Thread by @meemainseen

Second Battalion The Sikh Regiment
Raja Litta Raja Ditta
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With Gibraltar infiltration tackled India decided to push and attack Bedori Bulge on Cease Fire Line dominating Uri Poonch road
'Raja' was a formidable height south of bulge
An attack on this ridge had already failed

Lt Col Khanna to his Brigade Commander, '2 Sikh will give you Raja'
On ni 5/6 Sep, his unit crossed Forward Assembly Area, twin trees named Bhai Bhai at 0300
Later into the day, at Bhai Bhai trees, Hav Ujagar Singh will hand over lifeless body of the Colonel to Battalion Hav Maj

Raja was a formidable height and Col Khanna decided to go three company up
Everything that could go wrong went wrong that night Time of attack delayed to almost first light
Artillery rounds at max range fell short of objective & assault engineers carried nothing to clear the wire

30 mins past 5, with unit completely pinned down under intense fire something extra ordinary happened
CO of 2 Sikh broke cover, raised battle cry and rushed through wire and mines to the bunker in front
Even a splinter wound did not deter him
This 'turned the tables' for Indians

2 Sikh galvanized by their CO had a new spirit infused in them
Taking the lead they pushed upward in small teams from all directions
'The Monsoon War' tells us, 'Having seen their Col embracing the danger they kept up the attack with utter disregard to personal safety'

Col Khanna would later be hit by MG fire and evacuated from battlefield
That would not deter assaulting parties form pushing on to the objective
With 40 souls perished and 102 wounded they will win Raja at 0710 hrs

Col Khanna died somewhere between Regimental Aid Post and Bhai Bhai Twin Trees
He was cremated at Poonch a day later
His troops would say "Raja Litta Raja Ditta", meaning "In taking Raja Post we sacrificed our Raja (CO)"
Lt Col Khanna was posthumously awarded Maha Vir Chakra

there's more to our story

The Valiant Captain of Raja
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2 Sikh were all praise for a Pakistani Platoon Commander at Raja who kept up an aggressive posture by active appearance on front during the battle
His dead body was discovered and identified him an officer of Captain rank

The valiant Captain along with other dead soldiers were afforded a graceful burial by 2 Sikh near a Ziarat on a track leading from Raja defences
@capt_amarinder tells us that 2 Sikh War Diary does not record the name of the Captain but mentions he was from Zhob Militia

General Mahmud in his book on 1965 Indo-Pak War pens that Raja post was defended by troops from 4 Azad Kashmir Regiment
There's no mention of an officer killed in the battle
A nameless grave lies around Raja whom 2 Sikh remembers as a gallant Captain from Pakistan

for my readers interested to read this thread in the format of a blog, the story is on MANI JUNCTION

meemainseen.com/2019/09/2sikh-…

credits
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Pictures in this thread (where otherwise mentioned) come from 'The Monsoon War Young Officers Reminisce'
by @capt_amarinder & Lt Gen Tajinder Shergill, PVSM

A very fine article 'Winning the Raja Post from Pakistan' by @rwac48 is available at
newslaundry.com/2016/07/08/win…