New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has modified the provisions for grant of ordinary family pension. It will benefit kin of those who died in service. The existing requirement is continuous qualifying service of seven years. This requirement has been done away with and will apply with retrospective effect from October 1, 2019. Ordinary family pension at enhanced rate is granted for seven years from the date of death of the person. — TNS

Chandigarh: The Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) was successfully flight-tested on Monday by the Defence Research and Development Organisation from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. It met all objectives. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the DRDO scientists for the achievement.

Sixteen years later, the Indian Army has finally shrugged off the bogey of the PLA and is staring down at the Chinese at Ladakh with the sole objective of restoring status quo ante at all friction points along the line of actual control.

NJ Ravi Chander

My maternal grandfather, Lt M Dharmalingam, who served in the Madras Sappers, had an array of military stories in his repertoire. He fought in World War II not only in the lush, tropical jungles of Burma, but also in the searing sands of the Middle East. The war came at a terrible cost, with millions of casualties on both sides.

Grandfather was engaged in war duty in places as distant as Rangoon, Peshawar and Cairo. Away from home for interminable periods, his family had no clue about his whereabouts. With strict protocols in place, the regiment never disclosed the fate of the men until the war ended.

The North African Campaign beckoned him. Two battleships sailed out from the Madras port towards the Suez Canal. A bomber belonging to the Axis forces swept overhead and sank one battleship. On hearing the news, the alarmed relatives flocked to the Records Office of the Madras Regiment in Bengaluru, seeking details of the dead. But they returned empty-handed, given the strict disclosure norms in place. Grandfather’s fate remained unknown too, but he got to Cairo in one piece. During a fierce hand-to-hand combat, a captured Axis soldier had his head severed, the grisly trophy kicked around before adorning a pole in the middle of a street circle.

A hero’s welcome greeted the soldiers after their return home following the war. Regimental bands played ceremonial music, and eager friends and relatives thronged the railway station to garland them. There were scenes of jubilation, but one saw distraught faces too — reason: missing kin killed in battle or taken Prisoner of War (PoW). Thousands of Indian soldiers, taken PoW during the war and held in various parts of the world, arrived back home later and were presented letters of commendation by the government.

Grandfather and his family moved into the spacious regimental accommodation in Jalahalli, after his transfer to Bengaluru — close to the tent camps housing Italian PoWs. A Subedar Major pressed the prisoners into levelling pathways, digging trenches, building barracks, laying bridges, tracks, roads and airfields, and even for extricating venomous reptiles. Besides, they tended to the kitchen, garden, pigs and sheep. The football matches at the Garrison Ground, where Italian prisoners clad in boots locked horns against barefoot locals, attracted a full house. The authorities repatriated them after the hostilities ceased.

War-weary, grandpa put in his papers at age 45, but he was called back to aid the Army in quelling disturbances that broke out post-Independence. He served out the emergency period of a year before calling it a day.

A paternal uncle, Major Sampangi Raju, who also fought in WWII, took pride in showing off ‘marks of war’ on his body. Once, when he and a fellow soldier were riding atop an armoured tank with its hatch open, they came under heavy enemy fire. He dived head first into the mouth of the container. He escaped with a bullet in the calf muscle. His mate jumped in leg first and was shot in the head.

For us, these military stories are priceless.

Maj Gen Partap Narwal (retd)

The coming week was to be the busiest for us. As I went to bed, only my body lay down and rested; my mind remained occupied — thinking, imagining, planning. Suddenly I got up — how can the helicopter land there!

In 2012, I commanded the Horse Breeding Farm, Babugarh, a 200-year-old sole Army unit next to Hapur. The acres of land and the number of horses are in thousands here; and the syces from generations work in hundreds. The farm boasts of a pristine ambience, for which the Commandant and his team has no eyes, as their sight was fixed on getting more and more fodder for mares and foals for the Army — the latter being harder.

The mares in wild are prolific breeders, but in husbandry surroundings, they find the process burdensome. The Commandant faces umpteen challenges daily. The problems begin with the breeding season in February, as mares don’t show their amatory overtures. After days of efforts, when they are roped in for encounter with the stallion, the process is often repeated the following month. Still, after holding the pregnancy, they may lose it anytime. The losses are attributed to even frivolous reasons which may sound convincing only when read in textbooks. Considering such uncertainties, the Army Headquarters (AHQ) has set a target of getting 60 per cent mares gravid yearly by autumn. The past record of 15 years then showed the highest figure attained at the farm was 65 per cent.

