Gurphej Singh Cheema

Biography

Major Gurphej Singh Cheema hailed from the Kapurthala district of Punjab and was born in 1981. The son of an army veteran, Colonel Rajinder Singh, he was drawn towards the Armed Forces from his childhood. In time he fulfilled that ambition, joining the Army and being commissioned into 6 Lancers of the Armoured Corps, a corps renowned for its tanks and heavy weaponry. After serving for a few years with his parent unit, he was sent on attachment to the 13 Mahar battalion of the Mahar Regiment, an infantry unit known for its fearless soldiers. During 2011, Major Gurphej Singh Cheema was serving with 13 Mahar deployed on the Siachen Glacier as part of Operation Meghdoot. He and his comrades braved not only extreme cold, blizzards and hostile weather, but also frequent unprovoked firing from enemy forces across the undefined border. Living conditions at such altitudes were harsh in the extreme, demanding tremendous patience and endurance. Troops sheltered in fibreglass huts, insulated structures that offered only limited protection against the ice and wind, and which required constant care to keep anchored and habitable. On 21 July 2011, Major Gurphej and Lieutenant Archit Verdia were manning Ashok post, situated at a height of about 19,000 feet, and were sharing a fibreglass hut. During the night, for reasons that remained unknown, the hut caught fire. As the flames spread, the unit's troops swung into action and launched a determined effort to bring the blaze under control, but despite using every resource at their disposal they could not save the two officers, and four soldiers sustained burn injuries. Major Gurphej Singh Cheema succumbed to his burns and was martyred, a dedicated and fine officer who laid down his life in the service of the nation.