Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Ghulam Rasul Raja MC was an

army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contextu ...

of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

and later of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

who served in the 16th Punjab

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

under the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Raj. He later served

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

when the regiment was ceded to the Pakistan. He was from Panjeri (Azad Kashmir) and settled in

Sarai Alamgir Sarai Alamgir ( pnb, ) is the main town of Sarai Alamgir Tehsil, located in the Gujrat district in the north of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Sarai Alamgir is one of four tehsils of Gujrat district. Sarai Alamgir covers on the eastern ba ...

(Punjab, Pakistan).

Early military service

Ghulam Rasul enlisted in the 4th battalion

16th Punjab Regiment The 16th Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamated ...

on 9 June 1923. He received a Viceroy's commission as a Jemadar on 1 September 1937 and was promoted Subedar 15 July 1939. Before the Second World War, he had served extensively on the northwest Frontier of India, taking part in the northwest Frontier 1930–31, Mohmand 1935 and Waziristan 1936-37 campaigns. The battalion went overseas in October 1940. It served in Egypt, the Sudan, and Eritrea before moving back to the Western Desert of Egypt in April 1941.

Military Cross (WW2)

In early November 1941, the 4th battalion

moved to camp east of Sidi Barrani and undertook training in preparation of their part of

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...

. On the evening of 18 November, they formed up at Bir Deheusa, 5 miles northwest of the heavily defended Omar position. The main attack on the Omars took place at 1200 hours on 22 November, with the battle for Omar Nuovo. When the word came in this attack had been successful the 4/16th were to advance on the Libyan Omar position. This they did, with Subedar Ghulam Rasul leading "D" company on the left. As a result of this action, he was awarded the MC in the London Gazette 23 January 1942. Libya was strategically important for the British because the amassing of a large Italian army at Tripolitania and Cyrenaica threatened the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. Ghulam Rasul received an Indian Emergency Commission into the Indian Army and the

as a Second Lieutenant on 9 July 1942 and was made war substantive Lieutenant the same date.August 1947 Indian Army List

Sitara-e-Jurrat (1947–1948 Kashmir War)

Raja was again at the forefront of the offensive. In this particular instance, he was involved in pushing the Indian armed forces out of

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

as the first struggle for Pakistan to take Kashmir began in 1947. Pakistan roughly gained 2/5 of Kashmir in this war, although the outcome was a UN Intervention

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

, it is seen as a victory from the Pakistani perspective. Raja was stationed in front of a peak which was held by the Indian forces. Numerous Pakistani soldiers had been killed by fire from the higher ground due to the elevated Indian position. Raja realised that the Indian's had a great strategic advantage and thus a plan must be devised to advance further. His unit tried to concentrate

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

fire on the Indian stronghold but did not succeed. Thus he ordered the artillery units to be elevated to higher positions, trying best to keep this hidden from enemy view. Raja and his men monitored Indian movement for a number of days in order to find gaps in their guard and times when their defences were weak. He was thus able to devise a strategically timed offensive. He asked men to come forward to aid him in the apex of the

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactics, military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbru ...

, with complete awareness that it was almost certainly a fatal mission since the Indian forces heavily outnumbered the Pakistani force at that position. They prepared for the offensive, waiting for the Indian defence to weaken, they attacked with aid of the artillery that had been repositioned. The Indians were stunned at the scale of the attack and fell immediately under the pretense that a large Pakistani force had arrived. They surrendered and subsequently, the peak had been liberated by Pakistani forces. For his exemplary bravery, he was awarded the honor of Sitara-e-Jurrat (''Star of Courage''). He later went on to found the 9th Azad Kashmir Battalion, to whom he became a symbol of valor. He is remembered on their various commemorative meetings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raja, Ghulam Rasul British Indian Army officers Indian Army personnel of World War II Punjab Regiment officers Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of Sitara-e-Jurat