Harbaksh Singh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Harbaksh Singh Madahar |
| Other name | H. S. Madahar |
| Born | (1913-10-01)1 October 1913 |
| Died | 14 November 1999(1999-11-14) (aged 86) |
| Allegiance |  British India (1935–1947) India(1947–1969) |
| Branch |  British Indian Army (1935–1947) Indian Army(1947–1969) |
| Service years | 1935–1969 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Unit | 5 Sikh |
| Commands | Western Command XXXIII Corps IV Corps 5 Infantry Division 27 Infantry Division 163 Infantry Brigade 1 Sikh |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards |  Padma Vibhushan Padma Bhushan Vir Chakra |
| Relations | Maj GenGurbakhsh Singh, DSO, OBE (brother) |
Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh,VrC (1 October 1913 – 14 November 1999) was an Indian seniormilitary officer. As the commander of theWestern Command, Singh commanded theIndian Army and played a key role during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1965. For his role in the war, he was awarded thePadma Vibhushan in 1966.[1]
Harbaksh Singh was born on 1 October 1913 in a wealthy MadaharJat Sikh family, the youngest of seven siblings, inBadrukhan village nearSangrur, thecapital of theJind State.[2] His father, Dr Harnam Singh Madahar, was the first person from the village to become a doctor. Dr Madahar joined the Jind Infantry and participated in theTirah campaign in 1897-98. He later served in theEast African campaign duringWorld War I. The Jind Infantry later was amalgamated into theIndian Army in 1952, into thePunjab Regiment.[3]Harbaksh attended the Ranbir High School in Sangrur before joining theGovernment College Lahore. Always good at sports, Singh was a part of the college hockey team. As a citizen of aprincely state, he had to take the permission of theGovernor of Punjab,Sir Geoffrey Montmorency to sit for the entrance examinations and enrol into theIndian Military Academy (IMA), which had been set up the previous year. In March 1933, Singh arrived atDehradun and joined the IMA.[4]
Singh was commissioned on 15 July 1935 and started his career with a year's post-commission attachment with the 2nd battalion,Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, then stationed atRawalpindi.[5] It was standard practice for newly commissioned Indian officers to be initially attached to a British regiment before being sent to an Indian unit. He saw service on the North West Frontier during theMohmand campaign of 1935.[6] After a year's attachment with the Highlanders, Singh joined the 5th battalion,11th Sikh Regiment (previously47th Sikhs) atAurangabad, on 19 August 1936.[7][8] By 1937, Singh was commanding a signal platoon, in the headquarter company of the battalion. In September 1938, the battalion, under the command ofLieutenant ColonelCharles Ford moved toRazmak in theNorth-West Frontier Province (NWFP). Singh took over command of Alpha company of the battalion at Razmak.[4]
In April 1939, the battalion received orders to move out of Razmak and prepare to move abroad, the final destination was not known. Moving toQuetta by road, viaBannu, the battalion made its way to Madras on a special troops train. Embarking on passenger ship, they made their way toBritish Malaya, reachingSingapore after a few days. They then moved to the town ofIpoh, which was their interim station, before reachingKuantan.
During the withdrawal fromKuantan on 5 January 1942, Singh drove into a Japanese ambush and was seriously injured. He was evacuated toAlexandra Hospital in Singapore where he remained until theFall of Singapore.[4]
Harbaksh Singh was takenprisoner of war (POW) in Singapore on 15 February 1942. He was among the POWs in attendance at theFarrer Park address byGen Mohan Singh of theFirst Indian National Army. Singh was to be moved to the island ofRabaul, but the ship never turned up. He was subsequently slated to be sent to theDeath Railway but was sent to theKluang airfield and handed over to theImperial Japanese Army Air Service instead. His brother, Lt ColGurbakhsh Singh and his battalion of the Jind Infantry was with him in the same camp. Singh spent the remaining years of the war as a POW in the Kluang camp. He suffered from a bad bout of typhoid as well as a bad case ofberiberi, a disease he carried all his life. He was repatriated only in September 1945 after cessation of hostilities.[4] He then recuperated at the military hospital inAmbala.[9]
During theIndian National Army in Singapore between 1943 and 1945, his brother Lieutenant Colonel Gurbaksh Singh (not to be confused with INA officerGurbaksh Singh Dhillon) became commander of the INA force housed atTyersall Park, one of the seven INA military camps, constituted from the POWs ofJind State force, who werejats and other troops mainly fromHaryana andPunjab.[10]
By the end of year, Harbaksh Singh joined the Unit's Commanders' Course inDehradun and in April 1945, was posted as thesecond-in-command of the 4th battalion, 11th Sikh Regiment (4/11 Sikh) atCampbellpur (now Attock). In February 1947, he was selected to join the first long course atStaff College, Quetta.[4]
After completing the Staff Course at the Staff College, he was posted as GSO-1 (operations and training),Eastern Command.[9]In October 1947, whenLieutenant ColonelDewan Ranjit Rai, theCommanding Officer of 1st battalion,Sikh Regiment (1 Sikh) was killed during the Kashmir operations in 1948, he volunteered to command the battalion. However, he was posted as Deputy Commander of the161 Infantry Brigade.He conducted the main battle against the raiders at Shelatang Bridge on 7 November 1947. This decisive battle, involving 1st battalion Sikh Regiment and 4th battalion Kumaon Regiment, proved to be a turning point in the war.
