Joginder Singh Dhillon
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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 ...
Joginder Singh Dhillon (19 November 1914 – 20 November 2003) was an Indian
military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...
and the first recipient from the military to be awarded India's third highest civilian award, the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...
, for his role in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, where he was the general officer commanding the XI corps.


Career

Dhillon served overseas in the British Indian Army after his 1939 graduation with honours from Thomason Engineering College in
Roorkee Roorkee (Rūṛkī; ) is a city and Municipal Corporations in India, municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is from Haridwar, the district headquarters. It is spread over a flat terrain under the ...
. His active service during World War II occurred in Burma, Iran and Iraq, following which he spent some time at the Staff College in
Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
. He served as commander of a field company in Malaya during 1945–1946 and then briefly of another in
Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
. From 1946 to 1947, Dhillon served as a staff officer in the Engineer-in-Chief's Office and then returned to Quetta as a garrison engineer. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in late 1947, becoming GSO1 in the Engineer-in-Chief Branch from October 1947 to February 1948, before being put in charge of the regimental centre of the Bengal Sappers in Roorkee. This centre was soon to become a part of the newly-created Pakistan and thus there were significant administrative preparations during his time there. Among his significant changes, other than those related to the forthcoming split with Pakistan, were measures to end caste-ist practices and to encourage joint celebration by Sikhs and Hindus of their respective significant religious days.
Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...
visited the Roorkee centre in 1949 and was so impressed that he asked for Dhillon to command the first
Republic Day Parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Kartavya Path, New Delhi. It is the main attraction of India's R ...
held in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
in 1950. On 6 December 1949, by then a major (temporary lieutenant-colonel and acting colonel) Dhillon was promoted to acting brigadier and given command of a brigade. Dhillon then commanded two infantry brigades and also served as director of technical development and director of weapons and equipment at army headquarters before being promoted to major general in 1957. As major general, he was selected to attend a course at
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 the United Kingdom, and returned to a posting at the National Defence College. In August 1960, he was given command of a division, and then he became Deputy Chief of General Staff at Army headquarters when he was promoted to GOC, XI corps in Punjab. He was promoted to substantive lieutenant-general on 17 January 1964.


Role in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War

Dhillon, as commander of XI Corps, was responsible for the Punjab sector during the 1965 India-Pakistan War. He is credited in producing and conducting the battle plan that destroyed or captured over 100 superior Pakistani battle tanks, turning a potentially dangerous defeat into victory, as the Pakistani tanks were poised to head for the Beas Bridge and then on to Delhi. Frank Moraes, the editor-in-chief of the ''
Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
'', who spent time on the frontlines, wrote: Dhillon was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1966 for his role in the 1965 Indo Pak war won decisively by India, becoming the first Army officer to receive the award. The citation given for the award was as follows: Following the war, Dhillon was promoted to Army Commander of the Central Command, from where he retired on 4 August 1970.


Personal life

Dhillon was married for 62 years to his wife Minnie, who survived him after his death, aged 89, on 20 November 2003. They had three daughters.


Dates of rank


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhillon, Joginder Singh Indian generals Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service 1914 births 2003 deaths British Indian Army officers Generals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indian Army personnel of World War II Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Graduates of the Staff College, Quetta