The Mechanised Infantry Regiment

1 Madras and the TOPAS

In 1969 the Army decided to mechanise a few infantry battalions, and 1 Madras became the first to be equipped with the OT-62 TOPAS, a Polish tracked armoured personnel carrier. The 1965 war had shown that infantry on foot could not keep pace with tanks and worked poorly alongside them. The Army wanted what its officers called a battle taxi. It considered the American M113 and turned it down, finding its firepower and flotation inadequate, and chose the TOPAS along with the Soviet wheeled BTR-60 and SKOT.

General S. H. F. J. Manekshaw, then Army Chief, and Lt Gen Har Prasad, the Vice Chief, took the decision. General G. G. Bewoor, as Deputy Chief, picked them. In 1970 nine more older battalions received carriers. They remained with their parent regiments, and in 1971 some of them fought in combat groupings with armour for the first time. Manekshaw visited 1 Madras in 1971 at Babina, where Major M. S. Oberoi drove the TOPAS for him. BMP-1 infantry combat vehicles replaced the carriers in 1977 and 1978.

One Cap Badge, 2 April 1979

An expert committee in the mid-1970s, with Lt Gen K. V. Krishna Rao, Maj Gen K. Sundarji, Maj Gen M. L. Chibber and Brig A. J. M. Homji among its members, helped make the case for a separate arm. Orders came in early 1979. On 2 April that year the Mechanised Infantry Regiment and its centre at Ahmednagar came into being. Sundarji was the first Colonel of the Regiment and kept the post until he retired. Brigadier Mike Menon was tasked with setting up the centre. Sources differ on the opening strength: Wikipedia says fourteen battalions at raising, and an account in Salute magazine says twelve, with 13 and 14 Mech following.

The battalions gave up their old names and regiments. Lt Gen Satish Nambiar, writing later, recorded that some senior officers afterwards tried to reverse the absorption. The first fourteen were:

• 1 Mech, formerly 1 Madras
• 2 Mech, formerly 1 Jat Light Infantry
• 3 Mech, formerly 1/8 Gorkha Rifles
• 4 Mech, formerly 1 Sikh
• 5 Mech, formerly 14 Kumaon
• 6 Mech, formerly 1 Garhwal Rifles
• 7 Mech, formerly 1 Dogra
• 8 Mech, formerly 7 Punjab
• 9 Mech, formerly 7 Grenadiers
• 10 Mech, formerly 20 Maratha Light Infantry
• 11 Mech, formerly 18 Rajputana Rifles
• 12 Mech, formerly 16 Mahar
• 13 Mech, formerly 18 Rajput
• 14 Mech, formerly 16 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles

Richmar Gali, Inherited

Because of that lineage, a young regiment carries honours much older than itself. 4 Mech, as 1 Sikh, holds Tithwal. On 13 October 1948, Lance Naik Karam Singh commanded a section of 1 Sikh at Richmar Gali near Tithwal when Pakistani forces launched eight separate attacks after shelling that destroyed the bunkers. He was wounded twice in the hands and refused evacuation. In the fifth wave he killed two attackers with his bayonet. His Param Vir Chakra was gazetted on 21 June 1950, under Notification 2 Pres/50.

Other battalions brought their own names with them: Kalidhar with 1 Mech, Asal Uttar with 7 Mech, Basantar River with 11 Mech, Akhaura with 13 Mech.

Tololing, 30 May 1999

The regiment's Maha Vir Chakra since 1979 went to an officer serving away from it. Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari was commissioned from the Indian Military Academy on 11 December 1993 into 2 Mech, and at the time of the Kargil War was posted with 18 Grenadiers. On 30 May 1999 his company was given a forward spur at about 15,000 feet on the Tololing feature, held by machine guns in two mutually supporting positions.

According to his citation, he directed a rocket launcher detachment against the positions, killed two enemy soldiers in close combat and placed a medium machine gun behind rocky cover. Badly wounded by bullets, he refused to be evacuated, charged the second position, killed another of its occupants and captured it. He died of his wounds. His action helped open the way to Point 4590.

Two Kirti Chakras are recorded on the regiment's list, to Captain Hardev Singh and Sepoy Daya Shankar of 14 Rashtriya Rifles.

Colours at Ahmednagar

Control of the regiment's affairs moved from the Directorate General of Infantry to the Armoured Corps Directorate, which became the Directorate General Mechanised Forces in 1986. In January 1982, 88 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade Group was raised and later became the nucleus of a mechanised division.

On 24 February 1988 at Ahmednagar, President R. Venkataraman presented Colours to 23 Mechanised Infantry battalions and the regimental centre, and the old Colours were trooped out for the last time. Battalions served in Sri Lanka under Operation Pawan and on United Nations missions in Somalia, Congo, Angola and Sierra Leone.

The centre was renamed the Mechanised Infantry Centre and School on 17 September 2021. The most recent battalion on record, 27 Mech, was raised in July 2017.

At a glance

• Raised: 2 April 1979
• Regimental centre: Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar), Maharashtra
• Motto: Faith and Valour
• War cry: Bolo Bharat Mata Ki Jai