The Parachute Regiment | Para | Commando
The Parachute
Regiment is an airborneforces and specialforces regiment of the Indian
Army.
World War 2
The first Indian airborne formation was
the British Indian Army's 50th Parachute Brigade raised
on 29 October 1941, consisting of 151 Parachute Battalion (consisting of
British troops), 152 Parachute Battalion (consisting of Indian troops) and 153
Parachute Battalion (consisting of Gurkha troops) alongside other support
units.
Lt. (later Col.) A.G. Rangaraj, MVC, of the
Indian Medical Service and RMO of 152 Parachute Battalion, became the first
Indian along with Hav. Maj. Mathura Singh to make a parachute descent. In
1942-43, the formation saw limited action at Nara against Pathan tribals
in the North-West Frontier Province and
conducted some intelligence-gathering missions in Burma, utilizing their
somewhat limited airborne capabilities. In August 1943, the 154 Parachute
Battalion was formed from troops from the 3rd battalion, 7th Gurkha
Rifles and assigned to the 50th Parachute Brigade. In
March 1944, 151 Parachute Battalion was transferred to Britain, renamed as 156
Parachute Battalion, and assigned to the 4th Parachute Brigade of
the 1st Airborne Division. The
50th Parachute Brigade, without 154 Parachute Battalion, then saw extensive
action at Sangshak and later in the Imphal plains
on the Burmese border against two reinforced Japanese divisions. 154 Parachute
Battalion had not completed its air training, so stayed back to attain airborne
status.
During the Battle of Sangshak (21–26 March 1944),
which lasted six days, the brigade suffered extremely heavy casualties,
totalling 40 officers and VCOs and 545 other
ranks, winning the appreciation of Lt. Gen. William Slim,
the commander of the British Fourteenth Army. The
breakout on the night of 26 March 1944 saw the remnants of the once-proud
parachute brigade fight its way south and then west through the
Japanese-infested jungles to Imphal. It achieved its task of preventing the
flanking Japanese forces from surrounding Imphal and destroying IV Corps. Despite the losses it suffered
in Sangshak, the paratroopers formed ad hoc units and continued to participate
in actions to destroy Japanese forces near and around Imphal until its
withdrawal at the end of July.
Later in 1944, the brigade was expanded to
form the 44th Indian Airborne Division as
the original 9th Airborne Division was to be named because the 44th Armoured
Division (whose services were no longer required in the Middle East theatre of
war) was to be converted to an airborne unit. The two ad hoc brigades from the
Chindit operations, 14th and the 77th, were included to form the division. The
original plan was to have a battalion each of British troops, Indian troops and
Gurkha troops in both the parachute brigades, with the 14th being converted for
the airlanding role, though there is little known about gliderborne training or
operations in India. 14th was later to be converted for the airborne role.
The Governor General's Bodyguard (GGBG)
joined the airborne fraternity and was named the 44th Airborne Division Reconnaissance
Squadron. 9 Field Regiment (RIA) and other support units too were inducted.
60th Indian Parachute Field Ambulance which till then had been in Burma and
performed well, was selected to augment the medical element for the formation.
The 44th Indian Airborne Division was finally designated the 2nd Indian
Airborne Division in 1945. The plan was to raise an entire airborne corps with
the British 6th Airborne Division (of
D-Day/Normandy fame) to be brought to India as the second divisional formation,
but the war ended before it could materialize.
The Indian Army's Parachute Regiment was
officially formed on 1 March 1945, consisting of four battalions and an equal
number of independent companies. The regiment's first airborne action was
towards the end of the war, when a reinforced Gurkha Parachute Battalion was
parachuted into Burma at Elephant Point on 1 May 1945, as part of Operation
Dracula. The battalion performed well earning the respect of all,
including the critics of airborne warfare. Despite the performance in Operation
Dracula, the Parachute Regiment was disbanded in late 1945 as part of the
reduction and restructuring of the post-war British Indian Army. However, they
retained their airborne role and formed part of the airborne division.
Indian independence
After independence and partition, the airborne division was divided between the armies of India and newly formed Pakistan, with India retaining the Divisional HQ and the 50th and 77th Parachute Brigades, while the 14th Parachute Brigade went to Pakistan. The 77th Parachute Brigade was later disbanded. Thus, the Indian Army retained only one airborne formation, the 50th Parachute Brigade. This brigade consisted of three distinguished battalions from different regiments: the 1st battalion, Punjab Regiment (Para), the 3rd battalion, Maratha Light Infantry (Para), and the 1st battalion, Kumaon Regiment (Para). These battalions had been carrying out parachute duties after the disbandment of the regiment in 1945, and had continued to wear the uniform of their parent regiments except for a change in headgear to the maroon beret, and in order to distinguish them from the other battalions of their regiments, the word 'Para' was added after their names.
