Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria of 3/1 Gorkha Rifles led a charge against a roadblock force at Elizabethville, Katanga, on 5 December 1961.
Roadblock at Elizabethville
At about 1312 hours on 5 December 1961, Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria's force came under fire from an undetected dug-in position, 1,500 yards short of its objective at Elizabethville in Katanga.
Serving with the United Nations mission in the Congo, 3/1 Gorkha Rifles had been ordered to clear a gendarmerie roadblock at a strategic roundabout. One company would attack from the front. Salaria, with two sections of Gorkhas and two Swedish armoured personnel carriers, was to move from the airfield and cut the position off.
The citation gives the opposition as two armoured cars and about 90 men. Salaria judged that this force could reinforce the roundabout and endanger the main operation, and decided to remove it.
Charge with 16 Gorkhas
He led a charge of his 16 Gorkhas with bayonets, khukris and grenades, supported by a rocket launcher. The citation credits him with 40 enemy killed and both armoured cars knocked out, and records that the rest fled.
A burst of automatic fire hit him in the neck. He fought on until he collapsed from loss of blood. The award was posthumous.
Salaria, born on 29 November 1935, was the son of Munshi Ram, of Gurdaspur in Punjab. On 23 January 2023, one of the Andaman and Nicobar islands named after Param Vir Chakra recipients was given his name.
The citation
CAPTAIN GURBACHAN SINGH SALARIA (IC-8497), 3/1 GORKHA RIFLES
On 05 December 1961, 3/1 Gorkha Rifles was ordered to clear a roadblock established by the gendarmerie at a strategic roundabout at Elizabethville, Katanga. The plan was that one company with 2 Swedish armoured cars would attack the position frontally and Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria with two sections of Gorkhas and two Swedish armoured personnel carriers would advance towards this roadblock from the airfield to act as a cutting-off force.
Captain Salaria with his small force arrived at a distance of 1500 yards from the roadblock at approximately 1312 hours on 05 December 1961 and came under heavy automatic and small-arms fire from an undetected enemy position dug in on his right flank. The enemy also had two armoured cars and about 90 men opposing Captain Salaria's small force.
Captain Salaria appreciating that he had run into a subsidiary roadblock and ambush and that this enemy force might reinforce the strategic roundabout and thus jeopardise the main operation, decided to remove this opposition. He led a charge with bayonets, khukris, and grenades supported by a rocket launcher. In this gallant engagement, Captain Salaria killed 40 of the enemy and knocked out the two armoured cars. This unexpected bold action completely demoralised the enemy who fled despite their numerical superiority and protected positions.
Captain Salaria was wounded in his neck by a burst of automatic fire but continued to fight till he collapsed due to profuse bleeding. Captain Salaria's gallant action prevented any enemy movement of the enemy force towards the main battle scene and thus contributed very largely to the success of the main battalion's action at the roundabout and prevented the encirclement of UN Headquarters in Elizabethville.
Captain Salaria's personal example, utter disregard for personal safety and dauntless leadership inspired his small but gallant force of 16 Gorkhas to hold on to their position, dominate the enemy and inflict heavy casualties despite the enemy's superiority in numbers and tactical position. Captain Salaria's leadership courage, unflinching devotion to duty and disregard for personal safety were best in the traditions of Indian Army.
Source: Ministry of Defence gallantry awards record. Reproduced as printed, including any errors in the original.
Cover image: Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (KCVelaga), own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Salaria_statue_at_Param_Yodha_Sthal_Delhi.jpg