Raizada Major Madanlal Vaid (

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: रैज़ादा मेजर मदनलाल वैद, Punjabi: ਰਾਏਜ਼ਾਦਾ ਮੇਜਰ ਮਦਨਲਾਲ ਵੈਦ) was an officer in the

Jammu and Kashmir Rifles The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, t ...

regiment of the British Indian Army until the Independence of India in 1947, and subsequently first in the Jammu-Kashmiri Army and then in the Indian Army (after the Jammu-Kashmiri Army was integrated into it). For his bravery in

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 opposing ...

, he 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 ...

Second World War

He deployed in the Middle Eastern combat theater during WWII. He won the Military Cross for combat bravery Syria in July 1941, in the fight for the Jebel Mazar mountain close to

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

, during the fierce Syria-Lebanon campaign. Jebel Mazar (

Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

34.61667N,

Longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

38.28333E) is a mountain dominating the Damascus-Beirut route that the enemy was using very effectively to prevent

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

(British, Australian and Indian) troops from advancing to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. His actions as recorded in the medal commendation (from the British National Archives, verbatim without corrections): ::''In the operations carried out by the 16th Infantry Brigade in the DAMASCUS Sector on tenth July, 1941, the 1st (Indep) "J" & "K" Mountain Battery, I.S.F., was under the Command of 2nd King's Own Royal Regiment in their attack on the JEBEL MAZAR feature.'' ::''At an early hour on the morning of 10 July - the Commander, 2nd King's Own Royal Regiment was out of touch with his two forward Companies whom he knew to be held up in their advance on Points 1404 and 1455. He decided that a Forward Observation Officer should be sent forward to bring supporting fire to the Company on Point 1404. Lieut. MADN LAL VAID was detailed for this purpose, and although the Commander, 2nd King's Own Royal Regiment was unable to instruct him exactly where to go and find the Company himself. He took his Forward Observation Officer's party across an open valley, swept by Machine Gun fire where no movement had taken place since first light, made contact with the

Company Commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

, and established line communication from the Forward Observation Post to the

Battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

Position, thus giving the Battalion Commander communication with his forward Company.'' ::''Immediately on his arrival at the Company position he engaged

Mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...

and Machine Guns which were causing casualties, and in spite of the proximity of our own troops to his targets, he carried out extremely effective shoots and destroyed one Machine Gun and one Mortar. Our troops on this feature were surrounded on three sides and were under continuous M.G. and Mortar fire, and it was very largely the quick and effective shooting by Lieut. MADAN LAL which enabled the company to retain its hold on this position in spite of heavy enemy pressure, both by reason of its damage to the enemy and its encouraging effect on the morale of our own troops.''

References

*"History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1820-1956," Maj. K. Brahma Singh, Lancer International, New Delhi, 1990. *"Muhiyals: The militant Brahman race of India," T.P. Russell Stracey, 1911.
The British National Archives Online
British Army Website on the 2nd King's Own Regiment (Duke of Lancaster's Regiment) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaid, Madan Lal Vaid, Madan Lal Vaid, Major Madan Lal