Latest news with #RajinderSinghDhatt
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Punjab-born World War 2 veteran passes away in UK at 103
Havildar-Major Rajinder Singh Dhatt, a veteran of the Second World War, passed away on Wednesday in the United Kingdom. He was 103. Dhatt had been honoured as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by King Charles in December 2024 in recognition of his services to the South Asian Community in the UK. Announcing Dhatt's death in a post on X, Tej Pal Singh Ralmill, a British citizen associated with the Sikh Pioneers and Sikh Light Infantry Association in the UK, said his services will never be forgotten. 'A life of service and duty ends after 103 years. The last of the war-time generation whose immeasurable contribution to humanity will never be forgotten,' said Ralmill. He added that Dhatt was a founding member of the Undivided Indian Ex-servicemen Association. 'He will be remembered for raising awareness of the contribution and sacrifice of the 2.5 million-strong undivided Indian Army during the Second World War,' wrote Ralmill. As per information available with the National Army Museum of the UK, Rajinder Singh Dhatt was born on October 21, 1921, in Punjab. He joined the Indian Army in February 1941 as a sepoy (private). He left the newly independent nation's Army in late 1949 with the rank of Havildar-Major. Dhatt served as a physical training instructor from 1942 to 1943 and Army storekeeper from 1943 to 1949. He was deployed to the Far East campaign, where he fought in Kohima, northeast India, supporting the Allied Forces in breaking through Japanese defences in 1944. After the war, Dhatt returned to India before relocating with his family to Hounslow in 1963. There, he co-founded the Undivided Indian Ex-Servicemen's Association to help unite British-Indian veterans.
BBC News
01-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
VE Day: Veterans bring the past to life with letters to children
Imagine receiving a letter that could transport you back in time. Over 50,000 children across the UK have signed up to a letter writing scheme that connects them with veterans from the World War VE Mail, it's an opportunity for children to hear first-hand about the past, with veterans sharing their own stories of the war, organised by charity The Together children involved receive a personal letter from a veteran, and have the chance to send a reply. VE Day - or Victory in Europe Day - which marks the day near the end of World War Two (WW2) when fighting in Europe came to an end. It's celebrated on 8 May, the date in 1945 when Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that war in Europe had come to an end, following Germany's surrender. One letter is shared by a veteran, Rajinder Singh Dhatt, who was born in India and joined the British Indian Army at the age of 103, in it he reflects on his time as a soldier."I witnessed fierce fighting and brave acts by soldiers from many nations," he also remembers his feelings when the war ended."When peace finally came, we felt both relief and sadness - for the friends we had lost, and the years we could never get back." Another letter from 100 year old Mervyn Kersh tells of what he learnt through his time as a shares his experience of being evacuated from London as a 14 year old boy, when war first broke out, and of being part of the D-Day invasion of also talks about the hardship of war and his life as a soldier, sleeping in makeshift shelters and cobbling together meals. "I arrived back in London earlier than expected. I rang the doorbell and my mother answered. She looked at me and said, 'Can I help you?' - she didn't recognise me after my time at war." 101 year old Jean Rees served as a Wren during the Second World was the nickname given to those enrolled in the Women's Royal Naval Service - a branch of the navy that recruited women to take on important roles to support the her letter she describes the training that Wrens undertook."Firefighting, gunnery, first aid, and marching in perfect unison. Discipline was drummed into us," she says. Jean also talks about the friendships and camaraderie she found with the other Wrens."Being away from home was new to me. I lived in a cabin with other Wrens - no privacy, no room of my own. But we quickly became close. Friends for life. They called me 'Sug', short for sugar, because they thought I was sweet. The trust shared between five young women - strangers who became lifelong friends - was something I'll never forget." There are now very few surviving veterans from World War Two, and organisers hope the letter exchange will help children to better understand what life was like during the hope the letters will also serve as a lasting legacy of the veterans' letters written by the veterans, and the children's replies, will be saved in a national archive.
