Battle of Walong: Story of Army's bravery that would continue to inspire generations

His is a story of raw courage, bravery, endurance, love to serve the nation and above all a never-die spirit, that has given a soldier space in the history books of the Indian Army. Though the setback India suffered during the 1962 Indo China conflict would remain etched in our memories, but there are many stories that would continue to inspire several generations across the country.

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An inspiring tale 

One such story is of the battle of Walong - Walong in Arunachal Pradesh is the easternmost town of India which shares close proximity with Tibet region.

Battle of Walong is the only counter-attack that Indians managed to launch in the war, but the Indian army had to withdraw, as it could not sustain. By 8 am on November 16, 1962, Lt Colonel Madaya the commanding officer of 6 Kumaon observed that ammunition with the defenders at Tri Junction had almost exhausted and 50 percent of the braves were martyred.  Col Madaya ordered pull out from Tri Junction. 

“Maj Grewal (Gary) with remnants of two platoons of B Company and survivors of two platoons of D Company was holding the few trenches still in our possession, asked Col Madaya to leave first along with his boys, giving them a lead time of one hour” recalls Brigadier Kuldip Singh (retd) who had joined the army as a young officer. After half an hour, Gary told me to leave with 5-6 walking wounded and on meeting our CO Col Pathania down below to apprise of the action at Tri junction. He would hold the Tipy with two LMG teams and keep the Chinese at bay” he said.

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Brig Singh remembered Col Pathania as an outstanding battlefield commander. “By then, the enemy had encircled the position. My group of 5 boys and I slithered down a vertical rock at the rear of Tri Junction, clutching some plants, tufts of grass to break our fall. The Chinese had come on top and fired at us. We shot back a couple of rounds with our rifles and rushed down the ridge, heading to the Brigade Check Point (CP) at Yapak Nala- Lohit River junction”, he said.

He said that the Movement parallel to and above Yapak Nala was against the lay and grain of the country and thus very tough. “But we were very fit and tough and by 5 PM we were about 2 km short of the Check Point when we hit a gorge”. Brig. Singh said that it had got very dark, and the team could not find a way to skirt gorge and hunkered down for the night.  At night, Naib Subedar Tarlok Singh of 6 Kumaon Mortar Platoon along with two boys joined my group. At dawn of November 17, we skirted the gorge and were about a kilometre from the CP, when we heard long bursts of machine-gun fire and shell bursting at CP” he said.

He said that he surmised that they would run into the Chinese if the team ventured to the CP.  “Surrender was not an option. We would die fighting but would not give up in keeping with the honour of the Paltan and family. Thus, I decided to move across the high mountains to reach Hayuliang which by the Valley track was about 100 km away. Using map and compass, I drew a line from my location to Hayuliang, and that read 270 degrees. We set out on that magnetic bearing and thus began our 13-day Odyssey”, he recalled.

He said that the entire team carried  .303 rifles with a few rounds of ammunition for use during an encounter with the enemy.  “We did not come across any local/tribal till the penultimate day. At lower spurs we ate flowers and leaves; at higher reaches, we had lumps of snow. But this did not quell our hunger pangs. I have immense faith in Gurbani, and when not talking to boys I constantly recited path/scriptures from our Holy Book” he recalls.

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He said that through sheer will power, dogged determination, never-give-up spirit and above all with God's Grace, they reached friendly lines. “Hayuliang then held by 4 Assam Regt. I was the only officer from Tri Junction who made it through an extremely tough and challenging Odyssey”, he said.

“We went up spurs, down the ridges, crossing gushing nalas. At lower altitudes, spurs were covered with dense forest absent any tracks or trails. The area was interspersed with deep ravines, impassable bluffs, our movement was very slow as we had to part creepers/bushes with bare hands as we had no khukris or machete. We endured the elements: strong winds, heavy rain, sun and snowfall” he said. He said that the Angola shirt, jersey pullover, cotton trousers and rubber sole jungle boots were most inadequate to withstand the rigours. 

“Often, we slept on wet forest floor with crawly, creepy creatures for company. Most of us carried wounds of varying degrees, we had had not a morsel of food since the morning of November 15” he said. Brig Singh said that it was a test of human endurance, will power, dogged determination and never say die spirit. 

“My group exhibited all these qualities. we were physically and mentally very tough. I always led from the front and kept the morale of the boys high. Around the fifth day, We were ambushed by the Chinese when I lost our brave Sepoy Ran Singh, walking beside me. The remainder of the group escaped and we rushed to the higher reaches of mountains”, he said.

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