Service No: 3349770

Service: Army

Birth Place : Dist-Jallandhar(Punjab)

Last Rank : Sepoy

Unit: 4 Sikh

Arm/Regt: The Sikh Regiment

Award : MVC

Date of Martyrdom : 26 Oct 1962

Sepoy Kewal Singh MVC

Sepoy Kewal Singh was born in the year of 1943, to Sri Sohan Singh and Smt Kartar Kaur in Kotli Than Singh village of Jallandhar district in Punjab. Sep Kewal Singh joined the Army at the age of 18 years on 20th October 1961. He was recruited into 4 Sikh of the famed Sikh Regiment, a regiment known for its valiant soldiers and numerous battle honours.

 

By the time Sep Kewal Singh completed his initial training , the war clouds were on the horizon on the eastern border. His unit, 4 Sikh got deployed in the North-East Frontier Agency(NEFA), the present day Arunachal Pradesh to defend the Indian posts on the border. On 20 Oct 1962, Chinese People’s Liberation Army launched attacks on two fronts of India, one in Thag La in NEFA and the other in Chushukl sector of Ladakh.  In the eastern theater, the Chinese overwhelmed the Indian troops in a series of flanking manoeuvres south of the McMahon Line and prompted their withdrawal from Namka Chu. With in few days the Chinese forces captured all of the territory that was under dispute at the time of the Thag La confrontation and continued to advance into the rest of NEFA.

 

Battle of Walong(Indo-China War) : 26 Oct 1962

 

During the Indo-China war, Sep Kewal Singh’s unit, 4 Sikh was deployed to defend the Indian positions at Walong. On 22 Oct 1962, the Chinese forces attacked the Walong garrison, an Army cantonment located in present day Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh. Some 400 Chinese troops attacked the Indian positions but the initial Chinese assault was halted by accurate Indian mortar fire. The Chinese were then reinforced and launched a second assault. The Indians managed to hold them back for four hours, but the Chinese used weight of numbers to break through. Most Indian forces were withdrawn to established positions in Walong, while a company supported by mortars and medium machine guns remained to cover the retreat.

 

Over the following days, there were clashes between Indian and Chinese patrols at Walong as the Chinese rushed in reinforcements. On the night of 26/27 Oct 1962, Sepoy Kewal Singh’s company was holding a defensive position on the forward  defended localities of the Walong  garrison. This position was threatened by enemy forces, as some of them had managed to get dangerously  close to the defences. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sep Kewal Singh in a rare display of courage, rushed out of his section post and charged the enemy soldiers with his bayonet. He killed few enemy soldiers in hand to hand fighting, but got seriously injured in the process. However, in total disregard to his injuries, Sep Kewal Singh bayoneted yet another soldier before collapsing. Sep Kewal Singh’s gallantry and dare devil action motivated his comrades to repulse the enemy attack. Sep Kewal Singh later succumbed to his injuries and was martyred.

 

Sep Kewal Singh was given the nation’s second highest gallantry award, “Maha Vir Chakra” for his outstanding bravery, unyielding fighting spirit and supreme sacrifice.

The citation for the Maha Vir Chakra awarded to him reads:

 

On the night of 26/27 October 1962, a Company of the Sikh Regiment was holding a defensive position on the forward  defended localities of the Walong  garrison in N.E.F.A. This position was threatened by enemy forces. Some of them had managed to get dangerously close to our defences. Sepoy  Kewal Singh, on his own initiative rushed out of his section post and charged the enemy with his bayonet, killing a few in hand to hand fighting. In this encounter he was seriously wounded. Despite his grievous injuries he bayoneted yet another of the enemy before he succumbed to his injuries. By this act of valour  and  self-sacrifice. Sepoy Kewal Singh helped his comrades to repulse the enemy.

  • The Housing project of Kewal Vihar in Jallandhar has been named after Sepoy Kewal Singh MVC, in his honour.

