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, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Farzand-i-Dilband Rasikh-al-Iqtidad-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Raja-i-Rajagan, Maharaja Sukhjit Singh Sahib Bahadur, Crown Prince of Kapurthala, MVC (born 15 October 1934) is a former

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

officer who served with The

Scinde Horse The Scinde Horse is an armoured regiment in the Indian Army Armoured Corps, Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. The regiment, known before independence as the 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the Bombay Army ...

. He 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 ...

, India's second highest award for gallantry, for his leadership and courage in facing the enemy during the

Battle of Basantar The Battle of Basantar also known as the Battle of Shakargarh or Battle of Barapind (December 4–16, 1971) was one of the vital battles fought as part of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 in the western sector of India. The Indian troops won a ha ...

in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Dec ...

Early life

Crown Prince Sukhjit Singh was born on 15 October 1934, in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

as the second child to the Crown Prince Paramjit Singh (son of King Jagatjit Singh I) by his second wife, Lilavati Devi, he had an elder sister, Princess Aas Kaur (b.1933 - d.2017) as well as three paternal elder half-sisters ( Princess Indira Devi, Princess Sushila Devi and Princess Urmila Devi) from, Brinda Devi, the first wife of his father. He was educated at

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislativ ...

, and then received military training at the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set u ...

. His fondest memory is of rides with his grandfather, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, "in a zebra-driven chariot in the zoological gardens of the palace", according to an interview to The Tribune.

Military career

During the

, Brigadier Sukhjit Singh held the rank of Lt. Colonel. In the

, Lt. Col. Sukhjit Singh was in command of The Scinde Horse (14 Horse) armored regiment, which was deployed in

Shakargarh Shakargarh ( ur, ), the capital of Shakargarh Tehsil, is a city in the north-eastern part of Narowal District in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. It borders Jammu, India to the north and Sialkot to the west Its literacy rate i ...

. On the night of 8 December, the regiment crossed into Pakistani territory and established itself near Nainan Kot. On 10 December, Pakistani forces launched a powerful armored counterattack which Lt. Col. Sukhjit Singh's regiment successfully resisted. Leading from the front, Lt. Col. Sukhjit Singh directed his tanks with great skill. His unit forced the Pakistani force to retreat after the loss of only one tank. The next day, under heavy artillery and mortar fire, Lt. Col. Sukhjit Singh led an operation to capture enemy tanks at Malakpur. In the ensuing engagement, his regiment destroyed eight Pakistani tanks and captured one officer, two junior commissioned officers and two other soldiers. Lt. Col. Sukhjit Singh later received the

, India's second highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, in recognition of his efforts in the Battle of Basantar. Lt. Col. Sukhjit Singh eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier. With Maharaja Lunch.jpg, Brig. Sukhjit Singh is pictured here with his friend and a former army officer inside his Villa Buona Vista of Kapurthala Villa_at_KPT.jpg, Kapurthala Royal family's "Villa Buona Vista of Kapurthala" India

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Sukhjit 1934 births Living people Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra Indian Army officers Indian Sikhs The Doon School alumni Indian Military Academy alumni Maharajas of Kapurthala