Recipient of Vir Chakra
Lieutenant General
Harbaksh Singh
,
VrC
(1 October 1913 ? 14 November 1999) was an Indian senior
military officer
. As the commander of the
Western Command
, Singh commanded the
Indian Army
and played a key role during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
. For his role in the war, he was awarded the
Padma Vibhushan
in 1966.
[1]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Harbaksh Singh was born on 1 October 1913 in a wealthy Sikh family, the youngest of seven siblings, in
Badrukhan
village near
Sangrur
, the
capital
of the
Jind State
.
[2]
His father, Dr Harnam Singh, was the first person from the village to become a Doctor. Dr Singh joined the Jind Infantry and participated in the
Tirah campaign
in 1897-98. He later served in the
East African campaign
during
World War I
. The Jind Infantry later was amalgamated into the
Indian Army
in 1952, into the
Punjab Regiment
.
[3]
Harbaksh attended the Ranbir High School in Sangrur before joining the
Government College Lahore
. Always good at sports, Singh was a part of the College Hockey team. As someone who belonged to a
Princely state
, he had to take the permission of the
Governor of Punjab
,
Sir Geoffrey Montmorency
. He then sat for the entrance examinations to enrol into the
Indian Military Academy
(IMA), which had been set up the previous year. In March 1933, Singh arrived at
Dehradun
and joined the IMA.
[4]
Military career
[
edit
]
Singh was commissioned on 15 July 1935 and started his career with a year's post-commission attachment with the 2nd battalion,
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
, then stationed at
Rawalpindi
.
[5]
It was standard practice for newly commissioned Indian officers to be initially attached to a British regiment before being sent to an Indian unit. He saw service on the North West Frontier during the
Mohmand campaign of 1935
.
[6]
After a year's attachment with the Highlanders, Singh joined the 5th battalion,
11th Sikh Regiment
(previously
47th Sikhs
) at
Aurangabad
, on 19 August 1936.
[7]
[8]
By 1937, Singh was commanding a Signal platoon, in the headquarter company of the battalion. In September 1938, the battalion, under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel
Charles Ford
moved to
Razmak
in the
North-West Frontier Province
(NWFP). Singh took over command of Alpha company of the battalion at Razmak.
[9]
World War II
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Harbaksh Singh was taken
Prisoner of war
(POW) on 15 February 1942. He was among the POWs in attendance at the
Farrer Park address
by
Gen Mohan Singh
of the
First Indian National Army
. Singh was to be moved to the Island of
Rabaul
, but the ship never turned up. He was subsequently slated to be sent to the
Death Railway
but was sent to the
Kluang
airfield and handed over to the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
instead. His brother, Lt Col
Gurbakhsh Singh
and his battalion of the Jind Infantry was with him in the same camp. Singh spent the remaining years of the war as a POW in the Kluang camp. he suffered from a bad bout of Typhoid as well as a bad case of
Beriberi
, a disease he carried all his life. He was repatriated only in September 1945 after cessation of hostilities.
[11]
He then recuperated at the Military Hospital in
Ambala
.
[12]
During the
Indian National Army in Singapore
between 1943 and 1945, his brother Lieutenant Colonel Gurbaksh Singh (not to be confused with INA officer
Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon
) became commander of the INA force housed at
Tyersall Park
, one of the seven INA military camps, constituted from the POWs of
Jind State
force, who were
jats
and other troops mainly from
Haryana
and
Punjab
.
[13]
By the end of year, Harbaksh Singh joined the Unit's Commanders' Course in
Dehradun
and in April 1945, was posted as the
Second-in-command
of the 4th battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment (4/11 Sikh) at
Campbellpur
(now Attock). In February 1947, he was selected to join the first long course at
Staff College, Quetta
.
[14]
Post-Independence
[
edit
]
After completing the Staff Course at the Staff College, he was posted as GSO-1 (operations and training),
Eastern Command
.
[15]
In October 1947, when
Lieutenant Colonel
Dewan Ranjit Rai
, the
Commanding Officer
of 1st battalion,
Sikh Regiment
(1 Sikh) was killed during the Kashmir operations in 1948, he volunteered to command the battalion. However, he was posted as Deputy Commander of the
161 Infantry Brigade
.
He conducted the main battle against the raiders at Shelatang Bridge on 7 November 1947. This decisive battle, involving 1st battalion Sikh Regiment and 4th battalion Kumaon Regiment, proved to be a turning point in the war.
On 12 December 1947, on hearing about the heavy casualties suffered by 1st battalion Sikh, he proceeded to
Uri
and took over the command of the battalion voluntarily, dropping a star from his rank. He brought back the battalion to
Srinagar
and began to rehabilitate it.
However, even before the rehabilitation was complete, the battalion was called out to fight the enemy who had crossed the snow-clad Pharikian ki Gali and had occupied Handwara.
He led the truncated battalion, in a daring operations in which, after a series of battles, the battalion drove out the enemy from the valley.
In 1948, he was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier
and took over the command of 163 Infantry Brigade and began to advance to Tithwal. The movement forward started on 12 May 1948, and after six days, Tithwal was captured. Brigadier Harbaksh Singh was awarded a Vir Chakra for his bravery.
[16]
The citation for the
Vir Chakra
reads as follows:
[17]
[18]
Gazette Notification: 10 Pres 52,26-1-52
Operation: -
Date of Award: 1948
CITATION
BRIGADIER HARBAKSH SINGH (IC 31)
COMMANDER 163 BRIGADE (1948)
In May 1948, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh, Commander 163 Brigade, was ordered to advance and capture Tithwal with a view to capturing the enemy's base from where he operated towards the Handwara valley and to cut his advance from Muzzaffarabad to Gurais. The tribesmen were then adopting guerilla warfare to infiltrate the Kashmir Valley.
