23 Field Regiment (Ad Teclesan and OP Hill) is part of the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army.
Formation and early history
The British developed mountain artillery in India in the 1800s to allow field guns to accompany its forces operating in the conflicts taking place in the frontier mountainous regions of North West India, neighbouring Afghanistan. These mountain artillery units were organised as mountain batteries, with each battery consisting of four to six mountain guns. These batteries took part in the many campaigns in Afghanistan, the Third Anglo-Burmese War and then in the First World War, during which more batteries were raised. These batteries proved their mettle at various fronts during the great war.
During the war, the practice of grouping together batteries as brigades began, though most batteries still fought singly, often quite far away from other parts of the brigade. Most such brigades were formed in the Middle East and East Africa, where these batteries were deployed. In North West India, 3rd Indian Mountain Artillery Brigade was formed in the Kohat Kurram Force in June, 1919 by grouping 3rd (Peshawar) and 8th (Lahore) mountain batteries. The first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel T M Luke . The brigade continued to be in the Kohat area till 1924.
In 1920, the nomenclature mountain was changed to pack and these units were named as pack brigades. The numbering of the brigade was also changed and thus in 1920, the name was changed to 9th Pack Artillery Brigade, when it was at Parachinar. Each pack brigade consisted of headquarters, one British pack battery armed with four 3.7 inch howitzers and three Indian pack batteries consisting of four 2.75 inch guns. Occasionally, Indian pack batteries too were equipped with Howitzers.
A re-designation of units took place following Indian Army Order 1279 of 1921 – Pack Artillery Brigades were redesignated at Indian Pack Artillery Brigades and the 6th to 11th brigades were renumbered from 20th to 25th. Thus, 9th Pack Artillery Brigade became 23rd Pack Artillery Brigade. In 1922, the unit was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Hayes-Sadler and consisted of the following batteries - + Battery Class composition Location No. 17 British Pack Battery, R.G.A. ½ Punjabi Muslims, ½ Rajputana Rajputs Rawalpindi 103rd (Peshawar) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) ½ Punjabi Muslims, ½ Sikhs Kohat108th (Lahore) Pack Battery ½ Punjabi Muslims, ½ Sikhs Kohat 116th (Zhob) Pack Battery ½ Punjabi Muslims, ½ Rajputana Rajputs Quetta
In 1924, the unit was part of Razmak Field Force and the batteries included Headquarters, 103rd (Peshawar) Pack Battery, 108th (Lahore) Pack Battery, 121st Indian Pack Battery and 11th Pack Artillery Battery, R.G.A. In 1926, the regiment was located at Razmak and was being commanded by Lieutenant Colonel P H H Preston. It consisted of No. 17 British Pack Battery, 103rd (Peshawar) Pack Battery (Frontier Force), 108th (Lahore) Pack Battery and 116th (Zhob) Pack Battery. In 1935, the regiment was in the Ambala – Dehra Dun area. The class composition at that time was Punjabi Muslims and Jat Sikhs. The regiment was then involved in operations in Waziristan.
By Indian Army Order 204 of 1938, the nomenclature ‘Brigade’ was replaced by ‘Regiment’ and thus the title of the unit became 23rd Mountain Regiment. From 1 August 1939, Indian Mountain Artillery ceased to belong to the Royal Regiment of Artillery and formed part of His Majesty's Indian Forces. The Corps of Mountain Artillery was transferred to the Indian Regiment of Artillery, later renamed the Regiment of Indian Artillery (R.I.A.).
World War II
At the outbreak of war, the regiment was located at Abbottabad and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel L R Stansfeld. It consisted of 3rd (Peshawar) F.F., 8th (Lahore), 17th (Nowshera) and 12th (Poonch) mountain batteries and remained in Abbottabad till 1941. It moved to Kakul in the autumn of the same year. It was from Kakul that the regiment proceeded to the Burma theatre.
The regiment consisting of R.H.Q., 3rd (Peshawar) F.F., 8th (Lahore), 17th (Nowshera) and 2nd Jammu and Kashmir batteries joined 14th Indian Infantry Division, headquartered at Comilla, Chittagong in March 1942. The division had under it 4th Indian Infantry Brigade and 47th Indian Infantry Brigade. The regiment was equipped with sixteen 3.7 inch howitzers and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel B C Barford. Soon after, 2nd Jammu and Kashmir battery joined 4th Indian Infantry Brigade to move under 4 Corps at Imphal. The regiment along with 130 Field Regiment, R.A. formed the initial divisional artillery. Anticipating a Japanese landing on Chittagong, the regiment and other elements of the 47th Brigade were deployed between Feni and Feni River. The division was joined by the 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade in June 1942 and the regiment fell back to its original position focussing on training and exercises to familiarise themselves with the new terrain and jungle warfare. The division began moving to the Arakan coast in October 1942. The regiment, less 3rd battery supporting 123 Brigade moved to Buthidaung. In January 1943, two attempts were made by 123 Brigade to capture Rathedaung with support of 3rd and 17th batteries, without success. 8th battery was involved in multiple attempts to capture Donbaik between January and March 1943. Though unsuccessful, the battery received a lot of praise for its prompt response to aid and accurate shooting.
