Page 304 - Leadership in the Indian Army

400 kilometres in 80 days, and traversed some of the highest passes in the
Himalayas. For this feat, he was awarded the medal in 1949, and became
the first recipient of the medal after Independence.

After completing his tenure in 163 Infantry Brigade, Bakshi was posted
back to the Regimental Centre at Dehradun in July 1949. Early in 1951, he
was posted to 2/5 Gorkha Rifles, which had moved to Dehradun recently,
after short tenures in Meerut and Jhansi. The battalion was under the
command of Lieutenant Colonel Niranjan Prasad, who had brought it to
Jhansi from Hyderabad, where it had taken part in the Police Action in 1948
and then stayed on for internal security duties. In April 1951 the battalion

moved to Jandiala Guru in Punjab, as part of the 43 Lorried Brigade. While
he was with the battalion, Bakshi appeared for the entrance examination for
Staff College, and after qualifying, was nominated to the Fourth Course at
the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, which commenced in
October 1951. He performed exceptionally well and was recommended for
an instructional appointment in his course report. After completing the

course in August 1952, he was posted as Brigade Major of 123 Infantry
Brigade. He remained in this appointment till October 1955, a posting of
well over three years. He thus had the distinction of not only completing
two tenures as Brigade Major, but also an unusually long stint in this
coveted staff appointment.
After his tenure with 123 Infantry Brigade, Bakshi was posted to 2/5
Gorkha Rifles, which was then located at Mahura in the Uri sector of

Jammu and Kashmir. In April 1958, he was posted as an instructor to the
Infantry School, Mhow, where he remained for almost two years. In
January 1960, he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel and posted to the Staff
College in Wellington as an instructor. During his tenure there, Major
General (later Field Marshal) S.H.F.J. Manekshaw, who was the
Commandant, had to undergo an inquiry ordered at the behest of Lieutenant

General B.M. Kaul, the CGS. The charges related to Manekshaw’s so-called
anti-Indian views, and Bakshi was among the officers who were questioned
by the Court of Inquiry headed by Lieutenant General Daulet Singh. None
of the charges could be proved, and the inquiry was dropped.
Bakshi had completed about a year-and-a-half at Wellington when, in
August 1961, he received orders posting him as CO 2/5 Gorkha Rifles,
which was then in Calcutta. The battalion had been ordered to move to

Silchar, but these orders were cancelled and they were sent to the Congo