Madras Regiment walks tall with Republic Day honours

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI, FEB. 25. There is a discernible spring in the walk of the ``Madrasi'' in the Indian Army. From Pallavaram to Panipat and from Rajasthan to the Regimental centre, soldiers of the Madras Regiment heave a mighty sigh of relief.

Finally, after more than 50 years of trial and error, the oldest regiment in the Indian Army, the Madras Regiment, has annexed one title they had never won before - the best overall contingent in the Republic Day parade.

That was one of the most coveted trophies missing at the Wellington Barracks, the Madras Regimental Centre. It has just been added, after some very long days and exhausting efforts. ``In its long and colourful history, the regiment had won many laurels both in operations and professional competitions but had never won this one title. This worried and rankled in the minds of many a regimental soldier,'' Maj. N.P. Singh, Adjutant, the Madras Regimental Centre, Wellington, said.

A look at the history of the regiment over the past few centuries will prove why a seemingly simple title such as a parade worried a soldier. They have been taught that ``The victor takes all'' and eversince the ``Madras Army'' was raised and placed under the command of Col. Robert Clive in 1758, the regiment has been credited with a host of honours and titles.

The regiment won its first recorded battle honours in India in Ambur in 1767 and till 1857, had won as many as 12 such honours in various parts of the country. Outside India, the regiment has ``stolen'' battle honours in China (1900), North West Frontier (1914, 1915, 1917), Baluchistan (1918), Afghanistan (1919), Kut- al-Amara (1917), Baghdad, Mesopotamia (1915-18), Aden, Persia (1918) and Kilimanjaro (1914-18).

From 1941 onwards, the regiment had done well to bag the battle hours at Mount Popa, Tamu Road, Ukhrul, Ava, Kama, Titwal, Poonch, Kalidhar, Maharajke, Basantar and Siramani. There have been quite a handful of theatre honours too: Burma (1942- 45), Jammu and Kashmir (1947-48 and 1965), Punjab (1965 and 1971), Sindh (1971) and East Pakistan (1971).

It was time for some heads to come together and ``sort out'' the shortcoming. The big men - Colonel of the Regiment, Lt.Gen. A.S. Rao and Centre Commandant, Brig. A.M. Khan - guided the men on the ground as the long drawn out, taxing and energy- sapping exercises began at Wellington.

The task of executing the plan rested on Col. D.S. Randhawa, Training Battalion Commander, who along with his team went through the process of selection of personnel and their training. Equipping, supervising and monitoring them was carried out meticulously.

The long hours of sweat and toil bore fruit when the ``Tambis'' under Maj. Seshagiri Rao and Lt. A. Malik, set the Rajpat tarmac on fire with their coordination and clock-work precision. The administrative and logistical support for the parade came from 2 Madras, stationed in New Delhi.

They won almost everything - Army Day and Republic Day (best marching contingent of the three services), best contingent commander, best quarter guard and line layout competitions.

``This will set a bench mark for generations to emulate. This vindicates the fighting spirit and soldierly attributes of the Madras regimental soldier,'' Maj. Singh said.

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