40 Field Regiment (Asal Uttar), nicknamed the ''Roaring Forty'' 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 at

Risalpur Risalpur (Pashto/ ur, رسالپور) is a city in Nowshera District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, on the Nowshera-Mardan Road. It is nearly 45 km from Peshawar and 18 km from Mardan and is located at 34°4'52N 71°58'21E. In a basin so ...

(presently in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

) as 8 Indian Field Regiment on 1 February 1943 with the troop nucleus being of South Indian classes. The Regiment was then equipped with 25 Pounder guns.

History

The Regiment became the first medium regiment of the Indian Army on 1 October 1944, when it was re-equipped with 5.5" guns. It was later re-designated as 40 Medium Regiment. The regiment was awarded with the prestigious ''Asal Uttar'' honour title for its exemplary display in the

Battle of Asal Uttar The Battle of Asal Uttar (Hindi : आसल उत्ताड़ , Punjabi: ਆਸਲ ਉਤਾੜ) was one of the largest tank battles fought during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It was fought from 8 to 10 September 1965, when the Pakist ...

in the 1965 Indo-Pak War. It acquired the status of a medium self propelled unit, when it was equipped with the M-46 Catapult, which had 130 mm guns mounted on a

Vijayanta The ''Vijayanta'' (en: "Victorious") was a main battle tank built in India based on a licensed design of the Vickers Mk.1. The Vijayanta was the first indigenous tank of the Indian Army. The prototype was completed in 1963 and the tank entered ...

chassis. The regiment has subsequently converted to a field artillery regiment and is now equipped with Indian Field Guns. The Regiment also had the honour of carrying Mahatma Gandhi's ashes for immersion in the

Damodar River Damodar River (Pron: /ˈdʌmoˌdaː/) is a river flowing across the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Rich in mineral resources, the valley is home to large-scale mining and industrial activity. Earlier known as the Sorrow of Bengal bec ...

in Ramgarh on one of its guns in 1948. The regiment had the honour to participate in the Republic Day Parades in 1979 with their 130 mm towed guns and in 1987 and 1989 with their Catapults.

Operations

Some of the major operations undertaken by the Regiment include: ;

Hyderabad Police Action Operation Polo was the code name of the Hyderabad "police action" in September 1948, by the then newly independent Dominion of India against Hyderabad State. It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-rule ...

(1948): 2nd Medium battery moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

in May 1948 in support of Smash Force / 1 Armoured Division to quell an armed insurrection aimed against the formal union of this princely state with the Union of India. Two guns recovered during the action, are exhibited at the unit's Quarter Guard. ;

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, or the First Kashmir War, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars that was fought between th ...

: 1 Medium Battery participated in the J & K Operations to counter the armed incursion into the State. The 5.5" guns were dismantled and air-lifted in Dakotas to Kashmir. Exemplary courage and gallantry was displayed by Capt. Dara Dinshaw Mistri in the Naushera Sector on 15 December 1948. He was posthumously awarded the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

(MVC) for display of bravery and gallant action. (This was the first MVC in the Regiment of Artillery). The official citation reads: 2nd Lt IK Gupta National War Memorial

; Indo-Pak War (1965): In September 1965, the Regiment was located in

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

, when it received the mobilisation orders. The Regiment was part of Operation Riddle in the

Khemkaran Khem Karan is a town and a nagar panchayat, just 56km from Tarn Taran Sahib in Tarn Taran district of Patti tehsil of the Majha region of Indian state of Punjab. It was the site of a major tank battle in 1965. The Battle of Asal Uttar was th ...

-Kasur Sector in which

's 1 Armoured Division advanced towards East of the

Icchogil Canal __NOTOC__ Bambanwala-Ravi-Bedian Canal (BRB Canal), also called Ichogil Canal, is a manmade waterway in Pakistan that takes off from the Upper Chenab Canal near the Bambanwala village (to the west of Daska), runs southeast until reaching close ...

. The Regiment with its 5.5" guns fired over 13,000 rounds at

Kasur Kasur (Urdu and pa, ; also romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The city serves as the headquarters of Kasur District. Kasu ...

town, which halted the Pakistani advance for a day. The regiment lost two officers (2nd Lieutenant IK Gupta and 2nd Lieutenant LS Modi) in this operation. ;

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's batteries were located at 3 different places when it received its mobilisation orders. One Battery (403 Medium Battery) stuck to their guns in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

which could not be diverted to participate in the Operations. Without the 403 Medium Battery, 28 Medium Battery headed towards

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

from Agartala RHQ and 29 Medium Battery entered the then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

(present day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

) from Bhajanpur. The Regiment was the first Artillery Regiment to reach

. ; 1973 Provincial Armed Constabulary revolt: On 22 May 1973, the Regiment was deployed for internal security duties at

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

to aid the civil authorities to quell the armed insurrection by the

Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (UP-PAC) or ''Pradeshik Armed Constabulary'' (PAC) is an armed police of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is maintained at key locations across the state and active only on orders from the Deputy ...

(PAC) at

Ramnagar Ramnagar may refer to the following places: Bangladesh * Ramnagar, Bangladesh, a village in Chittagong Division * Ramnagar Union, Jessore Sadar India Jammu and Kashmir * Ramnagar, Udhampur, a town in Jammu and Kashmir ** Ramnagar Fort Udha ...

and

Chunar Chunar is a city located in Mirzapur district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is nearby Mirzapur city. The railway tracks passing through Chunar Junction railway station leads to major destinations of India, including Howrah, Delhi, T ...

. One officer (Major N. N. Jally) and 10 other ranks were killed, but the rebellion was successfully quelled. Four

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 ...

s were awarded to the Regiment. 500 PAC personnel surrendered to the Commanding Officer during the operation. ;Others: The Regiment has participated in counter insurgency operations in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, in the Operation Parakram (2002), in the

Siachen conflict The Siachen conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen Glacier conflict or the Siachen War, was a military conflict between India and Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conflict was started in 1984 by India' ...

in 2006 and Operation Rhino (

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Equipment

The regiment has had the following guns in chronological order - * 25 Pounder guns * 5.5 Inch Gun - from 1943 * M-46 130 mm Field Gun - from 1978 * M-46 Catapult - from 1984 * Indian Field Gun

References

{{reflist Artillery regiments of the Indian Army after 1947 Military units and formations established in 1943

Formation

History

Operations

Equipment

See also

References