Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Daulet Singh,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

(4 January 1911 – 22 November 1963) was a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He was the

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command Western Command is a Command-level formation of the Indian Army. It was formed in 1920. It was disbanded following its demotion to an independent district and eventual merge with Northern Command to form the North-western Army. It was re-raised ...

when he was killed in the

1963 Poonch Indian Air Force helicopter crash On Friday, 22 November 1963, an Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopter of the Indian Air Force crashed in Poonch district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The aircraft was en route to Poonch town, killing a ...

Early life and education

Singh was born on 4 January 1911 at Lahore. He attended the

St George's College, Mussoorie St. George's College, Mussoorie, is an all-boys boarding and non-boarding school in Mussoorie, in the state of Uttarakhand, India, affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations board. The school, an all-boys resident ...

. In 1928, he was selected to attend the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

Military career

Early career

Singh graduated from Sandhurst as a

King's Commissioned Indian Officer A King's commissioned Indian officer (KCIO) was an Indian officer of the British Indian Army who held a full King's commission after training in the United Kingdom, either at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst for infantry officers, Woolwich for ...

in 1931. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 29 January and placed in the unattached list of the Indian Army. Newly commissioned Indian officers were attached with a British unit before being sent to an Indian unit. He was attached with the 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. After an year's attachment, he was posted to 3 Cavalry. On 29 April 1933, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Promotion to Captain followed on 29 January 1939 before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he was promoted to the rank of Major on 1 July 1946.

Post-Independence

In August 1947, in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he was

military assistant A military assistant is sub-specialty of secretarial duties in the British Armed Forces and many of those derived from them, is an officer appointed to the personal office of a general officer. Whilst aides de camp (ADCs) are responsible for ad ...

to the Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Rob Lockhart. A year later, he was promoted to the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

and appointed commander of an armoured brigade. After a three-year tenure, he moved to army headquarters as the Director of Weapons and Equipment. In 1952, he was appointed Director of Military Operations (DMO). Early next year, in January 1953, he attended the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in London.

General officer

After completing the course, he returned to India and was appointed

General officer commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC) East Punjab Area in the acting rank of major general. He subsequently commanded an

infantry division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

in the Bengal Area. He later became GOC Bombay Area. On 29 January 1956, Singh was made substantive major general. He also commanded the 1st Armoured Division. On 4 January 1957, he was appointed Quartermaster General at Army HQ. While serving as QMG, he was promoted to the acting rank of

on 1 August 1958. On 29 January 1959, he became substantive lieutenant general and appointed general officer commanding a corps. On 8 May 1961, Singh was appointed

Shimla Shimla, also known as Simla ( the official name until 1972), is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of British India. After independence, the city ...

. In 1962, a court of inquiry (COI) was ordered against then Major General

Sam Manekshaw Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), also known as Sam Bahadur ("the Brave") was an Indian Army general officer who was the Chief of the Army Staff (India), Chief of the army staff during the Banglade ...

, the Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College. The COI was convened with Singh as the presiding officer. The COI under Singh exonerated Manekshaw, saving his career. Manekshaw would later go on to become the 7th

Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Army Staff or Chief of Army Staff, which is generally abbreviated as COAS, is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior staff officer or the chief commander in several nations' armies. * Chief of Army Staff ( ...

, leading the Army to victory in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and becoming the first

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

of India. Singh led the Western Command during the

Sino-Indian War of 1962 The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

Death and legacy

On 22 November 1963, Singh was killed when his helicopter crashed en route to Poonch. In a great loss to the Indian Armed Forces, the crash claimed six distinguished officers. The officers who were on the helicopter apart from Singh were: *Lieutenant General Bikram Singh,

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

XV Corps *

Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British infl ...

Erlic Pinto Air Vice Marshal Erlic Wilmot Pinto, PVSM (29 June 1921 – 22 November 1963) was an Air officer in the Indian Air Force. He was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) Western Air Command when he was killed in the 1963 Poonch Indi ...

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command The Western Air Command (WAC) is the regional command of Indian Air Force headquartered in New Delhi. It is the largest and most important Air Command of the IAF, comprising sixteen Air Force Bases (AFBs), and is responsible for aerial defence of ...

*Major General N K D Nanavati, General Officer Commanding 25 Infantry Division *Brigadier S R Oberoi, Commander 93 Infantry Brigade *Flight Lieutenant S S Sodhi, Pilot The news of the air crash came as a shock to the nation. A black-bordered extraordinary

Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India. It is published weekly by the Directorate of Printing Department of Publication, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urba ...

was issued on 23 November. The issue was raised in both houses of

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

and addressed by the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Yashwantrao Chavan Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan (Marathi pronunciation: əʃʋənt̪ɾaːʋ t͡səʋʱaːɳ 12 March 1913 – 25 November 1984) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician who served as 8th Minister of Finance from 1970 to 1971 and 1971 to 19 ...

. The

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

observed one minute's silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased and adjourned for the day. The

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, the three service headquarters and all defence establishments in New Delhi were closed on 23 November as a mark of respect. All public events of the Defence Minister and Service Chiefs were also cancelled. The officers were laid to rest with full military honours. Singh was awarded the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

posthumously on 26 January 1964. A memorial has been built at the site of the air crash, commemorating the names of the victims. The Indian Army organises an annual event to pay homage to them. An 'Akhand Path' is also organised by the people of Poonch and surrounding villages, as a mark of their love and affection towards the departed souls, every year to commemorate the tragic accident. In April 1964, the

Government of Himachal Pradesh The Government of Himachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Himachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It consists of an executive branch, led by th ...

constructed the ''General Daulet Singh Park'' in Shimla in recognition and to commemorate the distinguished service of Singh. A bust of Singh is also installed in the park. The park was inaugurated by Singh's successor as Western Army Commander – then Lieutenant General

Personal life

Singh was married to Uma Devi, of the Kapurthala royal family. The couple had three sons and a daughter.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Daulet 1911 births 1963 deaths Military personnel from Punjab, India Indian generals British Indian Army officers Indian Army personnel of World War II Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in India Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1963 People from Punjab Province (British India)