3rd battery headquarters with its Punjabi Muslim section was moved from Htizwe on the newly laid track to the Kaladan River. The battery in support of 8/10 Baluch was attacked in force by the Japanese and their defended localities were overcome. The battery had to take the difficult decision to destroy their guns and shoot their mules to prevent them falling in enemy hands. The battery had to trek for four days through extremely difficult terrain to reach back to Htizwe.
On 4 March 1943, following a Japanese attack at Thaungdara, Lieutenant M Burrows, who was the F. O. O. gallantly launched a counterattack after the infantry officer of 10th Lancashire Fusiliers became a casualty. He was awarded the Military Cross for this action. On 11 March, the Sikh section of the 3rd battery were in support of 2/1 Punjab and fought with the Japanese in the open, a fight which ended with the Punjabis charging with their bayonets. On 11 and 12 March, the regiment and other forces withdrew from Htizwe. After the withdrawal from Htizwe, 14 Indian Division was relieved by 26 Infantry Division. But owing to shortage of artillery, 23 Mountain Regiment continued in the location, but serving under a new division. The Japanese continued their relentless attacks for three weeks and 8th and 31st batteries fought in support of 55th Indian Infantry Brigade at Kin Chaung, covering Buthidaung. (2nd Jammu and Kashmir battery had meanwhile been renamed as 31st (Jammu) Mountain Battery.)
R.H.Q, 3rd and 17th batteries were eventually relieved and sent back to Chittagong, where they got into the process of replenishing their animals and equipment. By the end of May 1943, 8th and 31st batteries too were relieved and they joined the regiment at Chittagong. A month later, they were transferred to Ranchi to join 20 Infantry Division. 17th battery left to join 32nd Indian Mountain Regiment. The regiment had thus fought continuously and well during the First Arakan campaign and provided close and accurate shooting in support of the infantry, without any damage to own troops.
In 1944, the regiment under 20 Indian Division was part of 4 Corps, which was at Tamu Road and Kabaw Valley. It consisted of 3rd (Peshawar) F.F., 8th (Lahore) and 31st (Jammu) batteries. The latter two batteries did well during an action at Kyauktaw. 20 Division was moved under 33 Corps under Fourteenth Army. On 22 January 1945, 3rd battery supported 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade in the capture of the important river port of Monywa. Following the crossing of the division across the Irrawaddy River, 8th and 31st battery saw fierce fighting on the night of 16 February 1945 near Myingyan. For his gallant actions, Captain C J S Burne of 31st battery was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. From there, the division rapidly moved to Magway. 3rd battery under 32 Brigade moved down the east bank of the Irrawaddy river to clear it as far as Allanmyo. The 8th battery formed the rear guard of the division and moved down the road to Prome, which was captured on 2 May 1945, thus blocking the escape route of the Japanese from Arakan. The 31st battery joined the force for the capture of Bassein, but found that the Royal Indian Navy had beaten them to it. Following this, the regiment went into camp for training at Minhla and then to Hmawbi.
Following the surrender of the Japanese in Singapore, 20 Division was moved from Burma to French Indochina to maintain law and order. The regiment carried out police duties in Saigon till January / February 1946. At Saigon, the regiment came in contact with Major Abhe of the Japanese 55th Mountain Artillery Regiment, who remarked that the 23rd was nicknamed the Devil Regiment of Artillery by the Japanese, for the destruction caused by the regiment's accurate and devastating artillery firing. In March 1946, 20 Division returned to India, but the regiment moved to Malaya under 7th Indian Infantry Division, where it continued with police work. The regiment returned to India by the end of 1946.
During the war, the regiment had won the following gallantry awards - Distinguished Service Order – Captain C J S Burne Military Cross – Major W B P Milne, Lieutenant S Kapilla, Lieutenant Brown, Lieutenant M Burrows Indian Distinguished Service Medal – Havildar Mahomed Khan, Signaller Shamsher Singh, Jemadar Mohamed Hussein
Partition and re-raising Following the partition of the country, 3rd (Peshawar) F.F and 8th (Lahore) moved to join the Pakistan Army. They joined 21st Mountain Regiment, which is presently 1 (SP) Medium Regiment, Pakistan Artillery. 31st became a field battery in Pakistan.
On 15 January 1953, the regiment was re-raised in India as 23 Mountain Composite Regiment (Pack) with the headquarters battery and the following three batteries of the erstwhile Indian States Forces - 74 (Gwalior) Mountain Battery 75 (Patiala) Mountain Battery 76 (Jammu and Kashmir) Mountain Battery The regiment has since been converted to a field regiment, a medium regiment and is currently back as a field regiment.
Operations
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 23 Mountain Composite Regiment (Pack) commanded by Lieutenant Colonel H S Sihota was deployed in Jammu and Kashmir under 15 Corps. The Battle of OP Hill (NL1053) took place on 2 and 3 November 1965, after the ceasefire came into effect on 23 September 1965. OP Hill was a tactical Border Observation Post in the Bhimber-Gali-Mendhar Sector, 20 km south west of Poonch. This Observation Post (OP) was stealthily occupied by the Pakistani troops on 2 August 1965 and was being used by the Pakistanis to direct accurate artillery fire and to facilitate infiltration. To avoid isolation of Balnoi from Mendhar and Krishna Ghati and to safeguard Mendhar-Baloni and Mendhar-Poonch roads, the capture of OP Hill was of vital importance.