Earlier that day, I had received a message from the AHQ that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) would visit us next week. He was to reach from Delhi by helicopter. I had thought of an open ground for landing, but lying in bed, I realised that the ground was close to mares’ paddocks and my memory flashed a textbook line: low flying aircraft can cause abortion in mares. How many pregnant mares out of hundreds may stick to this prophecy!

There was no other suitable landing site as the landscape was covered with trees, crops and electricity poles. The next morning, when I conveyed my apprehension, the AHQ also found it convincing. I suggested changing the mode of journey to the land route. But by evening, it was reported that the mode remained unchanged. When we contacted the flying staff, they reluctantly agreed to consider a crop-field for the landing site. Our search narrowed to an oat-field in the farthest corner, which was harvested for fodder. Ridges and furrows were levelled. The flying staff approved the site.

The dust storm from landing sent us scurrying behind staff cars. The visit went off as per the plan. Though the helicopter noise from that distance could not have threatened the mares, the thought of likely losses haunted us. When an AHQ-deputed team began checking each mare for pregnancy in November, we anxiously awaited the result. The team declared above 72 per cent mares in foal. The syces chortled, ‘We never heard of such results here… not even from our ancestors!’

Lt Gen GS Sihota (retd)

The chief ingredients in the composition of those qualities that gain esteem and praise are good nature, truth, good sense and good breeding. — Joseph Addison

INDIA lost a soldier-statesman in Major Jaswant Singh on September 27. After passing out from the Indian Military Academy in 1957, he joined the Central India Horse and served in the Army for 10 years. Jaswant Singh found his calling in public life after he first joined the Swatantra Party, later the Janata Party and then the BJP. He was one of the longest-serving parliamentarians. Atal Bihari Vajpayee utilised his talent by giving him the vital portfolios of Defence, Finance and External Affairs.

I came in contact with him as the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) when he was the Defence Minister. A man with impeccable manners, he was able to put everyone at ease in his presence and accorded them equal respect. Once I was to accompany him to an all-party meeting regarding a militant attack at the Jammu railway station. I was humbled and touched when he came out of his Parliament office to receive me. I could see that his secretary had been instructed to inform him of my arrival. This lesson in courtesy remained with me forever. He was highly articulate and had an expression for every occasion. His notings were a reader’s delight.

The defence forces will remain indebted to him for introducing and sanctioning schemes for the welfare of serving soldiers and veterans, including their families. His personal equation with the Prime Minister brought in quick sanctions and implementation. The Ex-serviceman’s Contributory Health Scheme gave a new lease of life to the retired community. The introduction of Married Accommodation projects provided much-needed homes to the families in peace stations. It was a great morale-booster!

He was an active participant in military discussions for re-energising strategies and tactics in the battlefield. His inputs to the Army after his discussions with eminent leaders abroad proved to be extremely useful.

He sowed the seeds of the much-needed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) by sanctioning the raising of the Integrated Defence Staff, the Andaman & Nicobar Command and the Strategic Force Command.

Major Jaswant Singh was a man of many parts. Though politics took up most of his day, he found time for horse-riding, which was his passion. He also found time to write. He left an indelible mark on the Indian defence forces and all those who knew him. As an Irving Berlin classic goes, ‘The song is ended, but the melody lingers on’.

Jammu, September 29

The Pakistan army violated ceasefire by resorting to heavy firing and mortar shelling in forward areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Tuesday, a defence spokesman said.

The Indian Army retaliated befittingly, he said.

“At about 0430 hours today, the Pakistan army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along LoC in Mankote sector,” the spokesman said.

The Pakistan army has violated the ceasefire 45 times this month.

An Army personnel was killed and two others, including an officer, injured as Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by using heavy fire and mortar shells along the Line of Control in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district a fortnight ago, officials said.

On September 2, a JCO was killed in ceasefire violation by the Pakistan army along LoC in Keri sector of Rajouri. PTI