Service No: JC-208096

Place of Birth: Gurdaspur dist(Pun)

Service: Army

Last Rank : Subedar

Last Unit : 8 Sikh

Arm/Regt : The Sikh Regiment

Operation: Op Vijay (Kargil)

Award: VrC

Date of Martyrdom : Jul 05, 1999

Subedar Nirmal Singh VrC

Subedar Nirmal Singh hailed from Purana shalla village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. Son of Shri Dhana Singh and Smt Shanthi Devi, Sub Nirmal Singh joined the Army before he could turn 20. He was enrolled into the 8 Sikh battalion of the Sikh Regiment, an infantry Regiment. known for its fearless soldiers and a rich history of numerous battle honours. By 1999, Sub Nirmal Singh had put in service of over two decades and developed into a motivated junior commissioned officer.
 
Tiger Hill Attack(Kargil war) – July 1999
 
During the Kargil Conflict of 1999, Sub Nirmal Singh’s unit 8 Sikh was inducted in Drass on 14-15 May 1999, under the command of 121 Infantry Brigade. Later 192 Mtn Bde was tasked to capture the Tiger Hill and 8 Sikh along with 18 Grenadiers battalion was allocated to the the Brigade. A multi-directional attack was planned from three directions on 03/04 July 1999 with 18 Grenadiers leading the attack and 8 Sikh providing the firm base. Tiger Hill at height of 5062 m was by far the most dominating feature in the Drass sector and overlooked Mushkoh valley and the national highway NH-1D. It was divided into a number of smaller objectives.    The western spur was divided into a number of parts from east to west  viz. India Gate, Helmet and Rocky Knob; and the southeast side was called Tongue. The terrain was extremely rugged with gradient rising up to 80 degrees at some places.
 
In order to inflict casualties the enemy positions on Tiger Hill it was subjected to heavy artillery and mortar fire. On the night of July 3rd, 18 Grenadiers captured the eastern slope but further advance was held up due to effective enemy fire from Helmet and India Gate features on the western slope.  On 5 July 1999, Sub Nirmal Singh was tasked to lead one of the three teams to establish a firm base and by midnight, all the three teams were suitably poised for the capture of India Gate, Helmet and Rocky Knob. As the war cries of “Bole So Nihal, Sat Siri Akal” rent the air, the men got going and all hell broke loose. Intense enemy shelling and direct firing opened up. Sub Nirmal Singh  and his comrades displayed outstanding bravery and aggression in clearing the bunkers one after another. By 4 am, India Gate and Helmet had been captured.
 
The attacking troops, in the meanwhile, had firmed up defences in an area 700 meters by 500 meters. Apprehending a violent retaliation from the enemy, all preparations for repulsing any attack were made.  Sub Nirmal Singh and his men despite being seriously wounded kept engaging the enemy with extreme bravado and courage and continued fighting till the last man and the last round. During this Operation, Sub Nirmal Singh single-handedly took on the enemy from close quarters and kept motivating the troops to complete the assigned task. However Sub Nirmal Singh later succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. The bravery of Sub Nirmal Singh and his men paved the way for the capture of Tiger Hill eventually three days later.  Sub Nirmal Singh was a dedicated soldier and an inspiring Junior Commissioned Officer who led his men from the front and laid down his life in the service of the nation.
 
 Sub Nirmal Singh was given the nation’s third highest gallantry award, ” Vir Chakra” posthumously for his exceptional courage, unyielding fighting spirit and supreme sacrifice.
 

Citation for the Vir Chakra awarded to him reads:-

 

On 5 July 1999, Subedar Nirrmal Singh was leading a small team to establish a foothold on an objective in Drass sub sector during ‘Op Vijay’. While assaulting, Subedar Nirmal Singh noticed enemy movement. But before enemy could react, he directed fire of own automatic weapons on enemy and inflicted heavy casualties. The enemy was forced to retreat. Subedar Nirmal Singh quickly approached the objective and captured it. Rest of the company followed up next day and reorganized defences. Subedar Nirmal Singh deployed his platoon on forward slope.

