Page 302 - Leadership in the Indian Army

the six Gurkha regiments that were to remain in India, while four were
transferred to the British Army. Till then, Indian officers had not served in
Gurkha regiments, and the sudden departure of British officers left a void

that had to be quickly filled by posting officers from other regiments.
Initially, these officers had a difficult time, since none of them knew
anything about the customs and background of the men, nor could they
speak Gurkhali. Unlike other regiments, where the VCOs knew English and
could therefore act as a link between the officers and the men, very few of
the Gurkha officers (as the VCOs in Gurkha regiments were then called)
knew English. The Regimental Centre of the 5th Royal Gurkhas, which was

at Abbotabad, was moved to Dehradun, where most of the other Gurkha
regimental centres were located. After joining the Indian Army, the
appellation ‘Royal’ was dropped, and the spelling of the word ‘Gurkha’ was
also changed to ‘Gorkha’ in February 1949. Bakshi joined the Centre at
Dehradun, where Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Niranjan Prasad
was posted as the Centre Commandant.

In March 1948, Bakshi was posted as Brigade Major of 163 Infantry
Brigade. The coveted appointment of Brigade Major is normally given to
officers who perform well on the staff course. Bakshi had not done this
course, but he was given the prestigious appointment due to the shortage of
staff-trained officers after the British departed. 163 Infantry Brigade had
been initially raised as ‘Z’ Brigade at Srinagar in the spring of 1948. At that
time, there were three brigades in the Kashmir valley, which were part of

the Sri (later 19) Division under the command of Major General K.S.
Thimayya. 161 Infantry Brigade had been inducted in October 1947, soon
after Pakistani tribesmen had entered Kashmir. After pushing back the
tribesmen, it had remained there throughout the winter. 77 Parachute
Brigade had arrived in May 1948, and 163 Brigade had been raised at about
the same time. In the summer of 1948, after the snows melted, a general

offensive had been planned to drive the enemy out of Kashmir valley.
According to this plan, 161 Brigade was to advance on the Uri–Domel axis,
and 163 Brigade on the Handwara–Tithwal axis. The commanders of 161
and 163 Brigades were L.P. Sen and Harbaksh Singh respectively, while 77
Brigade was under Hira Lal Atal.
163 Infantry Brigade was given the task of advancing towards Tithwal,
clearing enemy opposition en route and recapturing lost territory, including

the strategic town of Tithwal. The brigade comprised four infantry