The Great Escape from Italy to India - II WW ( Jemadar Keshar Singh & Major PP Kumaramangalam)

src="http://data5.blog.de/media/588/2574588_f19ed756ed_s.jpg" alt="Jemadar Keshar Singh" vspace="5" hspace="5" /> The Great Escape – From Italy to India

Some time back we had learnt about a truly outstanding soldier who hailed from Village Haida Kholi, near Satpuli, not far from Lansdowne. He was Laat Subedar Balbhadra Singh Negi. Last month I was fortunate to meet the son of another Garhwali soldier whose feat must be revealed so that many more unsung heroes like Keshar Singh are given due recognition. This is the tale as narrated by his son Lt Col (retired) Surender Singh Chaudhari.

This is the story of Keshar Singh Chaudhari. He was born in village Ladoli, Kirsal, in District Chamoli of Uttarakhand. Like many other brave young men he went on to join the 3rd Battalion, 18 Royal Garhwal Rifles. Significantly, this battalion was destined to sail to East Africa to inaugurate the first Allied victory in this theatre & that too under the command of Brig (later Field Marshal) W Slim.

With the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, 3rd Battalion, 18 Royal Garhwal Rifles moved to Jhansi in October as part of 10 Infantry Brigade commanded by Brigadier W Slim MC, under 5 Infantry Division. The battalion disembarked at Port Sudan on 24 September 1940 & proceeded to Haiya Camp & thence to Gederaf, the Headquarter of Sudan Defense Force. Here they dug defenses & commenced training. 10 Brigade Headquarters was located a few miles short of Galabat. 4th Battalion 10th Baluch Regiment held position a mile ahead of the brigade headquarters. The third battalion of the brigade was the Essex Regiment.

Galabat was a formidable fortress, held by the Italians, situated on the Sudan-Abyssinian border. The Italians had captured this fortress from the Sudan Defense Force on the outbreak of war. Under the Italians it had been further fortified & was quite like similar positions the British troops had confronted in Afghanistan – covering approximately 300 square yards atop a barren rocky hill offering an excellent defensive position.

A surprise attack was staged to recapture Galabat. William “Bill” Slim’s 10th Infantry Brigade of the Indian 5th Infantry Division was accompanied by a squadron of 12 medium and light tanks, a field regiment of artillery, and supported by the RAF.

On 6 November 1940, the Garhwalis commenced the assault on Galabat supported by tanks. Delta Company led the assault across a minefield facing heavy machine gun fire & succeeded in silencing the guns. Charlie Company pressed home the attack, made a gap in the wire obstacle while tanks maneuvered to the rear of the enemy. Significantly, Jemadar Keshar Singh was the leading Platoon Commander in this attack by Charlie Company. Under Lt Col SE Taylor’s inspiring leadership & valor, the fort was captured. (Lt Col SE Taylor was immediately behind the leading section commander, the author’s father, attacking Galabat).

While the majority of Italian troops fled, two Italian officers were taken PW. (Lt Col SE Taylor DSO later died in the battle for Sanchil, once again leading from the front manifesting his characteristic bravado for which he had often been chastised by Major SK Murray)

Garhwali veterans of this theatre were & are known to the author & it must be admitted that these men were made of different mettle than their counterparts of today. (The author’s father, a veteran of this war, lives on to narrate the tales with vivid clarity). They narrated graphic tales of their personal experiences fighting “the white man’s battle against other white men” in a totally alien & hostile country. They recall with pride that they laid the foundation of the Allied victory in East Africa.

