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 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. 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 .