  • Sep Kewal Singh MVC
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Source
  • http://gallantryawards.gov.in/Awardee/kewal-singh

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19 Comments

  • Amarjit Singh padda

    2018 at 6:31 pm Reply

    I feel proud,and was lucky to see the occasion and here the story of Sepoy Kewal singh s bravery was narrated at holy Sunday Diwan of Gurdwara Sikhregimental Center,by Then Stage Secy Jem Hamir Singh his parents from his village had come to get his belongings.
    Lal Bahadur Shashtri then Home Minister always min his speech praisesd his brAvery I was in 8th class Sikhregimental Center , Meerut Cantt

    • Dr Manjunath

      2020 at 9:03 pm

      Martyrs like late sepoy kewalSingh MVC who sacrificed his life in service of nation at a tender age of 19 years during the Battle of Walong should be role model for the present day young ones some of whom are in to all sorts of anti national activities joining Tukde Tukde gang in the name of liberalism.

    • Dr. Kanwalpreet kaur

      2023 at 11:55 am

      Am writing an account. Please contact me at 9356301497

  • Amarjit Singh padda

    2018 at 6:41 pm Reply

    I salute parents of Saheed Kewal Singh who sacrificed for mother land
    Bharat is proud of his bravery and also Sikhregiment proud of him

  • sharanveer Kaur

    2018 at 1:10 pm Reply

    hello, my nana ji is late shaheed kewal singh! he was a brave fighter. My nani ji told me stories about her martial relationship towards my nana ji. He was a quiet, sensitive, and humble grandfather. I have a channel on instagram, facebook, youtube called coreofkaur. I want to share my Nana Ji’s story and legacy!

    • Jivan Rava

      2021 at 8:26 pm

      I visited the place Walong Yesterday Sharanveer ji where his large statue is Erected. Feel so proud and Honoured. I have the Pics. If u want please Whatsapp me on 9402650100.

    • Dr. Kanwalpreet kaur

      2023 at 11:57 am

      Please contact me. I am compiling a book. So grateful to have found you.

    • sharanveer kaur

      2023 at 7:53 am

      In honor of my late Nani Ji and Nana Ji, I am willing to share his legacy and memories. The life story of my late Nani Ji following Nana Ji’s passing is also remarkable and empowering. Please email me at [email protected]

  • Amarjit Singh padda

    2018 at 8:37 pm Reply

    Beta satsriakal I am happy to see you interested to back your Nana ji, it is very important to see and collect where I find it

  • Jasbir Singh Mahal (Canada)

    2018 at 11:14 am Reply

    While visiting Indian consulate in Vancouver, Canada on 10 Dec 2018, for attestation of my power of attorney, a senior lady came to me and asked to fill in the application to obtain her life certificate which I believe is required to claim pension from Indian govt. I started filling the application:
    Name: Surjit Kaur
    DOB: 6 Feb 1938
    Address: Kotli Than Singh, Punjab
    Husband’s name: Late Kewal Singh
    ….
    I curiously enquired if she worked for the Indian govt., she replied, “No my son, this pension is not mine but of my late husband Kewal Singh; who gave his life for his mother land in 1962 during the Indo-China war.” She told me that her husband was awarded Mahavir Chakar for his supreme sacrifice. With tears in her eyes she continued to tell that shortly after her marriage her husband returned to his duty in the army. At the time of his martyrdom she had her eight months old daughter. She described the tough times she faced and struggles she went through while raising her daughter. I had completed the application by this time and handed it back to her. I simultaneously felt honoured and emotional.

    Sitting in the train on my way back home, my thoughts took me to an imagined village in Punjab where through the eye of my imagination I could see the hard times she must have gone through without her husband. She is indeed a brave lady who has sacrificed her life for her daughter. Uncontrolled tears filled my eyes, it was my tribute to Shaheed Kewal Singh and salute to Bibi Surjit Kaur ji.

    (I could not resist myself from finding out more about Shaheed Kewal Singh on the Internet. That is how I came to know of this website)

    • Aman Sandhu

      2019 at 5:28 am

      The lady you speak of is my Nani Ji. Kewal Singh was my Nana Ji. My mother and Nani Ji did have a hard time facing family after and eventually mom found dad and they came to Canada. Nani Ji loves it here so much in Canada she can’t read or write Punjabi/English/Hindi..etc but she refuses to get rides and knows where every bus or sky train goes.

    • sharanveer sandhu

      2023 at 8:02 am

      she is my late nani ji and she endured difficult obstacles. She got her daughter (my mother) married, who shifted to Canada in pursuit of a sustaining a better quality of life. However, her resilience and ability to fulfill both roles as a father and mother as a single parent to my mother following the aftermath of my late Nana ji’s passing is an eye-opening story.
      -sharanveer kaur sandhu

      Please email me at [email protected]

    • sharanveer sandhu

      2023 at 8:24 am

      hello paji, my Late Nana Ji’s pind was Kotlee. Late Nani Ji’s birth pind is Kangniwal.