On the night of 16 May, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh, leading his troops on foot, made a rapid advance through a very difficult terrain, including the crossing of the 11,000-ft. Nastachur Pass, and completely surprised the enemy who broke and withdrew in confusion and panic in all directions. Tithwal was thus captured on 23 May. The success of the operations was to a very great extent due to his personal leadership.
During the subsequent consolidation at Tithwal, when the enemy concentrated a stronger force and brought heavy fire to bear with numerous counter-attacks, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh visited every position placing troops on the ground and was frequently under enemy fire. To keep himself in touch with Divisional HQ he made frequent trips on foot unmindful of the danger of being ambushed as the line of communication was still exposed to enemy infiltration.
During these operations, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh showed gallantry and courage of a very high order and his personal appearance in forward posts, without regard for personal safety, considerably cheered the defenders.
After the Kashmir operations, he went on to serve as the Deputy Commandant of the
Indian Military Academy
, at the western command headquarters, director of infantry at the Army headquarters, and in 1957 attended a course at the
Imperial Defence College
(now Royal College of Defence Studies) in the United Kingdom. In January 1959, he became the first foreign officer to go on attachment with German Army's first division to be raised after their disbandment at the end of World War II.
He returned to India to take over as the
General Officer Commanding
(GOC) the 27 Infantry Division, and later as the GOC 5 Infantry Division. From July 1961 to October 1962, he was the
Chief of Staff
at the
Western Command
headquarters.
When the Chinese invaded
NEFA
and
Ladakh
, he was moved from
Shimla
to take over the command of
IV Corps
. He later he moved as the GOC
XXXIII Corps
.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
[
edit
]
In 1964, he was promoted to Army Commander and took over as the
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
(GOC-in-C) of the
Western Command
whose area of responsibility spanned from Ladakh to Punjab. He led the Western Command successfully against the Pakistan Army along the entire border in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
.
Around May 12, 1965, Brigade Commander, Vijey Ghai in Kargil convened a conference at HQ. The agenda was not revealed but it started with him reading out the contents of Lt. Gen Harbaksh Singh GOC-in-C Western Command, DO (demi official note) to the forces. The Army Commander had reviewed recent skirmishes in Rann of Kutch and commented that the Pakistanis were continuing with their belligerent attitude and spoke about cultivating a more aggressive spirit in out troops. He also remarked pointedly “has the martial blood in the veins of the Indian Army soldiers dried up” or words to the similar effect.
[19]
The operations that followed including the Taking of Point 13620 and Black Rocks was a major boost for the Indian forces. Per the official account of the War,
[20]
this was the first counter-offensive undertaken by Indian troops in years. Its success had a good effect on the morale of the troops in J&K and the Army as a whole. Politically it bolstered the image of the country. The outstanding leadership of Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh had played a key role in boosting the morale of a defeated army turning it into a striking force within just three years of the Chinese encounter.
After serving as the
General-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief
of the Western Army Command from 1964 to 1969, the General retired in September 1969.
Captain Amarinder Singh
(later
Chief Minister
of
Punjab
) of
Patiala
served him as his
ADC
.
Later life and death
[
edit
]
Harbaksh Singh died on 14 November 1999.
Awards and decorations
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Padma Awards"
(PDF)
. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 19 October 2017
. Retrieved
21 July
2015
.
- ^
"Official Website of Sangrur"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 June 2015
. Retrieved
24 June
2015
.
- ^
"The Official Home Page of the Indian Army"
.
www.indianarmy.nic.in
.
- ^
Singh, Lt Gen Harbakhsh (2000).
In the line of duty : a soldier remembers
. Lancer Publishers & Distributors.
ISBN
978-8170621065
.
- ^
January 1936 Indian Army List
- ^
War services of British and Indian Officers of the Indian army 1941
- ^
October 1937 Indian Army List
- ^
"Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman"
. Rediff On The Net
. Retrieved
24 June
2015
.
- ^
Singh, Lt Gen Harbakhsh (2000).
In the line of duty : a soldier remembers
. Lancer Publishers & Distributors.
ISBN
978-8170621065
.
- ^
Singh, Lt Gen Harbakhsh (2000).
In the line of duty : a soldier remembers
. Lancer Publishers & Distributors.
ISBN
978-8170621065
.
- ^
Singh, Lt Gen Harbakhsh (2000).
In the line of duty : a soldier remembers
. Lancer Publishers & Distributors.
ISBN
978-8170621065
.
- ^
"Rediff On The NeT:Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman"
.
www.rediff.com
.
- ^
Brig Jasbir, Singh (2010).
Escape from Singapore
. India: Lancer Publisher. p. 50.
ISBN
978-1935501206
.
- ^
Singh, Lt Gen Harbakhsh (2000).
In the line of duty : a soldier remembers
. Lancer Publishers & Distributors.
ISBN
978-8170621065
.
- ^
"Rediff On The NeT:Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman"
.
www.rediff.com
.
- ^
"Extraordinary Gazette"
(PDF)
.
pibarchive.nic.in
. 26 January 1952
. Retrieved
23 April
2020
.
- ^
"HARBAKSH SINGH | Gallantry Awards"
.
gallantryawards.gov.in
.
- ^
"Vir Chakra (VrC), Awardee: Capt Harbaksh Singh, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, VrC @ TWDI"
.
twdi.in
.
- ^
Gokhale, Nitin A (2015).
1965 Turning the Tide How India won the war
. Bloomsbury publishing India Pvt Ltd. p. 44.
ISBN
978-93-85436-84-0
.
- ^
Indian Army.
"Official History 1965 War Archives, 1965"
(PDF)
.
External links
[
edit
]
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