Honour Above All

An extract from Lt Gen. Zameeruddin Shah’s memoirs

In this chapter I will not discuss the, oft discussed, theoretical aspects of ‘Battle Fatigue’. I will make observations from my own experience. I am convinced that battle fatigue is largely self-inflicted. I spent many years in operational areas and, luckily, never felt the heat or was a victim of despondency. This is infectious and I never allowed it to permeate to my command either. I enjoyed the work I did and persons who have served with me will vouch that they did too. Our first commitment was the job in hand and was the major focus of our attention. The little spare time was devoted to reading, shikar (till it was banned), fishing and playing games especially tennis, golf and water sports. I also dabbled in writing poetry, regrettably in English only. I wish I had given more attention to Urdu ‘Shair Shayerie’.

In the old days, field tenures were spent largely on border guarding, with intermittent bouts of firing. Not anymore. Now they are battle zones and prolonged exposure subjects troops to intense battle fatigue. It largely depends on officers to ward it off and keep it at bay. After exacting operational commitments units deserve peace time tenures which should strictly be for training, rest and recuperation and not broken by frequent commitments on ‘Aid to Civil Authorities’ and calls for the army on the slightest pretext. The most debasing, debilitating and disliked of these is quelling communal riots. I feel that the second line, the Para Military Forces, should shoulder more such responsibilities.

There has also been a tendency of wastage of time on long-winded conferences at all levels. Commanding officers spend many hours away from their units in discussions at Brigade HQ. I preferred to visit units myself and see things, first hand. Instructions were given verbally on the spot, not through long winding narratives and written orders. I had a major problem in command of my battery when, as a major, I was perpetually ‘press ganged’ for work in the Division or Brigade HQ. What about my command? ‘Do it in your spare time’, I used to be told.

The problem is accentuated by shortage of officers in Battalions/Regiments. This really shouldn’t be a problem at all. The Israeli Army has the lowest officer to men ratio but has performed creditably. The problem lies in non-delegation of responsibility to the second rung of leadership, the Junior Commissioned Officers. This is first-rate leadership material, risen from the ranks, but not gainfully employed. The ‘Zero Error Syndrome’ makes it imperative that everything becomes officer-centric. I had to put an end to Commanding Officers accompanying patrols and ambushes as they explained they could not continuously tax the same few officers available in the units.

Another aspect on which I have my own opinions is the time spent on operational discussions. I gen