LIEUT-COL Ranjit Rai was informed on October 26, 1947, that he had to fly his unit, 1 Sikh, which was on internal security duty at Gurgaon to Srinagar. At the break of dawn on October 27, the first Dakota took off from Palam with instructions that if the Srinagar airfield was in the enemy hands, it should land at Jammu.

After landing at the Srinagar airfield, Colonel Rai set out with a company of his unit in the vehicles provided by the National Conference towards Baramula to block the road and prevent the enemy from advancing towards Srinagar.

When Colonel Rai was deploying his men at the Green Hill near Baramula, the enemy, which was already there, launched a fierce attack on our company. Colonel Rai was hit by a burst of automatic fire and fell. Most of his men fought heroically and fell around him. Colonel Rai, who was awarded the Mahavir Chakra (posthumously), was the first Commanding Officer to sacrifice his life for the Independent India.

A board near the Green Hill reads: "In the ever green memory of brave soldiers of the Sikh Regiment who gave their lives so that the Kashmiris might live in freedom. They were the first Indian troops to come to their rescue on October 27, 1947. On this fateful