Piru Singh
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 | |
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Awards | Param Vir Chakra |
Company Havildar Major[a] Piru Singh Shekhawat (20 May 1918 – 18 July 1948) was an Indian Army non-commissioned officer, awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's highest military decoration 3245.[1]
Singh enrolled in the
Early life
Piru Singh was born on 20 May 1918, in village Rampura Beri in Beri, Rajputana. He was the son of Lal Singh.[2] His family consisted of seven children—three brothers and four sisters—with Singh being the youngest son. As a young boy, Singh always hated school, as he was unable to cope with the restricted environment. One day, after being scolded by his class teacher for quarreling with one of his classmates, Singh ran away, and never returned to school. After that, Singh continued to help his parents in their farm, and grew up to be well-built and handsome youth. Shikar, a local Indian sport, was his favourite game.[3] Though Singh wanted to join the army from his childhood, he was rejected twice, as he was too young, before he was accepted at the age of eighteen.[4]
Military career
Piru Singh Shekhawat was enrolled in the 10th Battalion of the
In March 1941, he was promoted to
War of 1947
Following tensions between the newly independent nations of India and Pakistan, war broke out over control of the princely state of
On 11 July, the Indian troops commenced their attack. These strikes continued for another four days. But reports regarding the situation suggested that the Pakistanis were still in command of a strategically important position and the Indian commanders decided that these had to be captured before the advance could continue. Apart from this position, another position was also to be captured by the Indians. The task of capturing these two positions was assigned to the 6th Rajputana Rifles. Two companies were assigned to the operation, with the battalion's 'C' Company securing the second position after the first was captured by 'D' Company.[5][1]
On 18 July, the 'D' Company launched it first attack at 01:30. The path to the position held by the Pakistani troops was just 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) wide, and deep
During the battle, Singh's section, leading the company, was sheared down to half strength due to heavy casualties. Singh rushed towards a Pakistani medium machine gun post, which was causing most of the casualties, during which he suffered multiple shrapnel wounds across his body as the Pakistani defenders began rolling grenades down from the heights. Undeterred, Singh continued to advance adopting the battle cry, "Raja Ramchandra Ki Jai" (
But by the time he captured the position, the rest of his company lay dead or wounded. Singh was left alone to achieve the objective assigned. He advanced towards the second Pakistani medium machine gun post. At this juncture, he was almost blinded by a grenade that blast at his face. His Sten gun ammunition had run out. Singh moved out of the trench and lobbed grenades at the next Pakistani post. Meanwhile, he jumped into another trench, and killed two Pakistani soldiers with his bayonet. Before he was able to move out of the trench, he was hit by a bullet in his head. As he succumbed to his wounds, Singh hurled a grenade into a nearby Pakistani trench.[5][1]
Param Vir Chakra
On 17 July 1948, Company Havildar Major Singh was posthumously awarded the India's highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakra. The citation reads of follows:
South of Tithwal, 'D' Company, of which No 2831592 Piru Singh, was Havildar Major was detailed to attack and capture an enemy occupied hill feature. The enemy had well dug in positions and had sited his MMGs so as to cover all possible approaches. As the attack advanced, it was met with heavy MMG fire from both flanks. Volleys of grenades were hurled down from enemy bunkers. Company Havildar Major Piru Singh was then with the forward most Section of the company. Seeing more than half of the Section killed or wounded, he did not lose courage. With battle cries he encouraged the remaining men and rushed forward with great determination onto the nearest enemy MMG position. Grenade splinters ripping his clothes and wounding him at several places, he continued to advance without the least regard for his safety. He was on top of the MMG position wounding the gun crew with Sten gun fire. With complete disregard to his bleeding wounds he made a mad jump on the MMG crew bayoneting them to death, thus silencing the gun. By then he suddenly realized that he was the sole survivor of the section, the rest of them either dead or wounded. Another grenade thrown at him wounded him in the face. With blood dripping from his face wounds in his eyes, he crawled out of the trench, hurling grenades at the next enemy position.
— Gazette Notification: 8 Pres./52, 16.1.52, [6]
Legacy
Singh was never married.
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ The rank of company havildar major is no longer in use with the Indian Army.
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f "Param Vir Chakra winners since 1950". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ Reddy 2007, p. 30.
- ^ Cardozo 2003, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d Cardozo 2003, p. 41.
- ^ a b c d e Chakravorty 1995, pp. 65–66.
- ^ "CHM Piru Singh, PVC". The War Decorated India & Trust. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
- ^ "Company Havildar Major Piru Singh PVC – IMO 8224145 – Ship Photos and Ship Tracker". Ship Spotting. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Peeru Singh Circle". Google Maps. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Piru Singh Chowk". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
References
- Chakravorty, B.C. (1995), Stories of Heroism: PVC & MVC Winners, New Delhi: Allied Publishers, ISBN 978-81-7023-516-3
- Reddy, Kittu (2007), Bravest of the Brave: Heroes of the Indian Army, New Delhi: Prabhat Prakashan, ISBN 978-81-87100-00-3
- Cardozo, Major General Ian (retd.) (2003), Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle, New Delhi: Roli Books, ISBN 978-81-7436-262-9