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Param Vir Chakra

A Tribute To Our Real Heores

DIPTANU SHARMA MA (History)

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011) www.educreation.in

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EDUCREATION PUBLISHING

RZ 94, Sector - 6, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075 Shubham Vihar, Mangla, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh - 495001

Website: www.educreation.in ______

© Copyright, 2019, Author

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of its writer.

ISBN: 978-93-89808-29-2

Price: Rs.150.00

The opinions/ contents expressed in this book are solely of the author and do not represent the opinions/ standings/ thoughts of Educreation.

Printed in India

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Table of Contents

Param Vir Chakra ...... 7 Eligibility ...... 9 Shape Of The Medal ...... 10 Major Somnath Sharma ...... 11 Naik Jadu Nath Singh ...... 17 Major Ram Raghoba Rane ...... 20 Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Shekhawat ...... 24 Lance Naik Karam Singh ...... 27 Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria ...... 30 Lieutenanat Colonel Dhan Singh Thapa ...... 34 Major Saitan Singh ...... 37 Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan ...... 43 Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid ...... 46 Lieutenant Colonel A.B Tarapore ...... 52 Lance Naik Albert Ekka ...... 58 Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon ...... 61 Second Lieutenanat Arun Khetarpal...... 65 Major Hosiar Singh ...... 75 Naib Subedar Bana Singh ...... 78 Major Ramaswami Parameshwaran ...... 82 Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey ...... 84

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Grenadier Yougendra Singh Yadav ...... 88 Riflemen Sanjay Kumar ...... 91 Captain Bikram Batra ...... 94 Refferences ...... 98

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PARAM VIR CHAKRA

PARAMVIR CHAKRA is most famous gallantry award of INDIA. It is used to be given to those persons who had shown extra ordinary courage during war time. MAJOR SOMNATH SHARMA who had done the supreme sacrifice during the"1ST INDO-PAK WAR "was the 1st winner of INDIA'S highest gallantry award "PARAMVIR CHAKRA".

The PVC was established on 26 January

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1950, by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947, and presently it is the second highest award of the Government of India, after the Bharat Ratna.

The medal was designed by Mrs. Savitri Khanolankar (born Eva Yuonne Linda Maday-de- Maros to a Hungarian father and Russian mother) who was married to an Indian Army officer. By coincidence, the first PVC was posthumously awarded to her son-in-law, Major Somnath Sharma for his bravery in the Kashmir operations in October 1947. The medal was designed to symbolise Rishi Dadich, who donated his thigh bones to gods for making Vajra and Shivaji's sword Bhawani.

Of the 21 awardees, 20 are from the Indian Army and one from the Indian Air Force. The Grenadiers have received the most number of Param Vir Chakras, with 3 awards. The various Gorkha Rifle regiments of the Indian Army have also received 3 awards, with the 1 Gorkha Rifles and 8 Gorkha Rifles and 11 Gorkha Rifles each having a PVC recipient.

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ELIGIBILITY

Officers, men and women of all ranks of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, of any of the Reserve Forces, of the Territorial Army Militia and of any other lawfully constituted Armed Forces.

Matrons, Sisters, Nurses and the staff of the Nursing Services and other Service pertaining to Hospitals and Nursing, and Civilians of either sex serving regularly or temporarily under the orders, directions or supervision of any of the above-mentioned Forces.

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SHAPE OF THE MEDAL

Medal Circular in shape, made of bronze, one and three eighth inches in diameter and on obverse four replicas of ‘Indra’s Vajra’ with the State Emblem (including the motto) embossed in the centre. On its reverse, it shall have embossed Param Vir Chakra both in Hindi and English with two lotus flowers between Hindi and English. The fitting will be swivel mounting. Plain 32mm long purple coloured ribbon.

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MAJOR SOMNATH SHARMA

Major Somnath Sharma was born on 31 January 1923 at Dadh in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. His father, Amar Nath Sharma, was a Major General in the Indian Army who later became the first director general of India’s Armed Medical Services.

Major Sharma’s family had a long tradition of military service – his uncle, Captain K D Vasudeva, had died defending a bridge on the River Slim against the Japanese during the Malayan Campaign in World War II. Vasudeva’s gallantry had made it possible for hundreds of his

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