Ode to comrade in arms from Garhwal: Russia honors forgotten Indian WWII hero on 80th Victory Day
NEW DELHI: As Russia marks its 80th Victory Day, celebrating the Red Army 's triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II, it hasn't forgotten Gajendra Singh , an Indian soldier from Garhwal who participated in the war and was conferred the prestigious Order of the Red Star in 1944.On Friday, Russia put a large hoarding on Vikas Marg with a picture of Singh and the message; "Russians remember your sacrifice." A citation below said, "Naib Subedar Gajendra Singh and his comrades-in-arms supplied ammunition in 1942-1943 to the beleaguered Red Army on the Caucasian front."According to information on a plaque installed at a tree planted in his memory at his village of Baralu in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district, Singh was presented the award by the Soviet ambassador on Sept 1, 1944.Singh was recruited into the British Indian Army Service Corps in 1936 and received his training in Chakwal, Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, and was posted in the North-West Frontier Province, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Singh was honoured for reaching much-needed supplies despite being badly hurt. When he recovered, Singh refused to return home and continued aiding the Soviets, earning their respect. This was narrated by his grandson Sandeep Chand, a soldier with the India-Tibet Border Police.Though Chand never knew his grandfather, who died in 1988, he said that the tales narrated by his father, Bhagwan Singh, and uncle, Jang Bahadur, kept the Russian honoree's legacy alive. "I heard that when the World War II broke out, my grandfather was in Basra, Iraq. Since the British Empire was a part of the Allied forces, he was posted in the supply corps and given the task of carrying rations, arms and ammunition to the Soviet soldiers, who were fighting the Germans and were cut off," said Chand. "Help could reach the Soviet soldiers only through difficult terrain. During a supply run, his unit was attacked by the Germans and he was badly injured. Yet, he ensured the Soviets received the supplies. Apparently, he passed out due to his injuries only after making the final supplies."Chand said when Singh woke up in hospital later, he found the doctors had decided to send him back to India. "He insisted on staying on. He recovered, joined his battalion and continued supplying provisions to the Soviets," said Chand. In 2020, Singh's photograph and citation were included in the Russian Army Museum's gallery of gallant soldiers.Apart from Singh, only one other Indian soldier, subedar Narayan Rao Nikkam of Bengaluru, has been awarded the Order of the Red Star."My grandfather led a very humble life and never boasted of his exploits," said Chand. "I was told that when Russia marked the 50th anniversary of Victory Day, Russian officers, accompanied by Indian Army officers, came looking for him to pay their respect in person. He was once also invited to the ceremony in Russia, but he was too weak to travel."The visit of the Russians put Singh in the limelight and reporters, local leaders and area residents met him and he became known. A Pithoragarh villager said that the hero's original name was Gajendra Chand, a Rajput in Uttarakhand. "But since the British preferred Rajputs for being members of a warrior clan, many youngsters added the Rajasthani Singh as a title. He did too," claimed the villager.Sandeep, a soldier himself, however, said that nowadays joining the armed forces wasn't just patriotic duty but more a mode of sustenance. He complained, "People nowadays don't take pride in bravery or matters like that. The Red Star is akin to India's Param Veer Chakra, yet my grandfather remained unknown for such a long time, even though the Russians themselves never forgot him."The village of Baralu, whose youth still think of the armed forces as their first career choice, now has some 200 families of what used to be more than 450, the others having migrated to urban areas.(With inputs from Prem Punetha)
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