Mountaineering and South Pole Expedition
The Parachute Regiment has
historically been active in the field of mountaineering. The late Capt. (later
Col.) Avtar Singh Cheema of 7 Para was the first
Indian atop Mount Everest in 1965. Capt. Abhijeet
Singh from 7 Para also summited the peak while Col. Saurabh Singh Shekhawat of 21 Para
(SF) scaled the peak thrice in 2001, 2003 and 2005, and has also scaled peaks
in the French Alps and in Africa. Col Sarfraz
Singh of 6 PARA led a seven-member team of Nimas to the world's highest peak on
20 May 2018.
A Parachute Regiment team scaled Nanda Devi in
1981 when they attempted both main and east peaks simultaneously. The southwest
face of Nanda Devi East was climbed for the first time, but both climbers,
Premjit Lal and Phu Dorjee, were killed in the descent. Three others – Daya
Chand, Ram Singh, and Lakha Singh – also fell to their deaths, leading to the
highest ever number of casualties on the mountain.
Maj. Jai Bahuguna, a famous climber of
the Corps of Engineers who
died on Everest, also served with the 50th Parachute Brigade. Maj. (later Maj.
Gen.) Mohammed Amin Naik and Capt. (later Col.)
Anand Swaroop, also of the Corps of Engineers, summitted Nanda Devi in 1993.
Maj. N. Linyu of 60 Parachute Field Hospital is the first female airborne
officer who has participated in numerous expeditions in the Himalayas. She
summited Everest in May 2012, and is also an accomplished skydiver.
Col. J.K. Bajaj, an EME officer serving with the 50th
Parachute Brigade, who commanded 2 (Independent) Parachute Field Workshop,
became the first Asian to ski to the South Pole with the Overland International
Expedition to plant the Indian flag at the South Pole on 17 January 1989. Col.
Balwant Sandhu and Col. J.K. Bajaj have commanded the Nehru Institute of
Mountaineering in Uttarkashi.
On 1 May 1952, a training wing of the Parachute Regiment was
formed at Kota under the Brigade of the Guards Training Centre and thus started the direct recruitment
and training of recruits for the Parachute Regiment. The regiment started
augmenting its strength from 1961. About the same time, in order to ensure a
better intake of recruits into the regiment, the raising of a training centre
was authorized on 13 March 1963, and the Indian government accorded sanction
for raising of an independent training centre. The executive order for raising
the Parachute Regiment Training Centre was received on 22 June 1963. The
Parachute Regiment Depot and Records was redesignated as the Parachute Regiment
Training Centre, then located at Agra
Fort. The first batch of recruits from the Rajputana
Rifles, Rajput
Regiment, Sikh
Regiment and Dogra
Regiment started arriving in the training battalions located at
Kheria Camp On 26 September 1963, the Parachute Regiment training wing at Kota
joined the Centre. On 5 February 1965, the centre moved to Morar
Cantonment, Gwalior. The centre, in addition to conducting training of Parachute
Regiment recruits, was also responsible for all parachute training. For this
purpose, a Parachute Holding Wing was established on 1 April 1966. The Para
Holding Wing was responsible for carrying out basic and reservist training for
all active and reservist paratroopers. In wartime, the Para Holding Wing had
the added responsibility of providing transit camp facilities for the launching
of an airborne operation. On 5 June 1967, the Personal Accounts Office (Other
Ranks) of the Parachute Regiment also moved from Mathura to Gwalior. On 2
October 1975, the Parachute Regiment Training Centre, Records and PAO(OR) moved
to Agra. On 15 January 1977, the erstwhile Para Holding Wing was disbanded and
additional staff and vehicles were authorised to the Parachute Regiment
Training Centre to carry out all of the above functions of the Para Holding
Wing. The Para Holding Wing continued functioning from Kheria and its old name
was retained. The Para Holding Wing thereafter merged with the Army Airborne
Training School, Agra on 15 January 1992. On 15 January 1992, the Parachute
Regiment Training Centre along with the Records and PAO(OR) moved to Bengaluru and occupied the erstwhile location of the Pioneer Corps and Training Centre.
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