Kanwar Bahadur Singh
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant-General Kanwar Bahadur Singh, MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, (5 August 1910 – 8 May 2007) was a senior officer in the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

.

Early life and education

Bahadur Singh was born in the Thikana of Palaitha in the princely state of Kotah on 5 August 1910, the son of Major-General Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

 Onkar Singh, KCIE
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...

, a minister for the state of Kotah. He attended the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (RIMC
RIMC
The Rashtriya Indian Military College or the RIMC is a public school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The name of the school was Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College but it was re-named in 1947. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the National Defence Academy, Indian...

) from August 1923 to 26 August 1929. During his time at the college, he became Section Commander for Kitchener Section and Cadet Captain. Following his education at RIMC, he gained entrance to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

. He would join Sandhurst as the top student from India.

Military career

Upon graduation from Sandhurst, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 19th Hyderabad Regiment on 27 August 1931. He was promoted to Captain on 1 January 1939. His regiment participated in the ill fated Malayan Campaign. Following their defeat in the Battle of Singapore
Battle of Singapore
The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...

, he was taken prisoner and spent the remainder of the war in a Japanese internment camp. He was Colonel of the Kumaon Regiment
Kumaon Regiment
The Kumaon Regiment is one of the most decorated regiments of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its origins to the 18th century and has fought in every major campaign of the British Indian Army and the Indian Army, including the two world wars...

 from 16 May 1961 to 15 May 1971. Bahadur Singh would serve as GOC-in-C for Central Command from 1962 to 1966 before retiring as a Lieutenant-General.

Later life

After retiring from the army, Lt. Gen. K. Bahadur Singh was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh from 16 May 1967 to 24 January 1971.

He was married to Rajendra Kumari of Barwani and had 5 children, a son (Kr Jaivir Singh Palaitha) and 4 daughters (Jyostna, Jaya, Padmini & Durga). He died in May 2007 at the age of 97.

External links

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