As part of Operation Riddle, 3 Jat was initially ordered to breach the Ichhogil Canal, which ran for 8 kilometres inside Pakistan. The western side was lined with Pakistani concrete pillboxes that had overlapping arcs of fire. The Dograi township on the eastern bank of the Canal near the Grand Trunk road was captured by 3 Jat by 1100 hours on 6 September 1965. By 1200 hours on 6 September 1965, 3 Jat had captured the Batapore and Attokeawan locaties on the west bank of the Canal despite stiff enemy opposition. It was for this action that Lt. Col. Hayde was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. However, the battalion had to fall back as the other units detailed to support them in the offensive could not reach them in time due to a miscommunication. 3 Jat stood their ground alone until they were ordered to withdraw by brigade headquarters. The miscommunication error resulted in the removal of a major general from his post. 3 Jat then had to wait 2 weeks in defence at Santpura village in Pakistan before they were given orders to take Dograi, a town in the immediate vicinity of Lahore. By this time, the Pakistan Army had heavily fortified the town. On the night of 21 September 1965, during the impending attack on Dograi, Hayde made two demands of his men:
Ek bhi aadmi pichhe nahin hatega!
Zinda ya murda, Dograi mein milna hai!
3 Jat then marched 8 kilometres from their trenches to Dograi, where the Pakistan Army had entrenched itself. The Pakistani force consisted of 2 infantry battalions supported by a tank squadron. Hayde warned his men against retreating by saying "Even if all of you run away, I shall continue to stand on the battlefield alone". The battalion engaged in close quarter combat, and eventually captured Dograi. However, 86 troops of 3 Jat were killed. The Pakistani casualties were close to 300. Hayde is also perhaps the only soldier to be painted by the famed M. F. Husain on the battlefield. It was during an address to his battalion later on 29 October in the same year in Pakistan that Prime MinisterLal Bahadur Shastri gave India one of its best known slogans: "Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan!".
Maha Vir Chakra Citation
The citation for the Maha Vir Chakra reads as follows
Later life
Hayde spent 30 years in the Indian Army before retiring as a brigadier in 1978. He then moved to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand, his wife's hometown. He set up the ex-servicemen league in Kotdwar and readily helped former members of the Jat Regiment. He donated some land upon which a school was built in Kotdwar. He also adopted many stray dogs.
Personal life
Hayde married Sheela, a Garhwali from Kotdwar in what was then Uttar Pradesh, but is now in Uttarakhand. He met her when he was a young officer in Bareilly. They had three sons, one of whom joined the Indian Army and retired as a lieutenant colonel. One of the sons, Walter, resided in Canada up until his passing on 8 March 2017.
Death
Brigadier Hayde died of skin cancer on 25 September 2013 in Kotdwar. He was buried alongside his wife in Bareilly cantonment, near the Jat Regimental Centre.
Legacy
The Hayde Heritage Academy, Kotdwara, a school founded by him on the land donated by him, was renamed in his honor.
