Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Khem Karan Singh MVC (March 5, 1921 – July 26, 2016) was a General 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- ...

. He was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

for his services to the nation during the 1971 war. He also received

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

for his services during 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.

Early life and education

He was born in 1919 in Rohtak district in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

. A third generation Cavalry Officer, his grandfather Risaldar Major Ram Singh and father Honorary Major Bharat Singh has served in the

14th Murray's Jat Lancers The 14th Murray's Jat Lancers, also sometimes known as the Murray's Jat Horse, was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was first raised at Aligarh as an irregular cavalry unit in 1857 as the Jat Horse Yeomanry, for the Eas ...

(which later became 20th Lancers). Singh attended the St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

Military career

Singh was commissioned into the

16th Light Cavalry The 16th Light Cavalry is a regiment of the Armoured Corps, a primary combat arm of the Indian Army. Prior to India gaining independence from the British in 1947, it was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1776 ...

in 1941, which he later commanded. In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Singh commanded the 1 Armoured Brigade and was awarded the

Maha Vir Chakra

The citation for the

reads as follows: After the war, Singh was promoted to the rank of

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 ...

and commanded a division and served as the Chief of Staff of the Western Command. He then took over the important appointment of Director of Military Operations (DMO) at Army HQ under the Chief of the Army Staff

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of ...

. In October 1971, just before the outbreak of the war, Singh was sent to command

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

, then the only Strike Corps of the Indian Army. For his meritorious service, Singh was awarded the third highest civilian award - the

. In November 1973, Singh was promoted to Army Commander grade and took over as the 5th General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Central Command. After a two-year stint as GOC-in-C Central Command, Singh retired in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Khem Karan Indian generals Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra People from Rohtak district 1921 births 2016 deaths