Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh was a three star General in the . As the Western Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Harbaksh Singh commanded the Indian Army forces and played a key role during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was awarded the , 1965 dI jMg iv~c AMimRqsr and . ’qy fyrw bwbw nwnk sYktr ’qy Harbaksh Singh was pwiksqwn dI POj dIAW keI born 1 October 1913 at ifvIznW ny ie~ko smyN Acwnk Badrukhan near in hmlw kr id~qw[ aus vyly p~CmI . He graduated from kmWf dw muKI lYPtInY Nt jnrl Government College, Lahore. hrb^S isMG sI[ Military Career ies jrnYl dw jnm 1913 eI: Harbaksh Singh joined ivc sMgrUr ijlHy dy bfru~KW ipMf the iv~c hoieAw[ ieh ipMf Syr-ey- in 1933. He was commissioned pMjwb mhwrwjw rxjIq isMG dw on 15 July 1935 and started nwnkw ipMf mMinAw igAw hY[ his career with a year’s post- commission attachment with the 2nd battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at with whom he saw service on the North West Frontier during the Mohmand campaign of 1935. He later (19 August 1936) joined 5th cwxc~k hoey ies hmly dI battalion, 11th qIbrqw nUM dyKidAW, lYPtInY Nt at . jnrl hrb^S isMG nUM id~lIEN During the withdrawal AwrmI cIP imstr cODrI dw from Kuantan on 5 January hukm hoieAw ik AwpxIAW PojW 1942, the then Capt. Harbaksh nUM ip~Cy htw ky dirAw ibAws dy Singh drove into a Japanese kMFy q~k lY jwieAw jwvy, nhI N ambush and was seriously qW AMimRqsr qW h~Qo N jwxw hI injured. He was taken Prisoner hY, sgo N pwik Poj AMbwly q~k of war as fell to the dw ielwkw vI AswnI nwl ij~q Japanese. He was repatriated lvygI[ only in September 1945 after cessation of hostilities. Post- Independ- ence

H e recuperated in , and was soon posted iek pwsy PojI tRyinMg dw sInIAr as second-in- dy hukm mMnx vwlw AsUl sI command of 4th battalion, qy dUjy pwsy gurUAW dI vrosweI Sikh Regiment at Campbelpur. DrqI "AMimRqsr" nwl moh Aqy In 1947, he completed ipAwr vwlw jzbw[ the Long Staff Course at Command and Staff College, AKIr ’qy gurUAW dI DrqI nwl Quetta and was posted as moh-ipAwr vwlw zzbw koJI GSO-1 (operations and rwjnIiqk kUtnIqI ’qy BwrI pY training), . igAw, Aqy ies jrnYl ny ieh When Lt Col Dewan kihMidAW hoieAW ip~Cy htx Ranjit Rai, CO of 1st battalion, qoN swP ienkwr kr id~qw ik Sikh Regiment was killed nnkwxw Aqy krqwrpur swihb during the Kashmir operations qW 17 swl pihlW hI swQo N in 1948, he volunteered to Kus igAw sI, pr hux hirmMdr command the battalion. swihb Aqy sRI AMimRqsr swihb However he was posted as dI DrqI iksy kImq ’qy h~Qo N nhIN Deputy commander at the jwx dyxI[ headquarters of 161 Infantry Brigade. Poj fyrw bwbw nwnk sYktr ’qy He conducted the main ftI rhI ’qy bhuq v~fw nukswn battle against the raiders hoxo N bc igAw[ at Shelatang Bridge on 7 keIAW ny jMg mgro N ies jrnYl November 1947. This decisive nUM hukm-AdUlI vwly c~kr ivc battle, involving 1st battalion Pswauxw cwihAw, pr is~KW dI Sikh Regiment and 4th bhwdurI dw kwiel aus vyly dw battalion Kumaon Regiment, pRDwn mMqrI lwl bhwdr SwsqrI proved to be a turning point ies APsr dy h~k ivc pUrI qrHW in the war. fitAw irhw[ On 12 December 1947, on hearing about the heavy jwxkwr dsdy hn ik ies swFy casualties suffered by 1st Cy Pu~t au~cy PojI jrnYl dw ienHW battalion Sikh, he proceeded rohb sI ik Xu~D mgro N pRY~s to Uri and took over the imlxI ( ) command of the battalion iv~c rwStrpqIPost Warjnrl Briefing AXUb voluntarily, dropping a star Kwn ny Ku~d mMinAw sI ik from his rank. He brought pwiksqwnI Poj kdy nw hwrdI jy back the battalion to swhmxy prbq vrgy ijgry vwlw and began to rehabilitate it. ieh ihMmqI jrnYl lYPtInY Nt However, even before jnrl hrb^S isMG qy ausdI the rehabilitation was AgvweI iv~c lVdI hoeI infr complete, the battalion was Poj nw huMdI[ called out to fight the enemy who had crossed the snow- clad Pharikian ki Gali and had occupied Handwara. the Imperial Defence College He led the truncated (now Royal College of Defence battalion, in a daring Studies), UK. In January 1959, operations in which, after a he became the first foreign series of battles, the battalion officer to go on attachment drove out the enemy from with German Army’s first the valley. In 1948, he was division to be raised after promoted to the rank of their disbandment at the end Brigadier and took over the of World War II. command of 163 Infantry He returned to Brigade and began to advance to take over as the General to Tithawal. The movement Officer Commanding of the forward started on 12 May 27 Infantry Division, and 1948, and after six days, later as the GOC of 5 Infantry Tithawal was captured. Division. From July 1961 to Brigadier Harbaksh Singh October 1962, he was the was awarded a Vir Chakra for chief of staff at the Western his bravery. Command headquarters. After the Kashmir When the Chinese operations, he went on to serve invaded NEFA and , as the Deputy commandant he was moved from of the Indian Military to take over the command of Academy at the western IV Corps. He later he moved command headquarters, as the GOC of XXXIII Corps. director of infantry at the Indo-Pakistani War of Army headquarters, and in 1965 1957 attended a course at In 1964, he was promoted to Army within just three years of the Commander and took Chinese encounter. over as the General Officer Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh Commanding-in-Chief died on 14 November 1999. (GOC-in-C) of the Western After serving as Command whose area of the General-Officer- responsibility spanned from Commanding-in-Chief of the Ladakh to Punjab. He led Western Army Command the from 1964 to 1969, the successfully against the General retired in September Pakistan Army along the 1969. Captain Amarinder entire border in the Indo- Singh (later Chief Minister of Pakistani War of 1965. The Punjab) of served him outstanding leadership of as his ADC. Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh had Lt. Gen. Harbaksh played a key role in boosting Singh died on 14 November the morale of a defeated army 1999. turning it into a striking force