Heroes of Kargil
Contents: I. Pakistan’s strategic blunder. II. Drass sub-sector: securing the National Highway: 1. Tololing: the turning point. 2. Point 5140 and point 4700: exploiting success. 3. Area three pimples. 4. Tiger hill: the ultimate Pinnacle. III. Batalik sub-sector: toughest challenge and finest victories: 1. Chorbat La: race to the swift. 2. Point 5203 and point 4812: breaking in. 3. Khalubar: the Pivot in Batalik. 4. Jubar, Tharu and Kukarthang: rolling up the carpet. 5. Final push to the LoC: reaching for the clouds. IV. Mashkoh Valley sub-sector: pouncing like a snow leopard: 1. Point 4875 (gun hill): unmatched gallantry. 2. Pimples 1 and 2 and twin bumps. 3. Zulu spur: securing the LoC. V. Kaksar sub-sector: fighting three enemies. VI. Sub-sector Haneef: the triumph of will power. VII. Partners in victory: 1. Indian Air Force: effective support. 2. Regiment of artillery: significant contribution. 3. Air Defence Artillery. 4. Army aviation. 5. Corps of Engineers. 6. Corps of signals. 7. Logistics support. 8. Also in the team.
"In the first week of July 1999, the Indian Tricolour was hoisted on Tiger Hill by the intrepid young soldiers of the Indian Army and soon fluttered atop many other peaks in the high Himalayas of Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). By mid-July 1999, Pakistan’s perfidious intrusions into territory on the Indian side of the Line of Control in J&K had been completely undone. Its soldiers were in full retreat and the Pakistan Army had been handed out one more Military defeat.
Heroes of Kargil recounts in graphic detail the raw courage under fire displayed by the young officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and Jawans of the Indian Army in that heroic fightback against daunting odds. These young heroes battled the well-entrenched Pakistani soldiers in treacherous high-altitude terrain under extremely difficult climatic conditions and came out the winners. Accounts of their valiant deeds under withering fire, unflinching devotion to duty, relentless determination and selfless sacrifice, in the highest traditions of the Indian Army, make gripping reading. The accompanying photographs vividly highlight the stark, almost surreal, beauty of the landscape in Kargil district as well as the enormity of the task involved in evicting the intruders.
Heroes of Kargil is the first official publication from Army Headquarters, New Delhi, on the Kargil conflict of 1999. This book is not a definitive history of Operation Vijay. It is a tribute to the young heroes and the gallant martyrs of a campaign that stirred the national consciousness like nothing else before—a tribute to the heroes who deserve the nation’s gratitude." (jacket)