On 12 December 1947, on hearing about the heavy casualties suffered by 1st battalion Sikh, he proceeded toUri and took over the command of the battalion voluntarily, dropping a star from his rank. He brought back the battalion toSrinagar and began to rehabilitate it.However, even before the rehabilitation was complete, the battalion was called out to fight the enemy who had crossed the snow-clad Pharikian ki Gali and had occupied Handwara.
He led the truncated battalion, in a daring operations in which, after a series of battles, the battalion drove out the enemy from the valley.
In 1948, he was promoted to the rank ofBrigadier and took over the command of 163 Infantry Brigade and began to advance to Tithwal. The movement forward started on 12 May 1948, and after six days, Tithwal was captured. Brigadier Harbaksh Singh was awarded a Vir Chakra for his bravery.[11]
The citation for theVir Chakra reads as follows:[12][13]
Gazette Notification: 10 Pres 52,26-1-52
Operation: -Date of Award: 1948
CITATIONBRIGADIER HARBAKSH SINGH (IC 31)
COMMANDER 163 BRIGADE (1948)In May 1948, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh, Commander 163 Brigade, was ordered to advance and capture Tithwal with a view to capturing the enemy's base from where he operated towards the Handwara valley and to cut his advance from Muzzaffarabad to Gurais. The tribesmen were then adopting guerilla warfare to infiltrate the Kashmir Valley.
On the night of 16 May, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh, leading his troops on foot, made a rapid advance through a very difficult terrain, including the crossing of the 11,000-ft. Nastachur Pass, and completely surprised the enemy who broke and withdrew in confusion and panic in all directions. Tithwal was thus captured on 23 May. The success of the operations was to a very great extent due to his personal leadership.
During the subsequent consolidation at Tithwal, when the enemy concentrated a stronger force and brought heavy fire to bear with numerous counter-attacks, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh visited every position placing troops on the ground and was frequently under enemy fire. To keep himself in touch with Divisional HQ he made frequent trips on foot unmindful of the danger of being ambushed as the line of communication was still exposed to enemy infiltration.
During these operations, Brigadier Harbaksh Singh showed gallantry and courage of a very high order and his personal appearance in forward posts, without regard for personal safety, considerably cheered the defenders.
After the Kashmir operations, he went on to serve as the Deputy Commandant of theIndian Military Academy, at the western command headquarters, director of infantry at the Army headquarters, and in 1957 attended a course at theImperial Defence College (now Royal College of Defence Studies) in the United Kingdom. In January 1959, he became the first foreign officer to go on attachment with German Army's first division to be raised after their disbandment at the end of World War II.
He returned to India to take over asGeneral Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 27 Infantry Division, and later as GOC 5 Infantry Division. From July 1961 to October 1962, he wasChief of Staff at theWestern Command headquarters.
When the Chinese invadedNEFA andLadakh, he was moved fromShimla to take over the command ofIV Corps. He later became GOCXXXIII Corps.
In 1964, he was promoted to Army Commander and took over asGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of theWestern Command whose area of responsibility spanned from Ladakh to Punjab. He led the Western Command successfully during victory against the Pakistan Army along the entire border in theIndo-Pakistani War of 1965.
Around 12 May 1965, Brigade Commander, Vijey Ghai in Kargil convened a conference at HQ. The agenda was not revealed but it started with him reading out the contents of Lt. Gen Harbaksh Singh GOC-in-C Western Command, DO (demi official note) to the forces. The Army Commander had reviewed recent skirmishes in Rann of Kutch and commented that the Pakistanis were continuing with their belligerent attitude and spoke about cultivating a more aggressive spirit in out troops. He also remarked pointedly “has the martial blood in the veins of the Indian Army soldiers dried up” or words to the similar effect.[14]The operations that followed including the Taking of Point 13620 and Black Rocks was a major boost for the Indian forces. Per the official account of the War,[15] this was the first counter-offensive undertaken by Indian troops in years. Its success had a good effect on the morale of the troops in Jammu and Kashmir, and in the Army as a whole. Politically it bolstered the image of the country. The leadership of Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh had played a key role in boosting the morale of a defeated army turning it into a striking force within just three years of the Chinese encounter thereby ensuring a memorable victory in the 1965 war.
After serving asGeneral-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Army Command from 1964 to 1969, the General retired in September 1969.Captain Amarinder Singh (laterChief Minister ofPunjab) ofPatiala served him as hisADC.
Harbaksh Singh died on 14 November 1999.
| | |
 |  |  |
| Padma Vibhushan | Padma Bhushan | Vir Chakra |
| 30 Years Long Service Medal | 20 Years Long Service Medal | 9 Years Long Service Medal |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Umrao Singh | General Officer CommandingXXXIII Corps 1962-1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command 1964-1969 | Succeeded by |
