Outstanding tank man of Jhajjar’s Gochhi village

Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd)

A community hall in Beri village in present day Jhajjar district has an old black marble stone, on which the names of men (from the then Tehsil of Rohtak district), who laid down their lives in the service of the nation, are engraved. 

The long list has the names of soldiers from villages, mostly around Beri, the sons of soil who went beyond the call of duty and hence honoured for their bravery during World War I and II. A close look at the list reveals that Gochhi village tops in the number of brave-hearts. Gochhi village, incidentally, has another unique distinction; it has the maximum number of families with a military background, some even going back five generations in defence services, mostly in Armoured Corps. 

Second Lieutenant (2/Lt) Avtar Singh Ahlawat, a second generation soldier, who was awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry of a conspicuous order during the 1971 conflict with Pakistan, had his roots in Gochhi. His father Late Major KS Ahlawat also served in the Army. 

Born on September 4, 1950, Avtar did matriculation from Sainik School, Kunjpura, Karnal, the school being famous as a nursery that has nurtured many brave-hearts for the country. Post his schooling, Avtar joined the NDA and after completing military training at the IMA, Dehradun, he was commissioned into the 17th Poona Horse of The Armoured Corps.  It appeared he was destined to join a regiment itself having the distinction of being awarded maximum battle honours in the Commonwealth to date. Besides five Victoria Crosses, two Maha Vir Chakras (MVCs) and five Vir Chakras (Vr Cs), the  Poona Horse has the proud distinction of being the only unit of the Indian Army honoured with two highest awards for gallantry — the Param Vir Chakra recipients (Lt Col AB Tarapore, (posthumous) and a young 2/Lt Arun Khetrapal, (posthumous).

Within just about a year of donning the traditional Armourd Corps dress, the black dungarees (overalls), Avtar was involved in the Battle of Basantar, a tank battle that was the fiercest after the conclusion of the World War II — Pakistan lost 65 tanks vis-a-vis India’s 10. Avtar with his unmatched courage during 1971 war on the western front carried forward the legacy of bravery of both — his village and regiment. The Battle of Basantar encompassed the entire series of skirmishes that took place in Shakargarh Sector of West Pakistan. Two famous Pakistani tank regiments — the 13th Lancers and 33 Cavalry — were dealt mortal blows by the intrepid trio of Indian Officers, i.e. Capt V Malhotra, 2/Lt Avtar Ahlawat and 2/Lt Arun Khetrapal, who individually withstood a series of tank counterattacks by a force almost 10 times their number. It was for his bold and aggressive role as a troop leader, extreme contempt for personal danger and single-handedly destroying three enemy tanks at extremely close range, that 2/Lt Avtar Singh Ahlawat was deservedly awarded the Vir Chakra. Later, Avtar Singh Ahlawat, Vr C, had two tenures as ADC and AMS with the President at Rashtrapati Bhawan. A master in tank gunnery, after two successful staff and instructional tenures, he commanded his very own regiment - The Poona Horse, for two years.   

Due to brief illness during re-employment post retiring from service, he died in 2006. Colonel Avtar Singh Ahlawat, Vr C, is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter, all settled in the US. 

The battle account of his conspicuous gallantry reads...

During the 1971 India-Pakistan war on the western front, on December 16, 1971, Second Lieutenant (2/Lt) Avtar Singh Ahlawat, troop leader in A Squadron 17 Poona Horse was ordered to reinforce his regimental pivot in an area in the Shakargarh Sector. The bridgehead across Basantar River had not been fully cleared of the enemy. As his troop moved towards the assigned position, it was fired upon from the enemy's strong point. 2/Lt Ahlawat, with disregard to his safety, attacked the enemy strong point, overran the enemy defenses with his tank and captured the enemy's infantry and automatic weapon's crews. He had barely got into position, when the enemy launched a counterattack with a squadron of tanks to affect a breakthrough. Ahlawat, with his troop of three tanks, took on the enemy squadron having 14 much superior Patton tanks. A fierce tank-to-tank battle began, in which a number of enemy tanks were destroyed. 2/Lt Ahlawat knocked out three enemy tanks when his own tank was hit, wounding his gunner. Taking over the gun control, he continued to fight from his tank. A direct hit put his tank out of action and he himself was wounded. However, undeterred, he kept moving from fire position to fire position engaging the enemy tanks till the counterattack was repulsed. Had the counterattack by the enemy succeeded, the entire bridgehead would have been wiped out. In this action, for his professional skill, gallantry and determination in the face of the enemy with superior fire power, Second Lieutenant Avtar Singh Ahlawat was awarded the Vir Chakra.

(The writer is a veteran Gunner, 6 Field Regiment)