Sowar Sowar ( ur, سوار, also ''siwar'' meaning "the one who rides" or "rider", from Persian ) was originally a rank during the Mughal Empire and Maratha Empire. Later during the British Raj it was the name in Anglo-Indian usage for a horse-sold ...

Ditto Ram of the

Central India Horse The Central India Horse (formerly the 21st King George V's Own Horse, also known as Beatson's Horse) was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps. Formation The regiment was ra ...

(21st King George Vs. Own Horse), Indian Armoured Corps, in the

Indian Army during World War II The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in histor ...

was posthumously awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has be ...

for his gallantry in helping a wounded comrade on 23 July 1944 in the vicinity of Monterchi (Perugia province) in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Notice of his award was published in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'' of 13 December 1945. Ditto Ram, who was also known as Ram Ditto, was born in Gehrota, Gurdspur in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Citation

Memorials

Ram's name is inscribed on the Memorial Gate with other Commonwealth George Cross awardees form World War II, and on the

Cassino Memorial Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley. Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri riv ...

. A plaque in Piazza Umberto I in Monterchi town centre commemorates Sowar Ditto Ram GC, Lt St. J. Graham Young GC and Sowar Niru Chand, all fallen in the same minefield near Casa Tocci.

References

Indian recipients of the George Cross 1944 deaths Indian Army personnel killed in World War II Year of birth missing {{India-mil-bio-stub