From Battlefields and Beyond

There is much that one sees on the battlefield, it moves you to tears, shakes you and horrifies you…

For us, in the army, life was one big cycle, and it still is. However, we are taught to take things each day at a time. And one thing was certain, we always were ready for war. We could be given instructions at any given point, even on ludicrously short notices-but that was very much the norm. (pg12)

…around 10^th of September 1965, I got a call from General Bhatia at the crack of dawn, where I was informed that we would have to pack up and be on the move for the next couple of days. I was still not aware where we were headed for, until General Bhatia hopped into the car. I was told that we were headed towards the town of Adampur in Punjab, which is home to the second largest Air Force base in the country, next to Jalandhar. The intelligence reports that had come in suspected imminent attacks by Pakistan on the Adampur Air Field…The USSR had been supplying MiG fighter planes to India in vast quantities, which were safeguarded in the Adampur Airfield. Pakistan had launched diversionary tactics the previous night by launching paratroopers and firing small arms. We had to be prepared to witness the worst. General Bhatia decided to launch aircraft reconnaissance, and sent for Group Captain Lloyd, Station Commander of the Adampur Airfield… During this time, a call was received from Mr. Pratap Singh Kairon (the Chief Minister of Punjab), and it was learnt that the Finance Minister, Darbara Singh and other ministers were on the way to Adampur Airfield. General Bhatia would be required to inform Director General of Police (DGP) Mr. Ashwani Kumar, where the other ministers would also congregate to deliberate on crucial matters pertaining to wartime.

“I am leaving Captain Chatterjee behind to take care of matters. I’ll be meeting him at around one o’clock in the morning to check on the reports,” General Bhatia informed Group Captain Lloyd.

I stayed in the bunker -weapons were lined up. General Bhatia reminded me to follow Group Captain Lloyd’s instructions thoroughly, and to never act on an impulse. General Bhatia left at about 8 o’clock in the evening and within just a couple of hours later we could hear the screeching of siren, then the first wave of enemy aircrafts came and all hell was let loose. Small arms were fired from the side of the opponents from the fringes of the airfield and our ground troops retaliated in no time. An air assault was launched by the enemy, just like we had anticipated, but fortunately after having calculated every move, we had been able to outdo the enemy strategy. We had been careful not to allot all our forces to the diversionary attack that was launched, so that focus could be realigned towards combating indiscriminate aircraft bombing. One of the bombs exploded barely twenty meters from our bunker, and there were many soldiers scattered around in the vicinity. Several were decimated instantaneously. We lost a large number of troops due to bombing and strafing by enemy aircraft. I was there in the bunker along with Group Captain Lloyd and Colonel Coelho, who was the Air Defence in Charge, when we heard a blood curdling scream.

“Mar gaya! Mar gaya!” ( I am dying, I am dying)

Instinctively, I jumped out of the bunker  and ran the fastest I could to wherever I could trace the origin of the cry. The Group Captain yelled after me, prohibiting me from going , but I hardly seemed to be able to absorb anything else apart from the cries of help. One of our Junior Commissioned Officers, a Sardarji (Sikh) had been grievously injured and I began to holler for immediate medical assistance. Ambulances were parked beside the site of the bombing, and with some assistance from others, I was able to prop the injured JCO inside the vehicle, which took him to the hospital in Jalandhar.

“Inform the hospital right away that an injured JCO is on the way, delay no more!” I told the driver.

I was running back to my trench when I saw a Gurkha soldier, who was grievously injured on one knee, and yet supporting himself on one leg despite the seething agony while he greeted me; needless to say, I was left speechless at the act of reverence. The ambulance had just left, and he made no noise about his wound that was worsening by the minute! I immediately made arrangements so that he could receive speedy treatment at the hospital. Once I had returned to the bunker, I informed the Group Captain about the situation…

“You should not have risked your life the way you did, Captain Chatterjee.”

“ My profession treats death like no stranger, and with so many lifeless bodies around us, how is mine any more valuable?”

After the Pakistani air-raid was over disorder was quelled for the time being. I headed towards the residence of the DGP to report to General Bhatia. A huge congregation of the most eminent political personalities of the state were gathered, and I was asked about the rate of casualties.

“Twenty dead, and about forty injured.”

Mr. Darbara Singh enquired about the situation in details, but General Bhatia was aware of the fact that not a drop of water had passed my lips in about twenty four hours, and he insisted that I go back and eat my first meal of the day. After I had my first meal of the day, I gave out the details of the event that I had experienced during this evening. I also told them that the number of casualties might increase.

General Bhatia was driven to Jalandhar hospital the following morning as he wanted to check up on Sardarji and Gurkha Johnny. The JCO’s operation was successfully done and we were told that there was nothing to worry about; we went to visit the Gurkha Johnny next, who was humming a tune to himself while combing his hair holding a small pocket mirror.

“Kuch nahi Sir, chhoti si hi chot hain pairon mein, ! » (Don’t you worry Sir, it’s only such a minute injury on the legs!)

General Bhatia was surprised at his nonchalance for his own life, truly does service in the army relegate your own life below the superior ambition of serving the motherland. (pgs. 63-66)

Excerpts from Col. A.K. Chatterjee, SM (Retd), COLONEL-A life in service. From Battlefields And Beyond: Life of A Soldier, A Diplomat and A Hospital Administrator. (Power Publishers, September 2023)

This incident is from the time when as a young Captain, he was serving as the ADC to the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, Maj. Gen. S.N.Bhatia, posted in Ambala.

Colonel Chatterjee’s engaging account of over 200 pages of a fascinating life and career, ends with his profound observations:

“This passage of life has seen me through the best and worst of times. I have been through an evening with the Maharaja and Maharani of Faridkot, who sincerely treated us with excellent music and superb dinner, as also spending the night after the dinner in a bedroom in the palace of the Maharaja of Bharatpur. On the other hand, I also spent a terrifying time in an abandoned Chinese trench on the Sela Pass,(a mountain pass in Arunachal Pradesh) in the open sky far below freezing point, in the middle of the night. Also, at the workplaces in the Army, as a soldier in the Indian High Commission as a diplomat and all over the country and abroad as a hospital administrator. “