2/23/2019 Grenadiers Regiment

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Military

Further Reading

Units
2nd Battalion (102nd KEO
Grenadiers)
3rd Battalion (108th Infantry)
4th Battalion (109th Infantry)
5th Battalion (112th Infantry)
6th Battalion
8th Battalion
9th Battalion (ex State Forces unit)
11th Battalion (ex Territorial
battalion)
12th Battalion
13th Battalion
14th Battalion
15th Battalion
16th Battalion
17th Battalion
18th Battalion
19th Battalion
20th Battalion
21st Battalion
22nd Battalion
118 Inf Bn (TA) Grenadiers
123 Inf Bn (TA) Grenadiers
12 Rashtriya Rifles
29 Rashtriya Rifles

Resources
The Grenadiers Regiment

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Grenadiers Regiment
The Grenadiers [known as the "Grinders"] have one of
the longest unbroken record of existence in the Indian
Army. Grenadier companies of Bombay Sepoys won
the battle of Talegaon in 1778, and by 1784 the
Grenadier companies had been given the title of
Bombay Grenadiers. The Grenadiers' badge bears the
White Horse of Hanover.

The earliest Grenadiers (in the late 16th century) were

infantry soldiers particularly selected and trained to hurl grenades. The
grenade of the time was a hollow iron ball, filled with gun powder and sealed
with a wooden plug which contained the fuse. To ignite the grenade the
grenadier carried a burning piece of cord called a slow match. Exceptional
strength and courage were needed for hurling the grenade, and accidents
were not uncommon. Grenadiers earned higher pay, received special
privileges, and were distinguished by their height, dashing uniform, and tall,
mitre-shaped headdress (shako). During the 18th century there was a
gradual decline in the use of grenades, but grenadiers were retained as elite
troops.

The 113th Infantry united with 101st Grenadiers, 102nd King Edward's Own
Grenadiers, 108th Infantry, 109th Infantry, and 112th Infantry, to form 10th
Bn, 4th Bombay Grenadiers in 1922. Infantry regiments formed after 1922
were not numbered. Infantry regiments omitted their numbers in October
1945 (except Punjab Regiment). Thus 4th Bombay Grenadiers came to be
known as The Indian Grenadiers in 1945 and was given to India. On the eve
of independence and partition between Indian and Pakistan the army was
partitioned in the ratio of 2:1. In 1950, it was renamed as The Grenadiers. In
order of precedence it came after Punjab and Madras regiments. Brigade of

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Guards was raised in 1950 (1st Grenadiers became 2nd Battalion, Brigade of
Guards). Parachute regiment was raised in 1952. Mechanised Infantry
regiment was raised 1979 (7 Grenadiers converted to 9 Mech Inf Bn). The
new order of precedence of infantry regiments in 1990 was : Guards,
Parachute Regiment, Mechanised Infantry, Punjab, Madras and then
Grenadiers.

Rajputs [from rajputra, a sanskrit word meaning son of a king], are are
mainly Hindus of the warrior caste. Traditionally they have put great value on
the military virtues and take great pride in their ancestry. Of these
exogamous clans, the major ones were Shekhawat, Rathore, Bhati,
Kachchwaha, Chauhan, and Sisodiya. Shekhawt's and shekhawati (the area in
which they reside) have given many number of soldiers to the country. Most
of the Rajput troops from Shekhawati are enrolled in Rajputana Rifles, Rajput
Regiment and Grenadiers Regiment.

The Chief of Army Staff made a special instant award of "Unit Citation" to
18th Battalion, The Grenadiers for their exceptionally gallant and sterling
performance during the battles of Tololing on night 27/28 May 1999, Point
4590 on night 11/12 June 1999 and Three Pimples on night 28/29 June 1999.
Their most significant achievement is the capture of Tiger Hill top on night
03/04 July 1999, in Dras Sector wherein, the enemy was completely
surprised. The overall performance of the battalion during Operation VIJAY
has been exceptional and marked with exemplary valour and grit in the face
of the enemy.

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 centres. 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 the highly specialised operations.
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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 neutralise terrorists in
heavily populated neighbourhoods.

The 16 Grenadiers celebrated its 34th raising day with great pomp and show
some where in the western sector. A large number of serving and retired
Grenadiers and other military personnel attended the celebrations. A special
Sainik Sammelan was organised on this occasion. Col D K Borah, CO, said on
the occasion, "Being a part of important organisation like Army, we have to
strive hard to uphold the rich tradition of national integrity and devotion to
duty. Working for this organisation indirectly benefits the national defence
and solidarity." The battalion was raised on June 1, 1966 at Babina under 18
Infantry Brigade of 36 Infantry Division. Lt Col NB Jayaram was the first
Commanding Officer. During the last 34 years, the unit has been to
Nagaland, Kapurthala, Sikkim, Dehradun, Poonch, Pathankot, Drass, Jaipur
and many other locations. The battalion has participated in operations
Orchid, Cactus Lily, Falcon, Rakshak and Vijay. The battalion has earned 1
VSM, 2 Mention-in-Despatches, 12 COAS Commendation Cards and 9 GOC-
in-C Commendation Card .

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