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Seven-hour battle that won India Tiger Hill
By SP Singh in Ghaziabad
Wednesday, 18 May , 2005, 11:50

Yogendra Yadav, an Indian Army soldier instrumental in capturing the strategic Tiger Hill during the Kargil War, has been provided with a plot of land in Lajpat Nagar Colony of Ghaziadbad by the Uttar Pradesh Government.

Yadav, who was awarded Param Veer Chakra, the country's highest gallantry award, spoke about how jawans captured Tiger Hill in an exclusive tete-a-tete.

It was 10.30 am on July 5, 1999 at 16,500 feet above the sea level. We were 25 soldiers of 18 Granadiers unit of the Indian Army.

Earlier, we were ordered to advance to capture Tiger Hill from Drass Sector. After scaling the rocks for three nights, we were just 50 metres below Tiger Hill.

As chance would have it, a stone slipped during our scaling operation. As the stone rolled down, it provoked heavy crossfire from the Pakistani bunkers which were just 10 meters above us.

Due to the heavy firing, 18 of our jawans and officers had to retreat. Now, we were seven jawans near the Pakistani bunkers. We were in a precarious situation, neither could we advance nor retreat.

We had to wait for the right opportunity. By then, Pakistan had deployed a company of 135 jawans on top of Tiger Hill.

After the firing stopped, we (seven of us) slowly began advancing to capture the Pakistani bunkers, just 10 metres away from us.

At about 11.30 am we opened fire at the bunker and gunned down four Pakistani soldiers. After we captured the Pakistani bunker, the Pakistan Army from the top of Tiger Hill sent 10 jawans to assess strength.

Tiger Hill was just 40 metres away from us. As they moved near, we gunned down eight of them.

Two escaped and reported back to their bosses that there were seven of us. After the preparations at 11.30 am on the same day, 100 Pakistani Army men attacked our bunker.

The attack was fierce, though we could gun down 35 Pakistani soldiers, we lost six Indian jawans. I almost got my ammunition exhausted and the supply wasn't possible from the below. I carried 25 kg ammunition with me.

It was a very critical time. I was the sole survivor with six of my colleagues already dead. I was amid the corpses of Indian and Pakistani soldiers.

The Pakistani troops thought they had destroyed the Indian Army below the Tiger Hill. To ensure that all Indian jawans were dead, they shot at the bodies of Indian soldiers.

I sustained about 15 gunshot injuries on my legs, arms, thigh and in other parts of my body. The Pakistanis were sure that I was dead.

Then they took away the weapons from the bodies. But one soldier forgot the grenade that lay in my pocket.

Meanwhile, I regained consciousness. And after that things moved fast. I took out my grenade, pulled the pin and threw it at the enemy. It fell in the enemy's cap which was hanging behind his neck.

It exploded before he could react. After the explosion, his body was blown off in the air plunging the Pakistani Army camp into confusion - they thought that the Indian Army had attacked.

By then, I picked up the Peeka Rifle of a Pakistani soldier lying nearby and I opened fire which left five Pakistani soldiers dead.

After my attack, the enemy camp thought that it was the Indian Army which had attacked them. I heard the order on their wireless to retreat from the Tiger Hill and further heard the instruction to attack the Indian MMG-base 500 metres below Tiger Hill.

My main task was to save the MMG base. But by that time, I had lost too much blood and was unable to stay conscious.

I decided to move through a drain. I dumped myself in the drain covering my head. Now within five minutes I was below 400 meters and I saw my boss Lieutenant Balwan.

He rescued me. I told him that the Pakistanis wanted to attack the MMG-base and had vacated Tiger Hill.

On this tip-off, the officials deployed Charlie and Delta at Tiger Hill and deployed Bravo to save MMG base.

After a few minutes, Pakistani forces attacked MMG base in which all Pakistani soldiers were killed since we had the prior information and Delta and Charlie captured Tiger Hill.

Now it was 5.30 pm when I met Lieutenant Balwan. The war of seven hours. This is how we won Tiger Hill!

Yadav, a resident of Aurangabad Ahir under Bulandshahr District UP is a 25-year-old soldier. While Yogendra and his elder Jitendra have been in the Army since December 1996, his younger brother Deepak is a student. Yogendra had lost his father two months ago. His mother Shanmta Devi looks after the family farms.

Link

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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

Rani Lakshmibai

I still have the July edition of India Today (albeit ripped and worn looking) that spoke of Yogendra Yadav's bravery (as well as Neikezhakuo Kenguruse, Vikram Batra etc.). But I hadn't heard the full story of his heroism until today.


