Artillery is Army’s tour de force
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Demonstrating a 105mm gun, currently being phased out, to visiting journalists at Mendhar camp, in Jammu, last week, the artillerymen were in high spirits. With Indian Army commemorating the first artillery regiment that was raised on September 28, 1827, as Gunners’ Day, Chennai resident, Captain John Robert, told Deccan Chronicle about the relevance of artillery and how gunners play a decisive role during wars and also help infantry battalions.
“No infantry moves without support from armoured and artillerymen. We need to cover them and are the first to face firing,” said Capt. Robert, who joined the artillery regiment straight out of Officers’ Training Academy. The Chennaiite was not even aware of the importance of this second biggest arm of the Indian Army until his instructor told him about the need for keen brain and physical strength to enter this regiment. “I used to study till 2 am to specialise in artillery. My unit had a 130mm gun that could hit accurately a target 35 km away,” he added.
He shared a personal experience where he was made to travel three hours in the desert during the Kargil War. “I couldn’t hear my commanding officer’s voice properly over radio and so he asked me to report in person. As a consolation, he asked me to join him for dinner. It helped me understand the importance of communication in artillery. If we hear something wrong and use those coordinates to fire, we might even end up killing our own men,” he added.
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