Tsangdhar: Indo- China Ops 1962

I used to notice the Shepard loitering in the brigade complex and the DZ at Tsangdhar and then suddenly one day he vanished. Was he a Chinese spy? Who can say!

Speaking of spies some were definitely operating in that area Hony
Capt Ram Chander Singh the then 2IC of C Coy of 2 Rajput deployed
against the Chinese in the valley of Namka Chu then Subedar had told me in December 1999 at Jaipur that the two porters given to him during the move of 2 Rajput from Tawang to Tsangdhar were in actual fact Captains in the Chinese Army a realisation which dawned on him when he once again encountered them in the POW camp. However as recorded earlier it is also said that in the Tea Shop at Chako short of Bomdila on the Misamari- Tawang route where all the up going and down coming military traffic stopped to take a break had two Chinese Girl spies serving tea to those who had not seen a decent looking women for sometime. I do have a faded recollection of the shop as if seen from some distance.

The local employed in the Brigade Officers Mess as a helper was privy to all the mess talk through the backroom gossip of the mess staff was also latter suspected by some to be a Chinese spy. However I can not vouch for the authenticity of these stamens.

It seems that Indian intelligence was also active in that area and
one operative had managed to contact the Indian prisoners in the
Chinese POW camp post 20th October 1962 and managed to obtain the
details of the prisoners according to Ram Chander Singh who was
instrumental in preparing the list.

Tsangdhar Rememering 9 Punjab 1962 Op Leghorn
My parachute shelter had become the reporting centre for all the
officers fetching up at Tsangdhar. I had a long look at the serpentine columns of Chinese troops moving down the slopes of Thagla across the valley through the telescope of the range finder set- up by the mortar battery as a tourist attraction. Tsangdhar DZ at 14500 feet a forbidding landscape surrounded by high
features and with the massive Thagla Ridge not far across the narrow valley of River Namka Chu at first sight did not look very friendwaly to me. It was early in the month of October and it had not started to snow as yet. However it was bitterly cold. With no suspended dust particles or haze in the rarefied air every thing appeared unnaturally clear and sharp.

The exceptionally bright sunlight had painted the rugged landscape
with innumerable light and dark patches with razor sharp edges. The light and dark brown of the rocky landscape with just a sprinkling of the green of the stilted by cold rhododendron bushes contrasting sharply against the deep blue of the clear sky all this combined to make the wilderness of Tsangdhar even more harsh. It presented a sight which was totally alien to any of my previous visual and physical experiences.

What a Dussehra! I walked into Tsangdhar at about 9am on the morning of 9th the unfamiliar view combined with the effect of the forced march over the difficult terrain without food or rest and the lack of oxygen did make me feel a bit woolly in the head. It appears that I had no time to worry about these things. Some sketchy entries in my diary indicate worries and problems and very little about personal thoughts except that Nar Bhadur is looking after me and that I slept under a shelter made of parachute. My worries at this point of time according to the entry were as usual of fuel and oil (73 NL HD 10) for the charging sets and batteries without electrolyte essential to provide and maintain communications. I spoke on Radio with Maj Ram Singh about the problem. I shifted the Section location to a better site. It had started snowing by evening. There was some small arm's firing at Bridge IV also what sounded like mortar fire could also be heard.

It was the next day that the famous skirmish between the Chinese and Major Choudhry and his boys of 9 Punjab took place at Senge Jong all happening in view of the Indian Top Brass. Corps Commander downwards had gathered at a vantage point from where they had a grandstand view of the action. The Chinese got a bloody nose due to the grit and surprise sprung by the Punjabis. (For details of the action one could refer to Chapter XV of Brig Dalvi's Book 'Himalayan Blunder')

T K (TK GUPTA the G3 of the Brigade)I, '… Kaul had reached Dhola
Post on 8th October and ordered a company of 9 Punjab to move on to the Western (Sengjung) spur of Thagla Ridge as a firm base for further operations. By now it was obvious the Chinese were building up their strength of infantry and artillery at a furious pace as they had an advantage of a motorable road up to their side of Thagla Ridge. Their strength could have been about a Division with artillery pieces which we could see with naked eyes. As to the 9 Punjab company at Sengjong the inevitable happened. The company was attacked by a much larger force that practically annihilated the Punjabis. The wounded remnants trickled back– it was a sorry sight indeed. At this point Gen Kaul decided to leave Dhola post for his Headquarters at Tezpur…'.

I had a long look at the serpentine columns of Chinese troops moving down the slopes of Thagla across the valley through the twin eyepieces of the periscope setup by the mortar battery as a tourist attraction. Firing was going on since morning yet we had not woken up to the reality it was still a make believe war at best happening to some one else. I soon lost interest in the goings- on I had my own problems and got busy and how to overcome the same.

Suddenly I was called urgently to the telephone; the BM Maj Kharbanda was on the remote of the commander's Rover speaking from 1/9 GR location. down below. There was this urgent requirement of line communication from Tsangdhar to I/9 GR where the Commander had stationed himself and from there to 2 Rajput and 9 Punjab the other two battalions spread along the river Namka Chu.

Brig lakshman Singh VSM (Retd)