Subedar Piara Singh VrC

Subedar Piara Singh hailed from Amritsar district in Punjab and was born on 01 April 1925. Son of Shri Sultan Singh, he developed an inclination to serve in the Army while growing up and started working towards it.  Eventually, he joined the Indian Army in the year 1948 after completing his school education at the age of 22 years. He was recruited into the 5 Sikh LI Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, an infantry regiment well known for its gallant soldiers. By the year 1965, he had put in over 16 years of service and had been promoted to the rank of Subedar. 

Mendhar Sector Operation (J&K) : 02 November 1965

Though the Indo-Pak war actually commenced on 01 Sep 1965, when Pakistani forces attacked the Chhamb sector, the border tensions were running high months before that, resulting into numerous border skirmishes along the LOC. Sub Piara Singh's unit 5 Sikh LI got deployed on the western border as the war clouds gathered on the horizon in early 1965. The Indo Pak war officially ended on 23 Sep 1965, but the border skirmishes were continuing thereafter to occupy positions of advantage. During Nov 1965, Sub Piara Singh's unit was deployed in the Mendhar Sector of Jammu & Kashmir. On 02 Nov, 5 Sikh LI was tasked to clear a feature in the Mendhar Sector in Jammu & Kashmir, which had been encroached upon by Pakistani forces, notwithstanding the cease-fire. Sub Piara Singh as platoon commander was detailed to lead that operation. His objective was to neutralize a group of enemy bunkers that were covering the approach to the ultimate objective of the battalion.

This approach lay through a minefield and wire obstacles. Undeterred, Sub Piara Singh displaying extraordinary bravery, led the assault through the minefield. During this aggressive assault, he lost 25 of his soldiers due to mines and artillery fire. Undaunted by these losses and with total disregard for his own safety, he led the charge against the enemy bunkers. He launched a focused attack on the light machine gun(LMG) that was firing at the other platoon. After silencing the light machine gun, he proceeded to the next bunker from where the 83 mm rocket launcher was firing and holding up further advance. As he threw a grenade into the bunker, both his legs were blown off by the 83 mm rocket, but the grenade he threw killed the occupants of the bunker. Despite being severally wounded, he managed to capture his objective and continued exhorting his few remaining men to exploit further. However he soon succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Sub Piara Singh was a valiant soldier and a gritty Junior Commissioned Officer, who led his troops from the front and laid down his life in the line of his duty. Sub Piara Singh was given the gallantry award, “Vir Chakra”  for his dauntless courage, exceptional leadership and supreme sacrifice.

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

On the night of 2nd /3rd November 1965, Subedar Piara Singh was commanding a platoon in a battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment. The battalion was ordered to clear feature in the Mendhar Sector in Jammu & Kashmir, which had been encroached upon by Pakistani forces notwithstanding the cease-fire. His objective was a group of bunkers that were covering the approach to the ultimate objective of the battalion. This approach lay through a minefield and wire obstacles. He led the assault through the minefield in the course of which he lost his 25 men due to mines and artillery fire. Undaunted by these losses and with total disregard for his own safety, he led the charge against the enemy bunkers from where a light machine gun was enfilading the other platoon. 

After silencing the light machine gun, he proceeded to the next bunker from where the 83 mm rocket launcher was firing and holding up further advance. As he threw a grenade into the bunker, both his legs were blown off by the 83 mm rocket, but the grenade he threw killed the occupants of the bunker. After a few minutes of the action, he also died, but only after capturing his objective and exhorting his few remaining men to exploit further. In this mission, Subedar Piara Singh displayed leadership and an indomitable courage and made the supreme sacrifice in the best traditions of the Indian Army.