WHEN BOYS BECOME MEN AND CRAZY KG

One of the earliest memories of my tenure in Roaring Forty was an incident that occurred when I was a subaltern in 403 Med Bty at Woodcock Ridge in East Sikkim.  One afternoon in the winter of 1971, our bty which was deployed in support of 27 Mtn Div in East Sikkim, received orders from the Regimental HQ to mobilize for moving for the impending operations in East Bengal as it was known then. Rumours had been afloat of such a move as part of mobilization for the Indo-Pak conflict, for quite some time, and hence one was prepared when the order came. On receipt of orders, the Battery Commander ( BC ) Maj KG Sharma,  Crazy KG as he was known,  directed me as the GPO ( Gun Position Officer) to cease fire as the guns were deployed in gunpits, and get ready to move. I acted immediately and ordered Cease firing. Thereafter the guns were prepared for being taken out of the pits. One by one we took turns to supervise the actions, that is me and my tp cdr Capt AK Datta ( AKD). Once AKD returned after getting ready I went to get ready myself. It was while in the bathroom that I heard something swish past my hut. Being in my Adams suit, I could obviously not run out but all the hue and cry being raised led me to believe that something was seriously amiss. I quickly cut short my bathroom reverie and dressing rather hurriedly rushed out to the gun park. There I was aghast to learn that a gun had accidentally slipped out of control while being taken out of the pit and had rolled down the ridge towards the location of the Arty Brigade ( Bde) some three or four hundred feet  below. The swish I had heard was the sound of the gun whistling by, and, God had it but taken my route, I would have flown in my Adams suit and not be there to narrate this. By the time I reached the Gun pit my BC, Crazy KG, the Bty 2/i/c Capt VSR Patil and of course Capt AKD were all there, yelling orders and trying to bring normalcy to an otherwise calamitous situation. It must be remembered that Guns were our colours and there was no greater sin for a gunner than losing his gun. The shame that followed would be very difficult to survive. KG as was his won’t immediately took charge and commenced salvage operations. He sent VSR and AKD to the brigade location down below to chech on the gun and damages caused if any and instructed me to continue with the task of removal of the other guns from the pit. As a rookie officer I was amazed at the calmness he displayed and the professional manner he went about the task. VSR and AKD returned with the news that the gun was okay. It had stopped a wee distance away from the Commander Arty’s bunker and had suffered or caused hardly any damage. KG now swung into action in right earnest. He ordered a Kraz, the gun towing vehicle to be anchored in the gunpit and had another winched to it. Now the loc of the bty was very peculiar. As it was mountainous terrain the gun pits were all at different levels and the roads were running right around the location. The whole area was covered with frozen snow which made the operation difficult because of the slippery surface. KG however was unruffled. He asked the local EME wksp offr to come, who willingly obliged, and together worked through the night slowly winching the gun up. The whole operation lasted over eight to nine hours. The incident had occurred at 5 p.m. the previous day but come daylight the gun was back in its rightful place and the job well accomplished. Once accomplished KG informed the CO at the units loc at a place called Menla about 17 kms from Gangtok. The CO was furious for the delayed information and more importantly at not having mobilized and moved as ordered. Disciplinary action against all of us was a near certainity, but providence in the form of the Cdr Arty Bde of 27 Div intervened. He rang up the CO next morning to complement him on having a set of such committed officers and men who not only braved the rigors of a Sikkim winter night but had more importantly saved the Gunners and the Unit from disgrace by taking immediate action to retrieve the sacred colors. Had it been there the next day not only would it have become public but would have brought great ignominy for the Gunner family in general. He wanted the CO to commend each one of us for our actions. The CO though thought otherwise, but luckily had to abort any thought of any further action. Of course, no credit was given to any of us nor any mention made of this by the Tiger, as all Cos’ are known in fauji parlance.  Much later we learnt that the Cdr himself had walked upto the gun position at night and had stood watching our salvaging operation unnoticed by any of us then.

During that night I was to get my first lesson in what it means to lead from the front and take charge as the ‘boss’ of the situation. Secondly the other point that was made is despite the fact that the mistake was partly due to the detachment’s sloppiness, the BC as the leader never lost his cool and, on the contrary, supported the men and stood by them during the adversity. That action was taken at a later stage, is another point though. He never let his seniors bull doze his men. A leadership quality of the highest order. I was lucky to serve with KG who moulded my man management skills and I owe it to him for having made me a successful commander. His comd would die rather than see their cdr dead, was the credo that prevailed then. Such offrs’ are rare and I hope the emerging lot will take lessons from this and see that the Chetwode motto of Putting the Comforts of the men ahead of own comfort is practiced in letter and spirit and not merely etched on walls and posters.

I cannot forget that night of 71 and even now get goose bumps when I think of it.