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Siliguri, Nov. 1: The 48th Raising Day of Trishakti Corps was celebrated today with pomp and fanfare.
It was on November 1, 1941 that the Trishakti Corps was raised by Lieutenant General A.F.P. Christison as an amphibious force in Bangalore to fight the Japanese in Burma during World War II.
As part of the Fourteenth Army, the corps earned praise during the Burma campaign.
After the war, the unit was dormant till it was re-raised at Shillong in 1960 by Lieutenant General Umrao Singh. The corps has since shifted and is now headquartered at Sukna, around 12km from here, and oversees army units in north Bengal and Sikkim.
Today’s programme started off with Lieutenant General Deepak Raj, SM, the General Officer Commanding of the Corps, paying a tribute to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the safety, integrity and honour of the nation.
The annals of the Corps contain its impressive role during the war for the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. Making their way through the enemy defences at Charkal, Palasbari and Rangpur in erstwhile East Pakistan, the troops fought in the Battles of Bogra and Bhaduria, resulting in the surrender of Pakistan’s 16 Infantry Division.
The Trishakti Corps, over the years, has also contributed to peacetime activity, like successfully keeping the lines of communication in north Bengal and Sikkim open despite the harsh terrain and inclement weather conditions, especially during the monsoons.
The corps, however, are yet to contend with pachyderms. Recently, a sentry on duty at the Bengdubi cantonment was mauled to death by a marauding elephant. A couple of years ago, an officer on way to physical training early in the morning was also killed by a tusker.
“The situation was no different when we were with the corps here,” recalled Col. (retd) S.P. Thapa, who served as Adm. Commandant at Sukna between 1993 and 1995. He was among the five retired officers attached to the corps at one time who could make it to the wreath laying ceremony at the War Memorial today.
“The jackfruits in the cantonment area were a major attraction for the elephants. We used to throw the fruit away to stave them off as barbed fences were of no use,” Thapa added.
Col. (retd) K.B. Pradhan, who was with the Corps’ education department between 1998 and 2000, said Raising Day was celebrated then mainly by exchanging messages and holding of functions. “The war memorial came up about two years later, and with it, the wreath-laying ceremony.”
He said activities for the welfare of the servicemen and their families had increased now compared to what it was seven years go.
