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Bullets didn’t stop this soldier
Brigadier (Retd) NS Sandhu braved three bullets in his leg for two days but did not give up his mission. Despite death of several colleagues, Sandhu kept on fighting till the mission of capturing Dera Baba Nanak (DBN) Bridge over Ravi river in Pakistan was accomplished.
While DBN is a border town, the double-decked bridge falls in Pakistan territory, used by enemy to forward arms and tanks towards the international border. Sandhu said DBN could have given Pakistani forces easy access to Jammu & Kashmir.
“If captured by Pakistan, DBN would have given the enemy flexibility for developing operations either towards Amritsar via Ajnala or cut-off our forces by capturing Beas bridge via Batala. Pakistan could have developed offensive equally towards Dina Nagar in Gurdaspur, thereby cutting all our communications with J&K,” he explained.
On December 3, 1971, when war was declared, Sandhu-commanded 10 Dogra Regiment launched the operation against Pakistani forces.
During the intervening night of December 5 and 6, Sandhu’s battalion captured the Pakistan Rangers posts guarding the border. Sandhu lost four men, including Captain DS Ahlawat, who managed to overcome the continuous resistance from a Pakistani post.
Sandhu kept moving and was himself hit in the leg hours before they could capture the bridge. In terrible pain, he kept his team going and managed to attain his objective. Ceasefire was declared on December 16 and Sandhu was taken to Amritsar Military Hospital.
He was later awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for displaying leadership and devotion to duty of a very high order during the war.
Brigadier (Retd) NS Sandhu braved three bullets in his leg for two days but did not give up his mission. Despite death of several colleagues, Sandhu kept on fighting till the mission of capturing Dera Baba Nanak (DBN) Bridge over Ravi river in Pakistan was accomplished.
While DBN is a border town, the double-decked bridge falls in Pakistan territory, used by enemy to forward arms and tanks towards the international border. Sandhu said DBN could have given Pakistani forces easy access to Jammu & Kashmir.
“If captured by Pakistan, DBN would have given the enemy flexibility for developing operations either towards Amritsar via Ajnala or cut-off our forces by capturing Beas bridge via Batala. Pakistan could have developed offensive equally towards Dina Nagar in Gurdaspur, thereby cutting all our communications with J&K,” he explained.
On December 3, 1971, when war was declared, Sandhu-commanded 10 Dogra Regiment launched the operation against Pakistani forces.
During the intervening night of December 5 and 6, Sandhu’s battalion captured the Pakistan Rangers posts guarding the border. Sandhu lost four men, including Captain DS Ahlawat, who managed to overcome the continuous resistance from a Pakistani post.
Sandhu kept moving and was himself hit in the leg hours before they could capture the bridge. In terrible pain, he kept his team going and managed to attain his objective. Ceasefire was declared on December 16 and Sandhu was taken to Amritsar Military Hospital.
He was later awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for displaying leadership and devotion to duty of a very high order during the war.