  • ਬਖਸ਼ੀ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਿੱਧੂ (ਸੇਵਾ ਮੁਕਤ ਅਧਿਆਪਕ)

    2021 at 7:45 pm Reply

    ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਕੇਵਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਮੇਰੇ ਪਿੰਡ ਦੇ ਵਸਨੀਕ ਸਨ। ਅਸੀਂ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੀ ਯਾਦਗਾਰ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਜਗ੍ਹਾ ਖਰੀਦ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਸ਼ਹੀਦ ਕੇਵਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਦਾ ਆਦਮ ਕੱਦ ਬੁੱਤ ਲਗਾਇਆ ਹੈ ਜੀ। ਪੱਥਰ ਉੱਤੇ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਜੀਵਨ ਬਿਉਰਾ ਵੀ ਲਿਖਿਆ ਹੈ। ਅਸੀਂ ਚਾਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਾਂ ਕਿ ਰਾਮਾਂ ਮੰਡੀ ਜਲੰਧਰ ਤੋਂ ਕੋਟਲੀ ਥਾਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੜਕ, ਪਿੰਡ ਦੇ ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਸੀਨੀਅਰ ਸੈਕੰਡਰੀ ਸਕੂਲ, ਕੋ-ਅਪਰੇਟਿਵ ਸੁਸਾਇਟੀ ਆਦਿ ਦਾ ਨਾਮ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਨਾਂ ਉੱਤੇ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਜਾਵੇ ਜੀ।ਸਭ ਨੂੰ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਇਸ ਲਈ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਤੱਕ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਕੀਤੀ ਜਾਵੇ ਜੀ।

  • Bakhtawar Singh Sandhar

    2021 at 9:00 pm Reply

    I was very proud to read this about Kewal Singh as we lived in the same village from a young age. His family is very wonderful and he was a very brave man. We are all proud of him

  • Gurdip Singh Sandher

    2022 at 3:32 am Reply

    I knew Kewal Singh for he was a neighbour. We lived on the same street, his house was opposite the Gurdwara Sahib and I lived 7 doors down towards the school on the same side of the street. He was six years older than me so I have been aware of him and all his family from a young age until I left to join my father in England in January 1961.
    It so happens that our khooh (ਖੂਹ) were also opposite each other. I quite often saw him going about his chores at the khooh.
    One incident from around 1958 has stuck in my mind. Towards the end of the day Kewal was bringing his animals from grazing near the river Vein about a mile from the khooh. I came up behind him and climbed up on to the elevated edge between the fields and the dirt road. As I came level to him he happened to start retying his turban. I watched intently as I at 9 years old was still trying to learn how to tie my turban. He finished tying his turban as he turned left to reach his khooh and I turned right to enter mine. Next morning I followed his actions and was very pleased with the look of my turban. So you can say he taught me how to tie my turban albeit unknowingly.
    Kewal Singh was a very handsome and confident young man. He had a bearing about him that would attract any one who saw him.
    So sad that he died so young, but so very proud of his actions and the courage that he displayed at the end.

    • Dr. Kanwalpreet kaur

      2023 at 12:01 pm

      Need more details about him. Please contact me. I am compiling a book. I teach in DAV College,Sector 10 D, Chandigarh

  • LT GEN J S DHILLON, VSM (Retd)

    2022 at 6:15 pm Reply

    *LT GEN J S DHILLON,VSM(Retd)*
    This fantastic narration of BRAVERY of a young sepoy Kewal Singh of 4 Sikh is the one which I heard as a student of 8th class in 1962.
    His village is in the same Distt as mine( Jalandhar) & my village MANKO on the periphery of Adampur Air Force Stn ,are not very far from each other.Hence story of his BRAVERY is still so fresh in my mind.
    As it is 4 Sikh( SARAGARHI Bn) is almost like my own unit, hence PROUD of Bravery of Sep Kewal Singh MVC(P)

  • Dr. Kanwalpreet kaur

    2023 at 12:01 pm Reply

    Need details please contact me.9356301497. I teach in DAV College,Sector 10 D, Chandigarh.

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