 

At 0600 hrs, enemy opened fire and followed it up with a counter attack on the position held by Subedar Nirmal Singh’s men. Subedar Nirmal Singh and his men despite being seriously wounded kept fighting the enemy with extreme bravado and courage and continued fighting till the last man last round. They kept the enemy away till they all succumbed to their fatal injuries. During this Operation, Subedar Nirrnal Singh single-handedly took on the enemy face to face, at close quarter motivated the troops around him to mount an assault on the enemy and to repulse the counter attack by making the supreme sacrifice of his life in 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. 
     click here
Source
  • https://www.allaboutsikhs.com/sikh-warriors/sikh-regiment-in-kargil
  • https://www.honourpoint.in/wp-content/uploads/Kargil-1999-2.pdf
  • http://gallantryawards.gov.in/Awardee/nirmal-singh-2
  • https://www.facebook.com/search/str/subedar%2Bnirmal%2Bsingh%2Bvrc/stories-keyword/stories-public?esd=eyJlc2lkIjoiUzpfSTEwMDAwNDU2MTA1ODYwMzo0NjQ4MDE2NjM2ODE4NjUiLCJwc2lkIjp7IjEwMDAwNDU2MTA1ODYwMzo0NjQ4MDE2NjM2ODE4NjUiOiJVenBmU1RFd01EQXdORFUyTVRBMU9EWXdNem8wTmpRNE1ERTJOak0yT0RFNE5qVT0ifSwiY3JjdCI6InRleHQiLCJjc2lkIjoiNDIwMTJiMDIwNGNkNzZiMmU3YmI1Y2UzYmI3YmZmNDEifQ%3D%3D
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.

9 Comments

  • Pk

    2019 at 12:05 pm Reply

    Jai hind ❤️

    • Anil sindgi

      2020 at 5:41 am

      Great son of our country. The present generation of Army will continue to draw inspiration from such super human feats. Proud to say that I belong to the same outfit.

  • Jass

    2020 at 4:05 pm Reply

    Jai Hind sir

  • Anu Bains

    2020 at 10:38 am Reply

    Salute to our sons of the soil

  • Gajendra Chand Thakur

    2020 at 4:22 pm Reply

    Salute to the brave heart.
    But my question is that, what her mother got still she is working very hard for hand to mouth.Working under NAREGA in this very old age.Government is not paying attention to her..

  • Sukhpal Singh

    2020 at 10:56 am Reply

    Could u please provide me Shaheed Nirmal Singh’s full address??

    • Jaspal singh

      2022 at 9:17 pm

      Village and post office Purana shalla , Distt. Gurdaspur Punjab 143530

  • priyadarshini mohanty

    2021 at 2:14 pm Reply

    Shri Dhana Singh and Smt Shanthi Devi, hope you and everyone in family is safe and in good health.
    I read Sub Nirmal Singh’s profile and while i was reading it, it seemed i was filming a movie in my mind as his gallantry seemed unreal. But i know its real and how. Its an honor to write to and express my gratitude for your contribution and sacrifice.
    Ar such young age, Sub Nirmal Singh’ knew exactly he wanted to serve the nation, its so inspiring. Being a parent, i can imagine its not easy to let your son choose this path and i salute you to have encouraged his, be his backbone while he served the nation and protected me and my family.
    His gallantry make me realize what i do is so trivial and i realize i love my country more now when i realize how Sub Nirmal Singh and other jawan sacrificed their life for this great country. while i can day off if i feel sick, Sub Nirmal Singh despite being wounded kept engaging with the enemy till his last breath. This is truly “service before self”.
    I salute Sub Nirmal Singh for his immeasurable sacrifice. My best regards to you sir & mam.
    Jai hind.

    • Jaspal singh

      2022 at 9:15 pm

      He was a real here of nation and a true sikh of Guru Gobind singh. He has fellow the path shown by our Gurus. We are all proud of him

Post a Comment