To say the least, what he did was amazing. To continue to engage the enemy even after been wounded 15 times by enemy fire. I salute him. JAI HIND!!!

Asim Aquil

Wow! Amazing! This is 'unbelievable!!'

Aryan

Nice story, but I don't believe a word of it.

Aryan

Also, whats a Peeka rifle?

bull

God knows! Movie style!!

__________________
What's the difference between people who pray in church and those who pray in casinos?
The ones in the casinos are serious.

Jay

Why?? Becoz it wasnt quite like MM Alam and his heroics

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A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

hammer

yeah , wasnt he the guy who shot down 5 enemy fighters under a minute . Now thats a story Aryan would love to believe.

Jay

Its either this....

PK Series 7.62-mm General Purpose Machine Guns
The 7.62-mm general-purpose machine gun Pulemyot Kalashnikov (PK) is a gas-operated, belt-fed, sustained-fire weapon. The PKM fires 7.62 x 54R rimmed cartridges using a metal non disintegrating belt. The basic PK model is bipod-mounted. It is fed by a 100-round belt carried in a box fastened to the right side of the receiver. It weighs 9 kilograms and is 1,161 millimeters long. It is constructed partly of stamped metal and partly of forged steel. The PKS is a PK mounted on a lightweight (4.75-kg) tripod. It uses either a 200- or 250-round belt. The belt feeds from a box placed to the right of the weapon. The PKT is the tank-mounted version of the PK. Late-model FSU tanks, turreted APCs and IFVs, and amphibious scout cars mount it as a coaxial machine gun. It has a longer and heavier barrel than the PK. It also lacks the PK's stock, sights, bipod, and trigger mechanism. The PKT has a solenoid at the rear for remote-controlled firing, although it also has an emergency manual trigger. The PKB is a variant of the PKT. It is intended for use as a pintle-mounted gun on APCs and SP guns. It differs from the PKT by having a butterfly trigger rather than a solenoid trigger and by having double space grips and front and rear sights. The PKM is an improved, lighter version (8.4 kilograms) of the PK, using stamped metal components instead of machined metal. Joinable 25-round sections of non-disintegrating metallic belts feed the bipod-mounted PKM. An assault magazine attached to the rails under the receiver can carry 100 cartridges belted in this way. Either 200- or 250-round belt boxes can also feed the PKM. The tripod-mounted PKMS is a lightweight version of the PKS. It has the same characteristics as the PKM, from which it is derived. The effective range of the PK-series machine guns is 1,000 meters. They have a cyclic rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute and a practical rate of fire of 250 rounds per minute. Ammunition types include the following: ball, ball-tracer, armor-piercing incendiary, armor-piercing incendiary-tracer, and incendiary-ranging. It normally fires from its bipod mount but can also fit in vehicle firing ports. The PKS and PKMS are also infantry weapons. Used as heavy machine guns, they provide long-range area fire. Their tripod provides a stable mount for long-range ground fire. The tripod opens quickly to elevate the gun for antiaircraft fire. The machine gun has an effective range of 600 meters against slow-moving aircraft. The PKT serves as a coaxial machine gun on most modern Soviet tanks, IFVs, and APCs. The PKB (PKBM) serves as a pintle-mounted gun on older armored vehicles such as the BRDM, BTR-50, and BTR-60.



Lot of pigs use this type in Kashmir, so it very well may be it...



Or this...
SMG PK, Type 1 & 2

SMG-PK can be used for close quarter battle (CQB) and is popular among paramilitary personnel, signal personnel, para-jumpers, SSG, officers on special duty, military police and civil law enforcing agencies.
Caliber 9mm x 19 Parabellum
Magazine 15 round magazine
Type of fire Single & automatic
Rate of fire 900 RPM
Weight of weapon 2.0 kg

indianguy4u

Aryan read the thread on PAF in 65 & 71 wars .Hopefull u will believe that dont u ?
Or even that would be unbeliveable

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Hala Madrid!!

oneman28

Sounds like a good Bollywood story.

Jay

you think its better than the Chinese PR pics.... great then!!

oneman28

Rambo is even better. Who cares except for fun.

Rani Lakshmibai

Who are these knuckleheads who are putting Yadav down? There is no evidence, not even circumstantial, that says that he might be lying.

Bollywood movie? Please. It's more like your Hollywood movies.

Jay

Oneman only like Chinese PR soldiers and empty DF tubes

So I can see why he's so upset about Yadav