Bahadur Singh, VrC

Biography

Subedar Bahadur Singh hailed from Digiana village in the Jammu district of Jammu & Kashmir, where he was born on 10 January 1953. Drawn from his youth to the discipline and pride of soldiering, he enrolled into the Army in 1971 at the age of eighteen and was inducted into the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry, going on to serve with its 12th Battalion. Over a career spanning nearly twenty-eight years he served with distinction, including a demanding posting on the Siachen Glacier between 1997 and 1999. During the Kargil War in 1999, his battalion took part in Operation Vijay in the Batalik sector. On 11 June 1999, Subedar Bahadur Singh led a platoon tasked with neutralising a well-entrenched enemy position perched at an altitude of around 17,400 feet. Displaying tactical acumen and raw courage, he stealthily outflanked the enemy from the north and closed in on their fortified position, killing two of the infiltrators in the fierce firefight that followed. In the course of the action he was struck by a bullet, but refused to be evacuated and continued to fire back at the enemy until he succumbed to his injuries, making the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation. For his conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty, Subedar Bahadur Singh was awarded the Vir Chakra.