Keshar Singh was a Jemadar at that time & was part of the attack on Galabat. As usual the attack had to contend with the formidable minefields, machine gun, mortar & artillery fire, & enemy air bombardment. The veteran soldiers held the Italian mortars in high esteem because of their speedy & devastatingly accurate counter mortar fire. Consequently the attacking troops had to quickly redeploy themselves after having frantically prepared safe dugouts, cursing the British officers for ordering the move from the seemingly safe dugouts only to bless them later for taking that decision. (In such situations there was one incident that the author can scarcely resist narrating. After capturing Galabat, the author’s father & men of his section selected a seemingly safe crater to take cover from the expected Italian counter bombardment. Just then the Essex Regiment of British soldiers moved up & shooed them away to go elsewhere & occupied the crater. In the ensuing shelling a shell fell plumb into it & killed all of them! Such things do happen in war.)

Jemadar Keshar Singh survived a minefield injury that he sustained in Galabat shortly after cautioning men of his platoon about the threat of Italian mines! It is not known when this Brigade faced its first setback; when & how Garhwali soldiers were taken captive. In the ensuing setbacks & successes the Allied troops fell captive to the Italians as did the Italians themselves. In one of these occasions Keshar Singh became a POW – whether of the Germans or Italians is not known. This was the end of Keshar Singh’s role in the battle against the Axis powers. However he continued to show those sterling qualities of a soldier even in captivity.

Officially Keshar Singh was declared missing during Dec 1940. This was communicated to his family by a letter. His family members lost no hope & awaited happy tidings till one year. After this long wait they assumed that he was dead. Accordingly his last rites were performed. Keshar Singh’s son was four years old. Both mother & son endured a life of deprivation till 4 May 1945.

On 4 May 1945 Keshar Singh’s wife received a letter written by him from MH Chandigarh. He was wounded & would soon reach home. As expected & customary, this blessing of his home-coming was attributed to Lord Badrinathji. On 10 May 1945 Keshar Singh arrived at the village amidst unprecedented jubilation. The dead had come alive! It was nothing short of a miracle. A ceremony to mark his re-birth & re-marriage was performed.

Naturally everyone was eager to hear about his travails after being declared missing. He came out with a startling revelation. He had escaped from an Italian PW camp in Italy. His only companion in the Great Escape was none other than the late Chief of the Army Staff – General PP Kumaramangalam! Much later, on the occasion of becoming the Army Chief he invited Subedar Keshar Singh, by then retired, to Delhi. What a great occasion that must have been! Little is known about what transpired between the two. One expects some account of the duo’s travails from the Italian PW camp to India in memoirs of the General.

During the II World War, East Africa was witness to rising & falling fortunes for the adversaries. In August 1940, Italians had successfully wrested control of the region from the British. The British Garrison of Berbera was besieged. Two Australian ships, including HMAS Hobart evacuated 7000 besieged troops. The most significant feature of this operation was that three Australians engaged in rescue operations became Australia’s first prisoners of the Italians. Later, as Italian fortunes rose, British troops taken prisoners found themselves lodged in the some camps that were prepared by the British for the expected Italian prisoners!

As the tide turned in favor of the Allied Forces the POWs were moved rearwards till they were finally lodged in Italy after suffering privations, hunger, unhygienic conditions & often torture. Keshar narrated to his kin that the Italians lodged prisoners in nine concentric circles. The innermost was for the most troublesome prisoners who were stamped as ‘Turbulenti’- those with history of attempted escape & evasion. Accordingly the ones in the outermost circle were trusted not to attempt escape or mutiny. One’s status in the prison was subject to one’s conduct. In one such prison Keshar Singh impressed Major PP Kumaramangalam. The latter was the Adjutant at the camp & took Keshar Singh as his Jemadar Adjutant. They remained together as prisoners in the same PW camp. In the camp, the Italians relied upon British Officers to exercise control over the prisoners. They were referred to as SBOs (Senior British Officers). Apparently Major PP Kumaramangalam, on who was conferred the DSO while a prisoner was deputed as SBO but not before proving his credentials. Keshar Singh narrated that the two worked their way from the tight inner circles to the outermost in order to put their plan into action.

