RAISING MY ‘SECOND’ FAMILY

RAISING MY ‘SECOND’ FAMILY

By

Maj Gen VK Singh

          Leaving my first family in Jhansi, I was sent to Hisar in November 1982 to raise a second one. The day I reached, on a cold winter evening, the family comprised five members, four officers and one jawan. The officers were used as runners while the Signalman did our cooking. The first officers’ mess was in a cook house still under  construction and the CO’s office was under the sun, with a rum crate for a chair. There was no stationery or typewriter, so letters were sent to Divisional HQ written in hand, on the back of Miltrunks dockets, which we had borrowed from a neighbouring unit. Everyone was under canvas, and the area being susceptible to dust storms, we spent a lot of time pitching uprooted tents. But there were plus points. Anyone who reported sick, even for a cough or cold, was sent to Delhi, where the nearest MH was located!

          We were extremely proud of the fact that we were the only one of our kind. The unit was the country’s first and only mechanized divisional signal regiment. In Jhansi, the unit slogan was ‘Thirty One, Second to None.” We had to coin new one for the Mechanised Division: “Taintees Mech, Number Ek”. With ‘mechanised’ being replaced by armoured, I am sure it must have changed now. The GOC, Major General LB ‘Marshal’ Sondhi was from the first JSW course. He had been given the nick name Marshal because his course mates felt that if anyone of them ever became a Field Marshal, it would be him. Unfortunately, he suffered a massive heart attack soon after handing over command of the Division. As Colonel of the Sikh Regiment, he was traumatised by the mutiny in 1984 after Operation Blue Star and this had its effect. But he was full of go and a large share of the credit for the shape of things in Hisar must go to him.

          After a few months, the GOC announced a competition for designing the formation logo. There were three rounds of presentations. Most of the suggestions had predatory animals, as was the custom in most armoured formations. But he wanted something different. The final design was his own – Dot on Target. He also composed the divisional song, which each unit had to sing at a ceremonial parade during annual inspections. During his time, entertainments in the mess by officers and ladies were forbidden, the exception being the divisional song. At the first Raising Day on 15 November 1983, he presented an expensive chiffon saree to each of the ladies who had sung the song. Hisar was a field station, and some ladies had driven over from Delhi, Chandigarh and nearby stations to join the celebration. Of course, champagne was served, in true mechanized style.

          We were quite jealous of the armoured and mechanised units which had been given large sums of money by their Colonels of the Regiment during raising. Signals Directorate gave us Rs 10,000/- which appeared to be pea nuts, when compared to others. Fortunately, an accident came to our help. The SO-in-C came to visit the unit and was having lunch with us in the Officers Mess, which was under a store tent. There was a violent dust storm and the tent pole fell across the dining table, breaking it in two. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the SO-in-C was convinced that we were in bad shape. On return to Delhi, he sent us a substantial amount for the Officers Mess.          

          An incident which I recall occurred during an exercise. I usually accompanied the GOC on his ICV during exercises. We were sitting on top, with the Commander Artillery who had joined for a discussion. The communications were not every good so the GOC asked me to raise the height of the rod aerial. Due to the large number of power lines in the area we had a strict rule that aerials must be kept short. However, the GOC insisted and we raised the height. The ICV started moving – it was night time – and suddenly as we went over a dune the aerial touched an 11 KVA power line. We thought we had been struck by lightning and stopped in out tracks. It was only after we saw the power lines with a torch that it dawned on us that we had had a very narrow escape. Needless to say, the aerials were lowered, and never raised again.

          Raising a family has its tribulations, such as sickness, accidents and scraps. We had more than our fair share, I think. Major Gupta, sparrow of 39 Brigade, fell off the Command ICV during an exercise at night and injured his back. When the others realised his absence, they reversed the ICV, almost running over him. One OR died when the tent fell on him during a sand storm dragged him for some distance. The newly constructed overhead water tank in the unit collapsed, killing a labourer who was sleeping under it. The officers’ tents located nearby had been moved just a day or two earlier.  The unit had a bit of a trouble when 600 rounds of sten ammunition was found to be missing during annual range classification, which was being conducted in Faridkot. Since this happened soon after Blue Star, all hell broke loose. An officer from MI Directorate landed up to investigate. A staff court of inquiry was held and fortunately it became clear that the ammunition had been short when packed. 

          When I left the unit in March 1985, we had been fully raised and could hold our own with the best in the business. In fact, were better off than 1 and 31 Armoured Divisions, since our equipment was completely new. Plan AREN equipment had started coming and we were one of the first beneficiaries. During my subsequent visits to the unit, I always found some improvement, the credit for which must go to our successors. The Regiment has developed an unique ethos of its own, which is rare in Signals. I hope it remains that way.

30 Apr 2009