Thread by @CestMoiz

Here's wishing Happy #WalongDay to the heroes of 6 KUMAON.
They went to their deaths heroically & steadfastly, without any fuss, this day in 1962.
Just so that a General could please a PM on his birthday.

This day in 1962 - The only attack of the war by Indian army was launched - As a birthday gift from a General to a PM.
A heavy price was paid by the Kumaonis of 6 Kumaon that night.
#WalongDay

Denied even one day to prepare for the attack, they went in as ordered.
Out of the over 200 men that had gone into the attack, only 90 returned.
#WalongDay

That very night, the Chinese returned the compliment - attacking the positions that the Kumaonis had occupied less than a day earlier.
#WalongDay

Yet, the now depleted defenders repelled this attack, inflicting heavy casualties on the PLA.
Before the second attack, 4 Dogra reinforced them, having broken through blocking positions established by Chinese.
#WalongDay

The second attack too was repulsed, but the position fell on 16 Nov 1962 morning in the third attack.
6 Kumaon earned FIVE Vir Chakras this single day
#WalongDay

6 Kumaon ended the war with 400+ casualties, including fatal, injured and PoW.
More than half the battalion strength ..
#WalongDay

Also stubbornly holding onto THEIR land in Walong were men of 4 Dogra, 4 Sikh & 3/3 GR.
The Chinese had to pay dearly for EVERY INCH they advanced towards Walong.
#WalongDay

The Walong Brigade proved a stubborn foe for the Chinese that winter.
Fall they did, ultimately, but with honour intact.
#WalongDay

This piece was published in Pune Newsline in 1998.
Very moving.
I still retain the original cutout.
Download, zoom and read.
Worth it.
#WalongDay

"Walong Will Never Fall Again"
1962 War Memorial by the Lohit Brigade ..
#Respect
#WalongDay

Asleep in the Mishmi Hills - The poignant epitaph of those who died in Walong in 1962.
Walong will NEVER fall again
#WalongDay

Hav Kirpa Ram, 4 SIKH, Equipment & Boot Repairer, decorated with Vir Chakra (Posthumous) for exceptional heroism during the battle of Walong.
He was National level hockey player
#WalongDay

^^
Here's his story.
#WalongDay
newslaundry.com/2016/06/21/hav…

Chinese have three large cemeteries on their side across Walong - A testimony to the stubborn defence put up by the ill-equipped Indian Army that winter 60 years ago
#WalongDay

A blog post - The Battle of Walong
Worth a read
#WalongDay
improveacrati.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/the…

1962 War:

RezangLa
Walong
Kibithu
Nuranag
BumLa
LagyaLa Gompa
Sirijap

Wherever Commanders didn't panic & actually led their men, the Indian soldier stood like a ROCK.

#Fact
#WalongDay

God bless the Indian soldier.
All he asked that winter was good leadership.
Wherever he got that, he gave an excellent account of himself, even if at the cost of his life..
#WalongDay

Plugging in this newspaper article to clarify any doubts regarding the last line in the first tweet of this thread.
#WalongDay
deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/…

Plugging this account of the Battle of Walong by @HeroesUniform
#WalongDay

A summary of the Battle of Walong, compiled by @rathinmathur - Short, concise and eminently readable.
Highly recommended.
One can't even begin to imagine what kind of men those were, that fought to their last breaths, despite everything going against them.
motherlandmagazine.com/military/6-kum…