At an opportune moment at night the two slipped out & made good their escape on a motor cycle. The two were discovered fleeing on the motor cycle & were fired upon resulting in a bullet injury sustained by Keshar Singh. The two evaded capture & commenced an arduous journey along the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, to cross over to Asia Minor & finally reached India. On one occasion they had to cross a formidable river. They used their wet air-filled-pajamas to keep themselves afloat & swam across. During the escape they hid themselves during the day & moved during night. Apparently Major Kumaramangalam became captive after two weeks & was lodged once again in a PW camp – this time in Germany. Six months later Keshar Singh was back in India. On arrival in India he was kept under custody for interrogation till finally cleared & ordered back to service. According to Keshar Singh, Major Kumaramangalam too had returned to India while Keshar Singh’s role after he was declared missing was under scrutiny. Both were promoted – Major Kumaramangalam to the rank of Brigadier & Jemadar Keshar Singh to the rank of Subedar.

One would like to know if anyone has recorded a detailed account of the Great Escape of these two soldiers. The endeavor of the author is twofold. Firstly, invite more details about the capture, life in the PW camps, treatment of Indian soldiers (treated worse than that of the European soldiers); escape plan, assistance by locals en route, & survival of the two heroes would be most welcome from any quarter. Secondly, the Kumaramangalam family could arrange a meeting with the family members of Keshar Singh. Keshar Singh’s son recalls that his father did speak about the subject, but only after he had taken his daily “dram”! Keshar Singh mentioned about some Muslim officer of the British Indian army who, a heavy smoker, often smoked Keshar Singh's quota of cigarettes too! This officer later went on to become a General in the Pakistan army! Perhaps detailed research could be carried out by serious scholars to record authentic details of the outstanding feat of this duo.

(A similar tale of escape from a PW camp, narrated but not recorded, by late Chattar Singh of the same battalion, resident of Chamba, Tehri Garhwal should have been preserved in our historical records. Chattar Singh was an amputee having lost a leg. He lived long after regaling one & all by ticking off senior army & civil officers including our revered friend late Commissioner SC Singha!)

No. 8964 – IO Subedar Keshar Singh Chaudhari was the son of Kaliyan Singh Chaudhari. He retired in 1948. His had five sons continued with the tradition of serving in the Army. They are:-
Hav/ VM Narender Singh Chaudhari
Lt Col SS Chaudhari
SM/Clk/Hony Capt BS Chaudhari
Subedar RS Chaudhari
Hav Kunwar Singh Chaudhari

Some of the soldiers who were in Jemadar Keshar Singh’s platoon are as follows:-
(a) Platoon Headquarters
Havildar Dharam Singh
Naik Umrao Singh
Rifleman Narain Singh
(b) Leading Section
Naik Inder Singh Rawat (Retired Lt Col IS Rawat KC)
Rifleman Inder Singh Rawat, IDSM
Rifleman (Cobbler) Dalbir Sarki, IDSM
Rifleman Sher Singh
Others eminent soldiers who were in the Galabat Battle with Jemadar Keshar Singh are:-

Jemadar Rithu Singh Rawat, IDSM, IOM (Retd Hony Capt)
Jemadar Ram Singh, MC
Jemadar Inder Singh Negi, Int Section, (Retd Hony Capt)
Naik Balam Singh Negi, Int Section (Retd Major)
Naik RCS Gusain, Int Section, (Retd Lt Col)
Naik Ram Singh Negi, Int Section, (Retd Lt Col from 3/3 GR)
Naik Kundan Singh Negi, MMG Platoon
Rfn Dhan SinghNegi, Posthumous
Rfn Bagh Singh, Posthumous

Another feature of Galabat Battle worth recording was that three brothers, of village Bangali, Dhaijuli, Pauri Garhwal, together were in the battlefield. They were:-
Warrant Officer Dalip Singh Negi, RIASC (Retd Major 1/3 GR)
Naik Ram Singh Negi, (Retd Lt Col 3/3 GR)
Rfn Dhan Singh Negi, (Posthumous)

.