Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Kanwar Zorawar Singh MC (14 February 1920 – 24 December 1994) was a senior cavalry officer in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

Early life

Singh was born in the Princely state of

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

on 14 February 1920, the son of

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Bhairon Singh, an officer in the Jaipur State Forces. He attended the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (

RIMC The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) is a military school for boys and girls situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for ...

) from August 1931 to 1938. Following his education at RIMC, he gained entrance to the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

. Upon graduation in 1941, he would receive the Sword of Honour for the best overall performance by a gentleman cadet.

Military career

After receiving his commission as a cavalry officer, Singh briefly joined the 16th Light Cavalry before being transferred to the

Central India Horse The Central India Horse (formerly the 21st King George V's Own Horse, also known as Beatson's Horse) was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps. Formation The regiment was r ...

. During the Italian Campaign, the Central India Horse was a reconnaissance unit for the 4th Indian Division. Singh was made second-in-command of B Squadron in this regiment. On 3 August 1944 Singh led a reconnaissance patrol consisting of his squadron and another towards Casale Vecchia, which is north-west of Arezzo. The objective was to determine the location of the German frontline and eliminate any Germans encountered. During the patrol, a German reconnaissance force was encountered. The result of this engagement left two enemy dead and three others taken prisoner. Singh was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

for leadership during the operation. In October 1944 the Central India Horse was sent to Greece to stabilise the country following the withdrawal of German forces. After the Second World War, the Central India Horse returned to India in February 1946. Singh was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and became commandant to the Central India Horse. In 1948 Pakistani forces attempted seize control over the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Singh was tasked with recapturing the town of

Rajauri Rajouri or Rajauri (; Pahari: 𑠤𑠬𑠑𑠶𑠤𑠮, راجوری; sa, राजपुर, ) is a city in Rajouri district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located about from Srinagar and from Jammu city on the ...

. The 28-mile road from Naushera to Rajauri was heavily damaged with felled trees and boulders acting as roadblocks. These obstructions had been mined. The road had a significant elevation gain and sections of the road along cliffs had been intentionally narrowed by the enemy. An assessment of the operation deemed it to be both time and labour-intensive to enable the road to be usable for an advance to Rajauri. Despite the difficulty involved, Singh went ahead with the operation on 7 April 1948. He would advance along the Tawi River, which was parallel to his route when sections of the road became impassable. On the evening of 10 April his task force had reached Rajauri. The arrival of Indian tanks in Rajauri had surprised the Pakistani Army and without equivalent firepower, they were forced to withdraw. His successful leadership of the operation earned him the status of being one of independent India's first great tank commanders. In 1948 Singh's tenure of command at the CIH ended, when he was selected to attend the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

at Fort Leavenworth, United States. He was appointed to the staff of the

Defense Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , pres ...

at Wellington, where he served for three years until being appointed to command the Tactical Wing of the Armoured Corps Centre and School at Ahmednagar. Upon promotion to brigadier, Singh was India's military attaché to France.

Later life

After retiring from the army at the age of 49, Singh was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Central India Horse.

Dates of rank

Notes

References

*Mishra, S., & Singh, B. (1997). ''Where Gallantry is Tradition: Saga of Rastriya Indian Military College''. Allied Publishers. *

External links

Indian Army

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Kanwar Zorawar 1920 births 1994 deaths British Indian Army officers Indian Army personnel of World War II Indian generals Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College People from Jaipur Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni Commandants of Indian Military Academy Indian recipients of the Military Cross Indian military attachés