Page 116 - Leadership in the Indian Army

subsequent operation of clearing the Japanese from Kohima. Shortly
thereafter he was posted to 9/14 Punjab at Imphal as second-in-command.
The battalion was part of 20 Indian Division.

At this time 20 Indian Division, along with two other divisions, was
trapped in Imphal, having been surrounded by the Japanese from all sides.
The divisions had to rely on IAF for their supplies as well as for the
evacuation of casualties. Thorat got a lift in a cargo plane carrying live
goats—also called ‘meat on hoof’—for troops. He requested his CO to give
him command of a company for a few days, so that he could get the feel of
the ground and the troops. The CO agreed, and he was given charge of a

company. However, after a few days, the CO had to be evacuated and
Thorat assumed command of the battalion.
Thorat recalls an interesting anecdote concerning his orderly Nandu, who
was utterly fearless. During an attack, Thorat and the Artillery Forward
Observation Officer (FOO) started moving towards a vantage point,
followed by Nandu, who was carrying a bedroll on his head. They suddenly

found themselves under fire from the Japanese artillery, and a salvo of five
or six shells landed close by. Thorat and the FOO dived for cover, but
Nandu kept walking. Thorat shouted: ‘Nandu, you idiot, why don’t you
throw away that bedding and take cover?’ ‘Throw the bedding down?’
Nandu shouted back. ‘And what will happen to the thermos which is inside?
How will you get your tea at the other end?’
In November 1944, 20 Indian Division was ordered to concentrate west of

the Chindwin river for the final push into Burma. Thorat marched with his
men through terrain that had been heavily mined by Indian troops during
the retreat from Burma. In spite of extensive mine clearance, there were
many casualties by the time they reached the Chindwin. Just then Thorat
received a signal posting him, on promotion, as CO of 2/2 Punjab, also
called the 69th Punjabis, in the Arakan.

In Maungdaw at the time, 2/2 Punjab was recuperating after being badly
mauled in the famous Battle of Buthidaung. The CO, Lieutenant Colonel
Middleton-Stewart, along with several other men, had been killed in an
unfortunate accident while debriefing a patrol. This, coupled with the
casualties suffered during the Buthidaung battle, had considerably lowered
the morale of the unit. Thorat was the first Indian officer to command the
battalion, which was almost 200 years old, and he knew that he would have

to gain the confidence of the men as well as the officers before they would