Saif Ali Janjua

He was enlisted into the Royal Corps of Engineers in the British Indian Army as a Sepoy on 18 March 1941. He served for four years during World War II and when the war ended, his unit sailed back to the Indian subcontinent and was stationed at Jalandhar and Lahore.[7]

When Pakistan received Independence in 1947, he opted to join the Pakistan Army. On 1 January 1948, with the support of Sardar Fateh Muhammad Karailvi, he established the Haidri Force which was named Sher-e-Riasti Battalion under the command of Lt Col Muhammad Sher Khan and later renamed to 18th Battalion. Due to his dedication and leadership qualities, Janjua was promoted to Naik and made Platoon Commander of the Sher-e-Riasti Battalion, now known as 18th Azad Kashmir Regiment.[8] He inflicted heavy losses on the enemy at Bhudha Khanna and repulsed the attacks of the Indian Armys 5th and 19th Brigade at Pir Kalewa on 20 October 1948. While deployed there, he faced constant frontal and crossfire from opposition machine guns. He defended his post and imposed significant losses on the Indian Army. The enemy used every means to capture the post with the two companies' attacks and heavy shelling but he still managed to retain his post with just a handful of men.[9]

On 14 March 1949, the Defence Council of Azad Jammu & Kashmir posthumously adorned him with the Hilal-e-Kashmir and on 30 November 1995 the Government of Pakistan declared his Hilal-e-Kashmir equivalent to Nishan-e-Haider.