Gabar Singh Negi

Biography

Rifleman Gabar Singh Negi was born on 21 April 1895 in the village of Manjoor near Chamba in the Tehri Garhwal princely state (now Uttarakhand). He enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the 39th Garhwal Rifles in October 1913 at the age of 18. When World War I broke out, the Garhwal Rifles were among the Indian units dispatched to the Western Front in France as part of the Indian Expeditionary Force. On 10 March 1915, during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, Negi's battalion was tasked with assaulting heavily fortified German trenches southwest of the village. When the commander of his bombing party was killed, Negi took charge and led from the front. He was the first man to go round each traverse, driving back the enemy with bayonet and bombs until they were forced to surrender. Rifleman Gabar Singh Negi was killed during this fierce engagement at the age of just 19. For his most conspicuous bravery, he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation was published in the London Gazette on 28 April 1915. Since he has no known grave, his name is inscribed on the Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial in France and on the Memorial Gates at Hyde Park Corner, London. An annual fair, the Gabar Singh Negi Mela, has been held in Chamba every April since 1925 in his memory.