Karam Singh, PVC

Biography

Honorary Captain Karam Singh was born on 15 September 1915 at Bhaliawala village in the Sangrur district of Punjab, the son of a farmer, Sardar Uttam Singh. Drawn to a life of thrill and adventure from childhood and inspired by an uncle who served as a JCO, he joined the army on 15 September 1941. He received his military training at Ranchi and was inducted into the famed Sikh Regiment in August 1942. A gifted sportsman known for pole vault and long jump, he first proved his mettle during the Second World War, fighting Japanese forces in the deep jungles of the Burma Front, for which the British Government awarded him the Military Medal. During the Jammu and Kashmir operations of 1948, the Indian Army seized control of the Tithwal sector on 23 May, but the Pakistan Army made repeated efforts to recapture Richmar Gali, a vital objective. On 13 October 1948, coinciding with Id, the enemy launched a brigade-strength attack supported by heavy artillery and mortar fire that shattered the platoon's bunkers and severed communications. Then Lance Naik Karam Singh was commanding a forward section at Richmar Gali. Moving from bunker to bunker under withering fire, he tended the wounded and urged his men to fight, repelling no fewer than eight separate assaults. Though severely wounded, he refused evacuation, led a counter-attack to evict enemy who had gained a foothold, and accounted for several of them in close-quarter fighting with the bayonet. His dauntless leadership held the position; the Sikh Regiment lost fifteen men while inflicting nearly three hundred enemy casualties, and not a single bunker was captured. For his outstanding courage and disregard for his own life, Karam Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, becoming its first living recipient and the only Indian to receive the highest gallantry awards of both India and Britain.