N Kumar - Soldier Mountaineer: The Colonel who got Siachen Glacier for India

Soldier Mountaineer

The Colonel who got Siachen Glacier for India

The Colonel who got

Siachen Glacier for India

Colonel N Kumar

with

Colonel N N Bhatia

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Copyright 2016, Col N N Bhatia

First Published : 2016

ISBN : 978-93-85563-55-3

ISBN : 978-93-85563-56-0

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The views expressed in this book are those of the author in his personal capacity. These do not have any official endorsement.

Dedicated to

The Kumaon Regiment

I was fortunate enough to attend a United Service Institution function held in April 2010. This function was attended by all the three chiefs of the services where Col Kumar was awarded the McGregor Medal for his achievement 22 years back.

Later on I read an article written by Squadron Leader Rana TS Chhina (Retd) in the USI Journal of April June 2010. I would like to add the first few paragraphs for the readers to understand the importance of the McGregor Medal.

In the Nineteenth century, Great Britain and Tsarist Russia were the two major power blocs that influenced world affairs. In 1885, the Panjdeh Incident or Panjdeh Scare, rekindled British fears of a Russian threat to their Indian Empire through Afghanistan. Conflicting Russian and British interests in Central and South Asia for years had been the cause of a virtual cold war, known euphemistically as The Great Game; and the Panjdeh Incident came close to triggering full-scale armed conflict between the two powers. Following the incident, the Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission was established to delineate the northern frontier of Afghanistan.

One of the aspects that troubled the authorities in India was the lack of reliable information about the vast tracts of uncharted territory that lay along the remote and inaccessible frontiers of their Indian Empire. The person, who devoted his energies to filling this gap in his capacity as QMG and originator of the Military Intelligence set-up in India, was Major General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, KCB, CSI, CIE, who founded the United Service Institution of India in 1870. Therefore, shortly after he passed away in February 1887, the USI Council instituted the MacGregor Memorial Medal (MMM) in May 1887 to commemorate his memory.

The criteria for award of the MMM were laid out at a meeting held on 03 July 1888 at Shimla, presided over by the C-in-C General Sir FS Roberts, with the Earl of Dufferin, the Viceroy, being present as Chief Guest.

Initially, the award was to be given only for significant military reconnaissance or journey of exploration or survey in remote areas of India, or in countries bordering, or under the jurisdiction of India, which produced new information of value for the defence of India. The award was usually of a silver medal, but a gold medal could be awarded in place of a silver medal or in addition to it, for especially valuable work. During the period of the British Raj, the MacGregor Medal became the de facto award of the Great Game and among its recipients were names such as Sir Francis Younghusband (1890) and Major General Orde Wingate (1943). The first Indian soldier to get the award was Havildar (later Subedar, IOM) Ramzan Khan, 3rd Sikh Infantry, PFF (1891).

I have also read Col Kumars book KANCHENJUNGA which is a story about the first successful expedition from the North East Spur. Some of the comments about this successful climb of Kanchenjunga from the North East Spur are appended below:

We believe this one of the greatest achievements in mountaineering history...

Dr. Eizaboro Nishibori President, Japanese Alpine Club

Hearty congratulations. That was certainly one of the most difficult yet done.

H. Adams Carter Editor, American Alpine Journal.

Outstanding achievement by any standards.

T.H. Braham- Swiss Alpine Club Journal.

The brilliant effort was, I think, an even more notable achievement than nine atop Mount Everest

Soli S. Mehta Editor, Himalayan Journal.

Later, I saw a documentary made by Films Division of India called Guts & Dedication which is about the achievement of Col Kumar. He is the only soldier mountaineer on whose life the Government of India made a film.

In October 1963, I have read the list of awardees on 26th January by the Government of India and saw that very seniors officers Lieutenant General and equivalent being given the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. One of them is an Army Commander who has put in 35 years of services. I was surprised to know that this award was earned by Col Kumar as a Captain with 7 years of service.

I thought it was a high time somebody wrote a biography of Col Kumar who is perhaps the most highly decorated man of the services. Col Kumar was kind enough to give me the details of his exploits.

- Col N N Bhatia

Index

The bond between me and Bull the nick name Cadet Narender Kumar earned during the first boxing match he fought with his rival a senior cadet, Sunith Francis Rodrigues, who went on to become the Chief of the Army staff. Narender won the bout and earned the nickname Bull for ever. His tendency to charge relentlessly into whatever he does, grew over our common passion for the mountaineering.

Bull was lured to mountains during his tenure in the KUMAON Regimental Centre by leading an expedition to Trishul (23,360 feet). Nothing thrilled him more than being on top of Trishul on 4 June 1958. His subsequent exploits put him among front rank mountaineers of Tenzing Norkey and Sir Edmond Hillary fame. He was a member of the first all Indian Expedition to Everest (1960) and Deputy Leader of the successful Indian Everest (1965) led by me that put nine Indian Army climbers at the top of the worlds tallest peak, and the Leader of the Nanda Devi (highest Indian peak) Expeditions. He also led successful climbs to Chomolhari (highest peak in Bhutan), Nilkantha, Sia Kangri and Teram Kangari in the Eastern Karakoram ranges besides the Indo- German Boat Expedition and Trishul Ski Expedition. He was Principal of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, National Ski Institute and the Commandant of the High Altitude Warfare School. His exploits brought him many national and international honours and awards notably the Padma Shri, the Param Vishisht and the Ati Vishisht Sewa Medals, the Arjun Award, Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS), the Gold Medal of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation and Mac Gregor Memorial medal. Bulls unique contribution towards the world of mountaineering was the ascent of Kanchenjunga from the North east spur. For 45 years, several expeditions tried to climb the Kanchenjunga peak from the dangerous Sikkim route and were unsuccessful. This achievement was considered so remarkable that he was awarded the Gold Medal at the Los Angles Olympics. Lord Hunt described Bulls achievement as being far greater than the Conquest of Everest as it involved technical climbing and objective hazards of a much higher order than those found on Everest.