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 ...

Narinder Singh Sandhu MVC (1 September 1932 – 30 March 2018) was an

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 ...

officer who was awarded the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

(MVC), the second-highest Indian military decoration, for gallantry, leadership and devotion to duty during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. Sandhu was commissioned into the

Indian Army Armoured Corps The Indian Army Armoured Corps is one of the combat arms of the Indian Army. Tracing its origins from the first regiment formed in 1776, the present corps was formed in 1947 from two-thirds of the personnel and assets of the British Indian Army' ...

in 1953, and participated in the

Battle of Asal Uttar The Battle of Asal Uttar (Hindi : असल उत्तर , Punjabi: ਅਸਲ ਉੱਤਰ), also known as the Battle of Khemkaran, was major tank battle fought during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. It was one of the biggest tank battle ...

during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. He transferred to the

Dogra Regiment The Dogra Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its roots directly from the 17th Dogra Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix w ...

in 1970, and it was for his performance as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the 10th Battalion, Dogra Regiment during an assault on a fortified

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

position that he was awarded the MVC. He retired as a brigadier and was active in veterans' and gallantry award recipients' matters until his death of

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

in 2018.

Early life and family

Narinder Singh Sandhu was born on 1 September 1932 at Narli,

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

, in the British province of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, the son of Shri Hari Singh. His grandfather, Thakur Singh, was a major in the British

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

during which he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

for gallantry; he was subsequently made an

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. He attended

Khalsa College, Amritsar Khalsa College ( ''khālsā kālaj'') is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling campus is located about eight kilometers from the ...

. His wife's name was Harinder, and they had two children: a son, Sandeep; and a daughter, Mandeep; both were born in 1965. Mandeep married

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 ...

Alok Singh Kler Lieutenant General Alok Singh Kler, PVSM, VSM, ADC is a retired General Officer in the Indian Army who last served as General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Command. He assumed office on 1 September 2019, taking over from L ...

. Sandhu's uncle and younger brother also served with distinction in the

Career

Sandhu was commissioned into the

on 13 December 1953. He served with the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and the 65th Armoured Regiment. He served in the

Khemkaran Khem Karan is a town and a nagar panchayat in Tarn Taran district of Patti tehsil of the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was the site of a tank battle in 1965. The Battle of Asal Uttar was the second largest tank battle of ...

sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, during which he participated in the

on 8–10 September 1965, and his unit was responsible for destroying several Pakistani

M47 Patton The M47 Patton was an American medium tank, a development of the M46 Patton mounting an updated turret, and was in turn further developed as the M48 Patton. It was the second American tank to be named after General George S. Patton, commande ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s for which he was

. He transferred to the

in 1970. At the time of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, he held the rank of lieutenant colonel, commanding the 10th Battalion, Dogra Regiment. As part of Operation Cactus-Lilly, his battalion was tasked to capture an enemy position in the Western Sector, which was located at the eastern end of a bridge over the

Ravi River The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two oth ...

Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. It is the sub-district headquarters of Dera Baba Nanak (Sub-district), Dera Baba Nanak tehsil. It is 36 km away from Gurdaspur ...

. Control of the bridge was considered strategically important because it enabled the

to launch an offensive into India, potentially threatening

Pathankot Pathankot () is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the sixth most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal ...

Beas City Beas is a riverfront city in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. It is located, just 43 km from Amritsar city, the district headquarters. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue b ...

and Amritsar. The Pakistan Army had extensively fortified the position with a network of

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s that were connected by tunnels, and contained machine guns and

anti-tank weapon Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

s, and it was strongly held. At 17:30 on 5 December 1971, Sandhu led about 420 men of his battalion in the assault, initially mounted on 21

s. The tanks became bogged in the marshes along the Ravi River, so they dismounted and made the remaining to the bridge on foot. Surprising the defenders with a charge from , the Indian troops shouted the battle cry "Durga Mata Ki Jai", invoking the Hindu goddess of war,

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

. Sandhu led the assault with "grim determination", and without regard for his own safety, and the assault resulted in fierce fighting during which Sandhu fought from bunker to bunker, and was wounded in the leg. Once the position was captured, he then reorganised his troops despite his wound. During the assault the 10th Battalion suffered five killed and ten wounded; 22 Pakistani defenders were killed and 14 were captured. A large quantity of weapons and ammunition was also captured by the Indians. For his actions during this operation, Sandhu was commended by the Indian government for his gallantry, leadership and devotion to duty. He was awarded the

, the second-highest award for gallantry available to members of the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. The award was promulgated on

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

in 1972. Sandhu later served as the Deputy Director General of the

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

National Cadet Corps Directorate. He retired from the army as a

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 after retirement was active in veterans' and gallantry award recipients' matters. He died of colon cancer on 30 March 2018, aged 85 in Chandigarh. A contingent from the 3rd Cavalry and Dogra Regiments formed a ceremonial guard at his funeral, which was also attended by several senior military officers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandhu, Narinder Singh Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra Indian Army officers Military leaders of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Military personnel from Punjab, India 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Punjab Province (British India)