Service No : IC-5479
Date of Birth : July 12,1921
Place of Birth : Faridkot, Punjab
Service : Army
Last Rank : Brigadier
Unit : 5 Sikh Li
Regt : The Sikh Light Infantry
Award : MVC & Bar
Date of Demise : Dec 9, 2015
Brig Sant Singh MVC (Bar)
Brigadier Sant Singh was born on 12th July 1921 in Panjgrain Kalan village in Faridkot district of Punjab. Son of Sri AS Gill, Brig Sant Singh studied from Bijendra high School, Faridkot, and later in RSD college Ferozpur. After his college he joined the Army, few months before the Independence day on 16 Feb 1947. He was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, a regiment known for its fearless soldiers and numerous battle exploits.
Brig Sant Singh served in Army for over 25 years and had the distinction of participating in four wars after Independence viz. 1947-48 Indo-Pak war , 1962 Indo-China war, 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars. He was among the six distinguished Indian military soldiers who were decorated with the gallantry award, ” Maha Vir Chakra” , two times.
Brig Sant Singh then as Lt Col took over the command of 5 Sikh LI in 1964 and went on to command it till 1968, leading it to earn the Battle Honour ‘Op Hill’ in the 1965 war. He led the regiment to victory in the battle of OP Hill in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. In 1971, he was one of the officers who trained Mukti Bahini, the guerrilla force formed during Bangladesh’s war of liberation. His brigade caught the Pakistani forces off guard and marched into Dhaka, forcing the enemy to surrender. Brig Sant Singh was associated with “The War Decorated of India” and remained its president till the end. Brig Sant Singh retired from service in the year 1973 and finished a glittering career filled with accolades and awards. He breathed his last on 09th Dec, 2015 owing to natural causes in SAS Nagar in Punjab, at the age of 95 years.
Brig Sant Singh is survived by his daughter Mrs Satinder Kaur Randhawa and son in law an Army veteran Brigader Sarbjit Singh Randhawa.
The Citation for Maha Vir Chakra to Brigadier Sant Singh (then Lt Col) reads : ( 1965)
On the night of 2/3rd November 1965, Lt Col Sant Singh was given the task of clearing an objective which not withstanding the ceasefire had been encroached upon the Pakistani forces. This was a difficult feature and strongly defended by the enemy. Despite enemy mines and artillery fire, Lt Col Sant Singh moved forward with his men , charged the enemy and , after a bitter hand t hand fight, cleared the objective. Later, taking advantage of his position, Lt Col Sant Singh moved from bunker to bunker in the face to heavy enemy artillery and automatic fire encouraging his men and cleared another objective which also had been encroached upon by Pakistani forces.
Throughout, Lieutenant Colonel Sant Singh displayed conspicuous gallantry and leadership of a high order.
The Citation for the second Maha Vir Chakra awarded to Brigadier Sant Singh reads : (1972)
Brigadier Sant Singh, MVC, while commanding a sector on the Eastern Front, achieved spectacular results with a mixed force, having one regular battalion, advancing 38 miles almost on foot, to secure Mymen singh and Madhopur in eight days. During the advance, in spite of very stiff opposition from the enemy he cleared heavily defended positions at several places. Throughout these actions, Brigadier Sant Singh personally led and directed the troops, exposing himself to enemy medium machine gun fire and shelling. His personal gallantry, leadership, skilful handling of meagre resources, audacity, improvisation and maximum use of local resources were responsible for the successful and rapid advance against much stronger enemy in well prepared defensive positions. Throughout, Brigadier Sant Singh displayed conspicuous gallantry and inspiring leadership in keeping with the highest traditions of the Army.
Profile Maintenance
This profile is currently being maintained by Honourpoint.in. However, we would invite the family members, unit/formation or former colleagues of this brave soldier to contribute additional information and maintain this memorial site as well, thereby assisting us in our endeavour to spread awareness about this great Indian and inspire future generations.
Contribute
- If you find any information that is incorrect or inappropriate or have additional information about the soldier that can be added to his memorial site, please contact us by using the tab given below.
Source
- http://gallantryawards.gov.in/Awardee/sant-singh-mvc
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/tearful-adieu-to-indo-pak-war-hero-brig-sant-singh/story-dLr29X3pYNjzbsMNSnJotI.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant_Singh
Disclaimer
Honourpoint.intakes utmost precaution towards factual correctness of the uploaded data and makes sure that the data is from a credible source. However, we do not take responsibility for authenticity of the content and Honourpoint.inor any of its members cannot be held responsible for any misappropriation of the uploaded content.
Raghvendra Singh
2019 at 9:26 pmKya kabhi Brig Sant Singh Kanpur UP me nivas karte the? Yadi ha to unka H/NO & Muhalla ka nam batao sir pl.
Dr. Kanwalpreet kaur
2023 at 12:33 pmNeed more information about him