The Indian Army and badassery go hand in hand. There’s no dearth of gallantry tales of war heroism when it comes to the soldiers of our soil. From the treasure chest of valour, this is the story of Piru Singh who literally ran amuck on the Pakistani soldiers during the Indo-Pak war of 1947.

Born in Rajasthan in a family where joining the military was a tradition, Piru Sigh Shekhawat enrolled in the 6 Rajputana Rifles on 20 May 1936. The Jammu And Kashmir operation of 1948 saw the Pakistani army mount a strong counter offensive on the Tithwal sector. The Indian Army suffered another setback after they were forced to vacate certain forward positions at Kishanganga. The Indian Army buckled up to hit back with Rajputana Rifles’ soldiers called upon for action.  The Pakistani army held a high feature (post) that gave them an eagle eye’s view of our troops. To make any further progress, acquiring this post was a must. Sadly though, there was no other way but to run straight towards the post to launch an offensive.

The path to the post was about one metre wide with deep ravines on either side. The platoons were divided into D and C companies with Piru in lead of the D company. Unfeeling of the danger ahead, the D company launched its attack. As expected, they took heavy head on fire by a machine gun post and as many as 51 soldiers were martyred. Piru Sigh, enraged after the loss of his brothers, literally ran towards the havocking gun post with his sten gun taking down anything that came in his way. Enemy grenade splinters ripped open his clothes but he eventually took over the post silencing the machine gun. He looked back and realized that all of his companions were dead. Now he was to snatch the hill post all on his own.

He marched ahead and was soon hit by a grenade that almost tore open half his face blurring his vision. Ignoring the grueling pain, Piru hurtled on with ‘Raja Ramchandra Ki Jai’ as his war cry and lobbed grenades in three enemy trenches before finally taking a bullet to the head and giving the supreme sacrifice. Piru not only killed at least 10 Pakistani soldiers but also completed the mission he was assigned. The hill post now belonged to the Indian Army!