Page 269 - Leadership in the Indian Army

done the staff course, he was posted to HQ Delhi Area as GSO 2 (Ops). The
GOC was Major General Tara Singh Bal, and the tactical HQ was in the
Red Fort.

After a short tenure in Delhi, Sagat was posted as Brigade Major to 168
Infantry Brigade, which was then in Chhamb. From this appointment, he
was reverted to regimental service in 1954, and posted as second-in-
command, 3/3 Gorkha Rifles, then being commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel P.S. Thapa. The battalion was located at Bharatpur in Rajasthan,
which was Sagat’s home state. In November 1954, it moved to Dharamsala
as part of a brigade which was under the command of Brigadier (later

Lieutenant General) P.O. Dunn, who was from the same regiment and had
commanded 1/3 Gorkha Rifles earlier.
In February 1955, Sagat was promoted Lieutenant Colonel and given
command of 2/3 Gorkha Rifles, which was then at Ferozepore in the
Punjab. He relieved Lieutenant Colonel Nand Lal Kapur, who had come to
the regiment from the Rajputana Rifles. Before Independence, Gurkha

regiments were officered only by the British. In fact, British officers
seemed to feel that Gurkha troops would refuse to serve under Indian
officers. After Independence, four of the 10 Gurkha regiments were
transferred to the British Army, while the rest remained in India. However,
all Gurkha soldiers were given the choice of serving either in the British or
the Indian Army. It came as a surprise to the British that 90 per cent opted
to serve in India, under Indian officers. The 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th Gurkhas

became part of ‘The Brigade of British Gurkhas’. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th
and 9th Gurkhas remained in the Indian Army, and were renamed the
‘Gorkhas’, which was their correct ethnic name. Officers from other
regiments of the Indian Army were posted to replace the British officers,
who left for home. The majority came from regiments that had been
transferred to Pakistan, such as the Frontier Force and the Baluch Regiment.

2/3 Gorkha Rifles was then part of 167 Infantry Brigade, which was being
commanded by Brigadier Badshah. In October 1955, the battalion moved to
Jammu, and soon thereafter Sagat was nominated to the senior officers’
course at the Infantry School, Mhow. In December 1955 he handed over
command to Lieutenant Colonel J.P. D’Cunha, who came from his erstwhile
battalion, 3/3 Gorkha Rifles. After completing the course, on which he was
an awarded an instructor’s grading, Sagat was posted as CO 3/3 Gorkha

Rifles, in which he had served as the second-in-command. The CO of 3/3