Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Abdul Qayum Sher (15 May 1919 – 26 August 2013) was an officer of the Pakistani Army.

Early life and education

Abdul Qayum Sher was born into the prominent Shinwari tribe of Pathans. His father Khan Mohammed Azam Khan was an engineer with the Indian Civil Service, who became Permanent Secretary in the Department of Public Works after the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. As a child, Abdul Qayum Sher was sent first to Switzerland and then on to Durham in England, where he attended

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils a ...

(1935–38) and then

Durham College Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in the Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto a ...

. He participated in sports and was active in the rowing and rugby teams at school level.

Military career

Abdul Qayum Sher was on a visit to India at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and enrolled into the British Indian Army, attending the Indian Military Academy at

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

. He served with distinction in the Burma campaign during the war. At partition he chose to live in Pakistan, and participated in the capture of Pandu, Kashmir, during hostilities in 1948 with India. He commanded various battalions including his parent 11 Baluch Regiment. He attended the Pakistan Command and Staff College in Quetta and in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

was Brigade Commander 22 Brigade on the Lahore front. He led the counterattack force which repelled the Indian attack on Lahore, and captured Indian General N. Prasad's command headquarters (15th Indian Division), leading the attack with his Brigadier insignia and flag on his command jeep. He was awarded the

Hilal-i-Jurat The Hilal-e-Jurat ( ur, , as if it were ''Halāl-e-Jurāt''; English: Crescent of Courage , sometimes spelled as Hilal-e-Jur'at, Hilal-e-Jurat, Hilal-i-Jurrat and Hilal-i-Juraat)Various official sources that are highly reputable spell the name ...

for outstanding bravery.

Personal life

In 1945, Abdul Qayum Sher met and married his wife Amita, who was a teacher in Lahore, and later became a social worker and author. They had five children, three of whom are still alive. After retirement he volunteered for the Pakistan Society for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (PSRD), and worked there until weeks before his death in 2013.

Awards and decorations

Foreign Decorations

References

External links

Pakistan Army Channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Sher, Abdul Qayum 1919 births 2013 deaths Baloch Regiment officers Brigadier generals History of Pakistan Indian Military Academy alumni Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Pakistan Army officers