It was a rare moment when the young and old met, the old remembering the past and the young reassuring the old that things aren’t so bad after all.

Officers of the Ordnance factories who had superannuated and officers who are now at the helm of the organisation met over a lunch recently in Chennai. The youngsters conceived the idea of such a meet not only to honour the octogenarians among the retired community or the “Super Seniors” — an appropriate moniker the former finance minister and now President of India gave — but also to exchange the memories and experience of the elderly with the hopes and assurances of the helmsmen of the day.

Reminiscences regale the young

Some of the young had not even been born when many among the old had entered service in the ordnance factory organisation which is unique with a pan-Indian outlook embedded in it since the Raj days. More remarkable is the family feeling which continues well into their twilight years fostered by living together in what today are called gated communities, or Estates then.

Elders regaled the listeners with reminiscences of Duddles in Pune, Huddart in Kolkata and Wilks in Jabalpur, all British officers who continued to work here even after India’s Independence. Wilks was fondly remembered, not only because he set up the manufacture of trucks in 1958 but also because he was so thoroughly Indianised as to apply for Indian citizenship. The American Connection was another strand of nostalgia when it was recalled that the small arms ammunition plant was transplanted from St Louis Mississippi in the US to a place in the boondocks, Varangaon, and commenced production in record time.

Bofors gun puzzle

What, however, came as a revelation to the gathering is that it appeared no one in the higher echelons knew who or what prevented the Ordnance Factories from manufacturing the now well-known Bofors guns, even after the receipt of complete drawings and technological documentation as far back as 1987. It appeared that, after the Kargil war, the Army reviewed the performance of artillery whose role in thwarting the misadventure of Musharraf was writ large on every rock of the mountains in Drass and Kargil.

It found that the Bofors Gun which had been refurbished with both barrel and ordnance made in the Ordnance Factories, set a record for the number of rounds fired in a single night of operations. The Army was so delighted it wanted the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) to supply complete guns. But It was discovered to the dismay of the civilian bureaucracy that a decision was taken by the then Secretary in charge of Defence Production to allot the manufacture to BEML. However, the Ordnance Factories, even while transferring the documentation to BEML under orders, retained a set with themselves which came in handy for producing the spares for the guns imported from Sweden. Suddenly the OFB found itself in the position of the most favoured source receiving orders for 144 upgraded artillery guns for the Army.

The good news is that the two prototypes of the latest version manufactured with updated electronic controls have been successfully tested at Pokhran and bulk production clearance is likely to be given shortly.

Both the young and old had reason to believe that all is well with the Ordnance Factories, particularly with the recent emphasis on indigenous production, as procuring from foreign arms suppliers is fraught with risks of scandals.

(The author is former Member, Ordnance Factories.)

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