career in the army. All ex-NDAs are well versed in the art of cooking anything from Maggi to Rogan Gosht employing nothing more than a 50W Bajaj Iron and a mess tin. Indeed, it is a well recorded fact that the Americans suffered massive casualties in World War II during the beach landings at Normandy for the sole reason that they refused the use of modified tanks, which actually proved invaluable when used by the British on their respective beach heads.
“Jugaad” was validated perhaps nowhere better than in Operation Parakram, when the Corps of Engineers threw up scientists and innovators galore who came up with enough variety of contraptions to embarrass the Wright Brothers. The “Pakis”, I am sure, would have been thoroughly surprised at the sight of odd looking equipment that appeared out of the blue, especially during the de mining ops.
Dozers that looked like the NASA Mars Rovers with a myriad of attachments; JCB’s with hammers, rammers, blowers and 101 other force multipliers; would have looked like a direct threat to even the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. Robocop-like creatures covered with “Jugaadised” visors, helmets, shin guards, neck guards, back guards, miscellaneous guards and mine shoes and prodders would have terrified the Pak Rangers, more so the fact that they were all crowned with that weapon of choice that has terrorized many enemy armies on numerous battlefields for the last 300 years or so – the PAGRI !!!
Not that the classic task of close support to Infantry lags behind at all. An episode stands out rather prominently in my memory. Somewhere along the Line of Control, an obsolete 75/24 Artillery pack Howitzer was inducted into a lofty post manned by redoubtable Gurkhas, for imparting special treatment, by direct fire, to two enemy posts across. As usual, the Sappers had spent many a night under very unnerving mortar fire and even more irritating snowfall getting the monster up, in dismantled condition with it’s ammunition, along a newly cut Animal Transport track. They were naturally dismayed when the Artillery Observation Officer informed them that the sights were broken and that the gun thus could not be used. This piece of tactical intelligence threw the Gunners, Gurkha “Daai’s” and the “Thambi Sappers” into an on-the-spot “Jugaad” committee. A used meat tin was then “Jugaadised” into a modified gun sight by slicing off both ends to make it hollow and clamping at one free end, two pieces of binding wire to act as cross hairs. This Gun Sight 4J (Mod- Jugaadised) was then simply placed in the open breech block, the gun thus aligned, the humble tin removed before and presto – “Gun fire ke liye taiyar hai shreeman” ! Needless to say, the gun fired over 40 rounds the next night and white flags with plenty of smoke went up at both targets!!
Such instances are endless. For the sake of brevity and conciseness, it can safely be concluded, without offence to any Army Brass that “Jugaad” is, has been, and will remain an integral part of our ops in both fd and peace. On a more serious note, however, it underlines the fundamental concepts of Improvisation, Ingenuity and Initiative which are so essential in today’s challenging fast moving battlefield environment, All readers are thus encouraged to continue with this noble tradition. Hopefully, some of you lucky ones will see the 75/24 Gun someday !! Who knows ??
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A Memorable Memorial
Of late, there have been a few voices raised for the building of a National War Memorial to honour those of our comrades who have made the supreme sacrifice for the Nation. There is indeed no nobler profession than that of the arms in which a uniformed soldier will, if necessary, willingly lay down his life for a National cause.
I was recently fortunate to be part of a United Nations peace keeping Mission in Sudan. It was on one of my exploratory weekend outings around Khartoum, the capital city along the Nile river that I chanced upon a rather well maintained Commonwealth War Memorial, with grave stones bearing Regimental insignia and a wall bearing some names. On curious inspection, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the wall had upon it, row upon row of names of those Indian soldiers who had died in action in battles in Eritrea and Sudan in the Second World War and whose bodies were never recovered. Interestingly, while all other nationalities were on one side, it was the memorial to the Indian soldiers that occupied a central place of honour. In addition to being magnificently maintained, complete with a lush green lawn in Sub-Saharan climate, I learnt that the memorial was visited by a Commonwealth delegation for a wreath laying ceremony every year.
It was poignant to note that these were not merely names, but a roll call of heroes who had lived up to the best traditions of their Regiment and Army; men who had laid down their lives fighting for a colonial ruler on a foreign battlefield. Most touching was the fact that, after so many years, it was the same former colonial power that continued to unhesitatingly, and regularly honour even those foreign soldiers who fought, and died, under its flag at its bidding. Obviously, I spent the rest of the evening giving a gist of the Indian Army’s history to two fellow “Blue Berets”- German army officers who had accompanied me to the War Memorial and who could not figure what on earth a War Memorial to dead Indian Army soldiers was doing in Africa !!
Later, I could not help, but compare with the story back home, where no National Memorial exists for those men in uniform who died defending not a foreign interest, but the very sovereignty and honour of an independent India. The only heroes are those that did'nt come back. What do we, as a Nation, do to remember our heroes who fell? Call them "dogs"? Maybe we don't really deserve our heroes. Maybe we all have a tendency to forget and move on, but there definitely was a lesson in martial pride and rememberance to be learnt in that modest little graveyard tucked away in the corner of a dusty African city. While it certainly made me feel prouder of the uniform I wear, perhaps it is a message that the powers-to-be may wish to keep in mind. Who know, someday, we may have our very own National Memorial too??
I was recently fortunate to be part of a United Nations peace keeping Mission in Sudan. It was on one of my exploratory weekend outings around Khartoum, the capital city along the Nile river that I chanced upon a rather well maintained Commonwealth War Memorial, with grave stones bearing Regimental insignia and a wall bearing some names. On curious inspection, I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the wall had upon it, row upon row of names of those Indian soldiers who had died in action in battles in Eritrea and Sudan in the Second World War and whose bodies were never recovered. Interestingly, while all other nationalities were on one side, it was the memorial to the Indian soldiers that occupied a central place of honour. In addition to being magnificently maintained, complete with a lush green lawn in Sub-Saharan climate, I learnt that the memorial was visited by a Commonwealth delegation for a wreath laying ceremony every year.
It was poignant to note that these were not merely names, but a roll call of heroes who had lived up to the best traditions of their Regiment and Army; men who had laid down their lives fighting for a colonial ruler on a foreign battlefield. Most touching was the fact that, after so many years, it was the same former colonial power that continued to unhesitatingly, and regularly honour even those foreign soldiers who fought, and died, under its flag at its bidding. Obviously, I spent the rest of the evening giving a gist of the Indian Army’s history to two fellow “Blue Berets”- German army officers who had accompanied me to the War Memorial and who could not figure what on earth a War Memorial to dead Indian Army soldiers was doing in Africa !!
Later, I could not help, but compare with the story back home, where no National Memorial exists for those men in uniform who died defending not a foreign interest, but the very sovereignty and honour of an independent India. The only heroes are those that did'nt come back. What do we, as a Nation, do to remember our heroes who fell? Call them "dogs"? Maybe we don't really deserve our heroes. Maybe we all have a tendency to forget and move on, but there definitely was a lesson in martial pride and rememberance to be learnt in that modest little graveyard tucked away in the corner of a dusty African city. While it certainly made me feel prouder of the uniform I wear, perhaps it is a message that the powers-to-be may wish to keep in mind. Who know, someday, we may have our very own National Memorial too??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)