Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat

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Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat

Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat was born in Rampura Beri- Churu Rajputana on 20 May 1918. He was enrolled on 20^th May 1936 in the 6 Rajputana Rifles.

That time the army was called British Indian Army. In the summer of 1948 during the j&k operations Pakistani forces mounted a strong counter offense in tithwal. They also forced Indian forces to leave their forward positions across the Kishanganga river and take position on Tithwal ridge. The 6^th Rajputana Rifles was moved from Uri to Tithwal. This  was done  to strengthen the 163 Bde in its impending offensive in the sector.

Indian offense was started on July 11^th 1948 and went on till 15^th of July. According to

The reconnaissance reports the enemy  was holding a high feature in the sector and

its capture was important for making any progress in that sector. There was another  feature further ahead also held in strength by the enemies.

Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat

The task of capturing these two features was assigned to 6^th Rajputana Rifles. The ‘D’ Company was supposed to secure the first feature and  The ‘C’ Company was supposed to capture the second feature after the ‘D’ Company had carried out the mission. On July 18^th at 0130 hrs The ‘D’ Company launched its attack. The path to the objective was very narrow only one meter wide and had deep ravines on both sides. Overlooking this path were  hidden enemy bunkers. They were subjected to heavy enemy fire. In just half an hour the company suffered 51 casualties. Piru Singh Shekhawat was in the leading section of the company where more then half of the strength was mowed down by the heavy enemy fire.

Piru Singh Shekhawat rushed forward to combat the enemies MMG post, which was causing heavy damage to his troops. Piru Singh Shekhawat was wounded, Enemy grenade splinters ripped open his clothes and wounded several parts of his body. But this did not stop him. He  continued his advance, shouting the battle cry, “Raja Ramchandra Ki Jai”. He bayoneted the enemy crew of the MMG, with his own sten gun. He silenced the gun and captured the post. By this time all his fellow soldiers laid behind either dead or wounded.

The entire responsibility of clearing the enemies from the hill laid on his shoulders alone. He was bleeding heavily due to his injuries but he still moved forward to capture the second MMG post. During this attack a grenade wounded him in the face. He was bleeding so profoundly that it almost blinded him. He was also out of ammunition but that didn’t stop him.

He courageously crawled out of the occupied enemy post and started throwing grenades at the next MMG post. He then jumped into another trench and bayoneted two enemy soldiers to death. As CHM Piru Singh, emerged out of the second trench to charge on the third enemy bunker, he was hit in head by a bullet and was seen dropping on the edge of the enemy trench. There was an explosion in the trench, which showed that the grenade had done its work. By then CHM Piru Singh Shekhawat’s wound had proved fatal. “He paid with his life for his singularity brave act, but he left for the rest of his comrades a unique example of single-handed bravery and determined cold courage. The country is grateful,” wrote Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to Mrs. Tarawati, 75-year old mother of Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat, “for this sacrifice made in the service of the Motherland, and it is our prayer that this may give you some peace and solace.” Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat was honored with the highest wartime gallantry medal, Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.

CITATION

COMPANY HAVILDAR MAJOR PIRU SINGH PVC Citation