195 Medium Regiment (Banwat) is part of the

Regiment of Artillery The Regiment of Artillery is a combat/fighting arm of the Indian Army, which provides massive firepower during all ground operations of the Indian Army. It is a successor to the Royal Indian Artillery (RIA) of British Indian Army, which itsel ...

of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Formation

The regiment was raised on 15 February 1965 at

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

as 195 Mountain Regiment. The regiment was subsequently converted to a field regiment and is presently a medium regiment.

Class composition

The regiment was raised as a pure South Indian Class regiment.

Operations

The regiment has taken part in the following operations – ;

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

The regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Satjit Singh, was part of the 25 Artillery Brigade and was equipped with 75/24 Pack Howitzers. It was deployed in the

Poonch Poonch, sometimes also spelt Punchh, may refer to: * Historical Poonch District, a district in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in British India, split in 1947 between: ** Poonch district, India ** Poonch Division, in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, ...

Sector in Jammu and Kashmir, primarily in support of 93 Infantry Brigade. The regiment fired around 12,500 rounds in the defensive battle of Poonch between 3 and 7 December, thus fizzling the Pakistani 12 Infantry Division offensive. The regiment played an important part in the capture of Nangi Tekri on 11 December 1971. Captain D Tyagi, the OP officer from the Regiment was part of the daring attack of the gun position at Mandhol by 9 Para (SF) on 13 December. The regiment earned the ‘honour title’ ''Banwat'' and the sobriquet ''Defenders of Poonch'' for its gallant actions on 3 and 4 December in the defence of Banwat, which is located north east of Poonch. It won the following gallantry awards – * Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) - Lieutenant Colonel Satjit Singh *

Sena Medal The Sena Medal is awarded to members of the Indian army, of all ranks, "for such individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the Army." Awards may be made posthumously and a bar is authorized for s ...

– Gunner Rama Murti * Mentioned in dispatches – Major CM Bhalla, Captain SS Sandhu ;

Operation Meghdoot Operation Meghdoot ( "Operation Cloud Messenger" after a famous Sanskrit poem by Kalidasa) was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces' operation to seize control of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir, precipitating the Siachen conflict. E ...

;

Operation Parakram Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

The regiment took active part in the operation and its guns saw action against the Pakistani army. ;

Operation Rakshak Capt. Sanjay Chauhan, SC, was an Indian Army officer of the 16 Rajputana Rifles. During a military counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir, India, Captain Chauhan attempted to infiltrate an enemy militant group. On the basis of actiona ...

The regiment has taken part in counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and has completed four tenures in the state.

Honours and achievements

*Seven of the commanding officers of the regiment have become general officers. They include – **Lieutenant General AS Parmar , who was the Commandant, School of Artillery **Lieutenant General MPS Bhandari , who was also the Director General Artillery **Lieutenant General A Natarajan , who was the

Adjutant-General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

of the Indian Army **Major General DS Chimni **Major General Kuldip Chandra Vig **Major General MN Kashid **Major General Mohabat Singh **Brigadier Satjit Singh **Brigadier AJS Behl **Brigadier Balwinder Singh **Brigadier SN Bhaduri *The Regiment has the distinction of having five Brigadiers currently serving in the Indian Army. *Chinna Raju Srither of the regiment is a national level

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

and has won numerous medals as part of the men's compound team, including a silver at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

, a silver at the Archery World Cup in 2011 and a gold at the Archery World Cup in 2017. *Havildar Latheesh VS is a national level rower.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations established in 1965 Artillery regiments of the Indian Army after 1947 Medium artillery regiments

Formation

Class composition

Operations

Honours and achievements

See also

References