Veer Gatha Project

Veer Gatha Project.

Prepared by Shreya Singh 11 th Science Jay Ambe International School.

IF I DIE IN A WAR ZONE , BOX ME UP AND SEND ME HOME. PUT MY MEDALS ON MY CHEST , TELL MY MOM I DID MY BEST..

Lt. General Harbaksh Singh.

Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh VrC ( 1 October1913-14 November 1999) was a senior General Officer in Indian Army ..

Early life and education. Harbaksh Singh was born in a wealthy peasant family , the youngest of seven siblings , in Badrukhan village near Sarangpur , the capital of the Jind State.Singh attended Ranbir High School before joining the Government College Lahore..

FAMILY BACKGROUND. Harbaksh’s father , Dr. Harnam Singh was the first person from the village to become a doctor. Singh’s father joined the Jind Infantry and also participated in the Tirah campaign in 1897-98. He later served East African campaign during World War I. Jind Infantry was later in 1952 merged to Indian Army as the Punjab Regiment..

Other interests. Singh was also good at sports and was a part of college hockey team.

Joining Ima. After graduation Singh prepared for IMA entrance exam and qualified it . He arrived at Dehradun and joined IMA..

initial STAGE AS A MILITARY Officer. Singh was commissioned on 15 July 1935 and started his carrier with a year’s post-commission attachment with the 2 nd battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, then stationed at Rawalpindi . He saw service on the North West Fronrier during the Mohamand campaign of 1935.

World war II. In April 1939, the battalion received orders to move out of Razmak and prepare to move abroad, the final destination was not known. Moving to Quetta by road, via Bannu , the battalion made its way to Madras on a special troops train. Embarking on passenger ship, they made their way to British Malaya , reaching Singapore after a few days. They then moved to the town of Ipoh , which was their interim station, before reaching Kuantan . During the withdrawal from Kuantan on 5 January 1942, Singh drove into a Japanese ambush and was seriously injured. He was evacuated to Alexandra Hospital in Singapore where he remained until the Fall of Singapore . [10].

Prisoner of war. He commanded a company of 5 Sikhs in 1942 in Malaya against the Japanese. Severely wounded in the head , a steel plate, which he carried to his last day, was a constant reminder. He was in a military hospital when General A.E.Percival, the allied field commander, surrendered all allied forces in Malaya and Singapore to the Japanese in 1942. Then followed three years of a miserable existence and near starvation as a Japanese prisoner of war..

Health issues in his way. After being freed from Japan’s prison in 1945,he remained hospitalized for some months with beriberi and other problems brought on by malnutrition and inhuman conditions in Japanese POW camps. Posted as second-in-command of 4 Sikh on release from hospital, he was perhaps the only deputy ever to ride a horse on parade in an infantry battalion, as he was too weak to march..

The third chapter of his military carrier. India was declared as an independent nation on 15 August 1947, and Pakistani-backed regulars,irregulars and tribesmen crossed into the state of Jammu-Kashmir on October 22. In spite of a determined effort by the J&K state forces and by the initially inducted Indian troops, the enemy reached the outskirts of Srinagar on November 20 and the fall of the capital city was imminent. On November 21, reports came in of a concentration of around 3,000 enemy troops on the outskirts of Srinagar at Shalateng , just 4 miles from the city centre , preparing to attack the city ..

Colonel Harbaksh Singh , then second-in-commander of the newly inducted 161 Brigade was given the task of conducting the battle. He attacked Shalateng on the November 22 with two infantry battalions , 1 Sikh and 1 Kumaon with a troop with a troop of armoured cars of 7 Calvary and, in a brilliantly planned and executed operation, routed the enemy dead on the field. This restored threat from Srinagar..

Awards and decorations. Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh , Padma Vibhushan , Padma Bhushan , VrC was a Three Star General in the Indian Army. As the Western Army Commander, Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh commanded the Indian Army forces and played a key role during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan , Padma Bhushan and Vir Chakra..

WHY DID I CHOOSE HIM AS MY HERO. Every soldier has a great spirit of courage strength and valor but I chose him as his determination towards nation touched my heart and the way he fought the hurdles of his way was something praise worthy.