Page 300 - Leadership in the Indian Army

who was fond of drinks and rarely sober. He promptly said that Bhandari
Ram would be lucky to survive. But he was wrong. Bhandari Ram not only
lived, but became a hero.

After the operation, Bakshi reported to Major Usman, who was officiating
as CO since Fairlay had left and the new incumbent, Lieutenant Colonel
L.P. ‘Bogey’ Sen, had yet to arrive. Usman decided that Bhandari Ram
deserved a VC, and when the new CO joined next day, requested him to
forward Bhandari’s name for the award. Sen did forward Bhandari Ram’s
name, but for the Indian Order of Merit (IOM), which ranked much lower
than the VC. Usman felt that this was not fair, and since he had been in

command when the action took place, insisted that his opinion be taken into
account. In the end, Usman went to the Brigade Commander, who agreed
with him and Bhandari Ram was awarded the VC.
In January 1945, 51 Infantry Brigade took part in the Battle of Kangaw,
which was one of the hardest fought battles of the Burma Campaign. The
Brigade Commander, Brigadier R.A. Hutton, was awarded the DSO, as

were all three Commanding Officers of the famous ‘All Indian Brigade’,
i.e., S.P.P. Thorat, K.S. Thimayya and L.P. Sen. Zoru Bakshi was mentioned
in dispatches, and this was the first in a string of gallantry awards that he
was to win in different wars over the next 30 years. After cessation of
operations in Burma, the battalion was sent back to India for rest and refit,
and was located at Pollachi near Madras. But it did not stay in India for
long, and was soon moved to Malaysia with the rest of the division.

However, the Japanese surrendered soon after they landed, and the battalion
was given the task of looking after prisoners of war. It remained in
Malaysia for about a year before being repatriated to India.
In August 1947, Bakshi was posted to the Punjab Boundary Force, which
had been set up to maintain peace in the Punjab. The task of dividing the
state had been entrusted to Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who was expected to finalise

the alignment of the boundary by 15 August 1947, when Partition would
come into effect. Anticipating that the announcement of the boundary
award would be accompanied by large-scale disturbances, a special force
was set up to maintain order when this happened. With its HQ at Lahore,
the Punjab Boundary Force was placed under Major General T.W. Rees,
who was commanding 4 Indian Division. It comprised a force of about 25
battalions, drawn from different regiments, with the staff and troops of 4

Indian Division forming the nucleus. Rees had senior officers of the rank of