Martyr Hav. Shere Thapa :: A One Man Army during Indo-China War of 1962

Biography of SHERE THAPA

Martyr Havildar Shere Thapa

Shere Thapa born in Nepal on 27.12.1928 and later he was enrolled in to Indian Army on 01.01.57 (No 13710603W). He served with Jammu & Kashmir Special Force during 27.12. 45 to 31.12.56 underwent training on MR-I, ACE-I &TTT-1. Before being deployed in Tama Chung area he was promoted as a Havildar on 01.05.1962 and after 6 months of deploying in Tama Chung he was martyred for the nation on 18.11.62. After his death, he left his wife Dilli, daughters – Dhanisara, Syani and Nurma. But interesting thing was that neither his qualification nor his address available in official record.

Havildar Shere Thapa was the part of protective patrol of one platoon strength permanently located near Rio Bridge in Upper Subhansiri Valley of Arunachal Pradesh to keep a strong observer on Chinese movements.  On 18 Nov 1962 at 3:00 pm, about 200 Chinese troops came with the party.  Havildar Shere Thapa was manning a LMG from a vantage point covering the move of the Chinese.  In the fire fight, LMG No 2, who was seriously injured in the fire fight and Hav. Shere Thapa took charge of the LMG. He occupied a well camouflaged position and faced waves of Chinese assaults launched one after the other.

He kept on firing with his LMG till he ran out of ammunition. That brave action of Hav. Shere Thapa delayed the Chinese for nearly 72 hrs.  In this encounter 70 Chinese including a senior officer were killed.  The Chinese radio next day announced a 155 casualty in this encounter. Brave action of Thapa won the hearts of the locals of the area who still hold him in very high esteem.  Even the Chinese recognized his bravery.  They buried his dead body on the spot and kept wooden board near his body with an inscription in Chinese Script appreciating the fighting of Hav Shere Thapa.

The PLA sneaked through the Tama Chung Chung Ridge.  Thapa had positioned himself on a vertical slope-invincible high mountain ridge on one side, steep slope down to the Ngo stream, the source of Subansiri River, on the other side.  He had located the most strategic place, either to stop or kill the advancing Chinese soldiers.  A brave Shere Thapa of Indian Army’s 2 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, hiding in a very advantageous position, fire non-stop as his lone soldier-mate continued changing the carbines.  His LMG boomed relentlessly, like a roaring tiger.

Supply line was cut off following retreat order which never reached the duo.  Left with no food and insufficient ammunition, they feared any eventually and decided to fight till death.  One after another unsuspecting Chinese soldiers were killed and fell into the Ngo River without anyone to count.  Thapa did not notice anymore Chinese after emptying all magazines with the fired brash khokas lying scattered.  He confidently came out of his bunker for a battle.  Death was waiting for him.  He peeped towards the heap of corpses with great satisfaction.  An injured, but an alive Chinese soldier, lying on the heap along with his colleagues fired, killing him instantly. The body of brave soldier of 2 J&K Rifles falls in the leap of motherland.  

At last a question arise that Who was the great solider? Because he had killed 160 jawans of People’s Liberation Army hiding in Tama Chung Chung ridge in Middle sector of Sino-India border under Upper Subansiri district on 18^th October 1962. The PLA jawans after killing him had buried his mortal remains with honour. His mortal remains were brought by Lemiking villagers, his last rites performed and a memorial was built by them with great respect.

#Source: From books and Social Media.