Dogra Regiment
The British referred to all those who enlisted from Rajput hill states as Dogras, and the first regiment of Dogras was added to the Bengal Army on April 20, 1887, at Sialkot. After partition, Dogra companies were absorbed from Baluch and Punjab Regiment and the Frontier Force to raise Dogra battalions to its present-day strength.
Motto: Kartavyam Anvatma (Duty Before Death)
War Cry: Jwala Mata Ki Jai (Victory to Goddess Jwala)
Regimental Centre: Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh
Regimental Insignia: Tiger revered as the mount of the Goddess Durga, who is a widely worshipped deity in the Dogra Hills
A large number of people from Kangra had joined the defense forces and spent their lives in the army. Their regiment is known as Dogra Regiment. Most of the soldiers of this regiment belonged to Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, Kullu, etc. But today, their number has lessened due to the withdrawal of the quota fixed for their recruitment. This has caused unemployment in the said areas. They are patriotic people, so their political representatives have requested that this quota should be restored so that the Dogra Regiment can have the maximum benefit of their services.
Under the British, the Dogra Regiment was recruited entirely of Dogra Rajputs, who are high caste Hindus descended from the original Aryan invaders of India. They inhabit the foothills of the Himalayas between the Jhelum and Sutlej rivers in Punjab. It was one of the few regiments which was composed of a single class, the majority being made up of class squadrons or companies.
The Dogras earned laurels for valor during World War I and II as well as in all major operations after Independence. In the pre-Independence era, the Dogras had to their credit three Victoria Cross and 44 Military Cross awards besides 312 other awards. Post-Independence, the regiment has won an Ashok Chakra, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shree, and nine Maha Vir Chakra besides numerous other decorations, including five unit citations.
Six Army battalions raised especially for Jammu and Kashmir (J-K) counter-insurgency operations underwent special training and started deployment in the state by 01 September 2001. With the entire state barring Ladakh under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the Army began deploying additional forces to tighten the security net, with 7,200 soldiers of six newly-raised battalions. The battalions are assigned to the Rashtriya Rifles (RR), but parent Regiments raised them at their respective regimental centers. One of the six battalions was raised in New Delhi (Rajputana Rifles). The Maratha Light Infantry (MLI) RR battalion was raised at Belgaum, the Madras Regiment at Tiruchi, the Assam Regiment RR battalion at Shillong, the Punjab RR at Ramgarh, Grenadiers at Jabalpur and the Dogra Regiment RR battalion at Faizabad. The newly-raised battalions underwent special training at the Army’s counter-insurgency warfare school near Jammu. The Army had six months to raise and train the soldiers for highly specialized operations. After that there was a four-week-long capsule course in laying ambushes in hills and mountains, detecting and disarming IEDs, carrying out cordon and search operations, and carrying out operations to neutralize terrorists in heavily populated neighborhoods.
The Dogra Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its roots directly from the 17th Dogra Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix (in the case of the Dogra Regiment, 17) was removed. Units of the Dogra Regiment have fought in all conflicts that independent India has been engaged in, making it one of the most prestigious and most decorated regiments of the Indian Army.
Formation
The regiment was formed in 1922 through the amalgamation of three separate regiments of Dogras into the 17th Dogra Regiment. They were:
1st Battalion — formerly the 37th (Prince of Wales’s Own) Dogras
2nd Battalion’ — formerly the 38th Dogras
3rd Battalion — formerly the 1st Battalion, 41st Dogras
10th (Training) Battalion — formerly the 2nd Battalion, 41st Dogras
The regiment has produced one Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Nirmal Chander Vij. Vij also served as the 10th Colonel-in-Chief of the Dogra Regiment and the Dogra Scouts.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
On September 2, 1965, the 3rd battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. R.B. Nair, was given the task to capture Point 7702 in Jammu and Kashmir. The brigade then planned two-battalion attacks with the 2nd battalion, Sikh Regiment on the left to clear the Raja picket and the 3rd battalion, Dogra Regiment on the right to capture point 7702. The battalion left late in the evening on September 5, and successfully sneaked past Raja picket. The two leading companies were to assault from the left flank and cross the start line at 04:00 on September 6 under the able leadership of Maj. Greesh Chandra Verma and Capt. Gurdev Singh Bawa. B and C companies stormed point 7702 at 05:00 on September 6. After a fierce hand-to-hand and bunker-to-bunker fight, the enemy was uprooted from the strongly built defenses and the post was captured by 05:45.
Maj. G.C. Verma was wounded in the head and refused to be evacuated. He breathed his last on seeing the success signal being fired from his pistol by Sub. Rattan Singh. Capt. G.S. Bawa, the other assaulting company commander was also wounded fatally while silencing an enemy MMG. The battalion lost two officers, one JCO and 14 ORs while 3 officers, 2 JCOs and 60 ORs were wounded in the battle. 39 men of the enemy were killed and 5 were taken as POWs.
In recognition of this valor, the battalion was awarded the battle honor Chand Tekri and the theatre honor of Jammu and Kashmir 1965.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Main article: Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
On the eastern front, the 9th battalion was responsible for the fall of Suadih, a small village in East Pakistan that was a strong bastion of the Pakistan Army’s most fortified position in the country. This led to the ultimate liberation of East Pakistan and a victory for the Indian Army. For this task, 9 Dogra was awarded the battle honor of Suadih (Small village in East-Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh.).
The 5th battalion was posted in Asal Uttar, Punjab, where it was assigned to accord depth to the defenses of Khem Karan.
Units
Troops of 14th Battalion of Dogra Regiment during Ajeya Warrior exercise in February 2020
2nd Battalion
3rd Battalion — Mighty Third
4th Battalion
5th Battalion — Five The Formidable
6th Battalion
7th Battalion
8th Battalion — Elite Eight
9th Battalion — Suadih Paltan
10th Battalion
11th Battalion — Elite Eleven
12th Battalion — Towering Twelfth
13th Battalion -Siramani
14th Battalion — Fabulous Fourteen
15th Battalion — Fighting Fifteenth
16th Battalion — Sovereign Sixteen
17th Battalion — Smashing Seventeen
18th Battalion — Ashok Chakra Paltan
19th Battalion — Dynamic Nineteen
20th Battalion — LEAPING TIGERS
21st Battalion — Roaring Twentyone
11 Rashtriya Rifles
20 Rashtriya Rifles
40 Rashtriya Rifles
62 Rashtriya Rifles
The regiment also has 4 Territorial Army battalions.
112th Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) (based at Jalandhar, Punjab)
153rd Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) (based at Meerut, Uttar Pradesh)
159th Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) (based at Thalela, Jammu, and Kashmir)
130th Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) (Ecological) (based at Shimla, Himachal Pradesh)
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