Jemadar Nand Singh, VC,

MVC MVC may refer to: Science and technology * Maximum-value composite procedure, an imaging procedure * Multivariable calculus, a concept in mathematics * Multivariable control, a concept in process engineering * Mechanical vapor compression, a desal ...

(24 September 1914 – 12 December 1947) was an Indian recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

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forces and he was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the second-highest Indian decoration for battlefield gallantry. This makes Nand Singh unique in the annals of VC winners.

Military career

World War II

He was 29 years old, and an Acting Naik in the 1/

11th Sikh Regiment The 11th Sikh Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1922, when after World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.S ...

, in the

Indian Army during World War II The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, ...

when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. On 11/12 March 1944 on the

Maungdaw Maungdaw (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District. Maungdaw is a town of Myanmar and borders Bangladesh. Maungdaw is 16 miles north of Buthida ...

- Buthidaung Road, Burma (now Myanmar), Naik Nand Singh, commanding a leading section of the attack, was ordered to recapture a position gained by the enemy. He led his section up a very steep knife-edged ridge under very heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and although wounded in the thigh, captured the first trench. He then crawled forward alone and, wounded again in the face and shoulder, nevertheless captured the second and third trenches.

Indo-Pakistan War

He later achieved the rank of Jemadar in the post-independence

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- ...

, and his unit 1 Sikh was the first to be involved in the Jammu & Kashmir Operations or Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 which began in October 1947 as Indian troops went into action to repel a planned invasion of J&K by raiders from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. On 12 December 1947 Nand Singh led his platoon of D Coy in a desperate but successful attack to extricate his battalion from an ambush in the hills SE of

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Islan ...

in Kashmir. He was mortally injured by a close-quarters machine-gun burst, and posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), the second-highest Indian decoration for battlefield gallantry. This makes Nand Singh unique in the annals of VC winners. The Pakistanis recognised Jemadar Nand Singh because of his VC ribbon. His body was taken Muzaffarabad where it was tied spreadeagled on a truck and paraded through the city with a loudspeaker proclaiming that this would be the fate of every Indian VC. The soldier's body was later thrown into a garbage dump, and was never recovered.

Citations

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross citation reads as follows:

Maha Vir Chakra

The citation for the Maha Vir Chakra reads as follows:

Legacy

Nand Singh belonged to Village Bahadurpur now in

Mansa district, Punjab Mansa district is a district in the state of Punjab, India. The district headquarters is Mansa city. Mansa district was formed on 13 April 1992 from the erst while district of Bathinda. The district has three tehsils: Mansa, Budhlada and Sardu ...

. The nearest town to his village is Bareta, where a local bus stand is named as Shaheed Nand Singh Viktoria Bus Stand. A statue in

Bathinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

(locally known as Fauji Chowk) stands as a memorial.

References

* ''History of Operations in Jammu & Kashmir 1947-48'' by Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, New Delhi 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Nand 1914 births 1947 deaths Indian World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross British Indian Army soldiers Indian military personnel killed in action Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra Indian Army officers People of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947 People from Mansa district, India