This day in 1962; soldiers of 13 KUMAON regiment, under the command of the legendary 

Maj. Shaitan Singh fought valiantly to "last man - last round".Maj. Shaitan Singh & 

his men stood their ground till dead & defeated by the Chinese onslaughts. Only 10 men 

of the 124 valiant were alive though handicapped severely in various forms. The history 

of the KUMAON is alive with the ferocity of the epoch REZANGLA battle where there was no 

sign of panic or withdrawal under signs of certain defeat. Accounts of those who visited 

REZANGLA, three months later stand testimony to this as "the dead soldiers were found in 

their trenches, frozen stiff still holding their weapons & grenades in their hands. Broken 

LMG bipods, and some men holding only the butts of their rifles while the remaining weapons 

had blown off, bore witness to the enemy's vicious fire. The grateful army honored 

Maj. Shaitan Singh with the highest war time gallantry of Param Vir Chakra. The mortal remains 

or whatever was left of the 114 soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice could be recovered only 

after three months.

THE TRIBUNE

P.S:

As a war widow, I felt the need to write this, since my husband also was commissioned into the KUMAON Regt.