Rajinder Singh Sparrow

2021-07-04T12:35:50Z

2402:3A80:CA9:1BF6:1245:ECCD:E4EB:5842: /* External links */

{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = [[Major General]]
|name = Rajinder Singh
|honorific_suffix= [[Maha Vir Chakra|MVC]][[medal bar|**]]
|nickname = "Sparrow"
|image =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1911|10|03}}
|death_date = May 1994
|birth_place =
|death_place =
|allegiance ={{flagu|British India}} {{flagu|India}}
|branch= {{army|British Raj}} {{army|India}}
|serviceyears= 1932–1966
|rank = [[File:Major General of the Indian Army.svg|20px]] Major General
|unit = 7th Light Cavalry
|commands = [[7th Light Cavalry]] [[1st Armoured Division (India)|1st Armoured Division]]
|battles = [[World War II]] [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]] [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]
|awards = [[File:Maha_Vir_Chakra_ribbon.svg|35px]] [[Maha Vir Chakra]][[medal bar|**]]
|laterwork = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha|Member of the Lok Sabha]]
}}
[[Major General]] '''Rajinder Singh''', [[Maha Vir Chakra|MVC]] [[medal bar|& bar]] (3 October 1911 – May 1994) was an [[Indian Army]] officer and a two time member of the [[Lok Sabha]], the lower house of the Indian parliament. He was nicknamed 'Sparrow'.

==Career==
Singh served in the ranks of the [[British Indian Army]] from 3 October 1932 to 31 January 1938. He attended the [[Indian Military Academy]], [[Dehra Dun]], and was commissioned onto the Unattached List, Indian Army on 1 February 1938. He spent the next year attached to [[The King's Regiment (Liverpool)]], a British Army regiment, stationed on the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–55)|North West Frontier]].<ref>Indian Army List, January 1939</ref> He was then admitted to the Indian Army and joined the [[7th Light Cavalry]] on 24 February 1939. He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 April 1939,<ref>Indian Army List, various dates</ref> and served during [[World War II]]. He was promoted temporary captain and acting major on 16 April 1942, to war-substantive captain and temporary major on 9 January 1943 and to substantive captain on 31 January 1945.<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47">{{cite book|pages=232|title=Indian Army List (Special Edition) 1947|publisher=Government of India Press|year=1947}}</ref>

Singh opted to join the [[Indian Army]] upon the partition of India in 1947, and commanded the 7th Light Cavalry from September 1947 to May 1949. He was twice awarded the [[Maha Vir Chakra]], the second highest military decoration in India, the first for his role during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]], for outstanding leadership during the advance and capture of Jhangar ([[Operation Bison (Jammu & Kashmir 1948)|Operation Bison]]),<ref name="tribune">{{cite news |title=Red letter day for 7 Light Cavalry |first=Prabhjot |last=Singh |newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |location=[[Chandigarh]] |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98nov01/chd.htm#1 |date=1 November 1998 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref> and the second for displaying gallantry in the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]],<ref name=today/> during which he was [[General officer commanding|GOC]] of the [[1st Armoured Division (India)|1st Armoured Division]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Galleries/Wars/1965/I/0597.jpg.html |title=Major General Rajinder Singh Sparrow, MVC, GOC 1st Armoured Division |work=[[Bharat Rakshak]] |access-date=7 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601235055/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Galleries/Wars/1965/I/0597.jpg.html |archive-date=1 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="PradhanChavan2007">{{cite book |last1=Pradhan |first1=R. D. |last2=Chavan |first2=Y. B. |author-link2=Yashwantrao Chavan |title=1965 War, the Inside Story: Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan's Diary of India-Pakistan War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ymYCJQjEGBUC&pg=PA50 |date=2007 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0762-5 |page=50}}</ref>

Promoted to colonel on 30 January 1957,<ref name="col">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=296 |date=23 November 1957 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> Singh held the appointment of regimental colonel of the 7th Light Cavalry from July 1959 to July 1969. He was appointed D. A.C., Army HQ.<ref name="DAC">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=265 |date=31 October 1959 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> On 3 July 1961, he was appointed a G.O.C. commanding a division, with the acting rank of major-general.<ref name="actg_gen"/>

Singh retired from the Army on 26 September 1966.<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=657 |date=29 October 1966 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> After retirement he entered politics and became a minister in the short lived [[Gurnam Singh]] ministry in 1967. Later he was elected to the Lok Sabha in [[7th Lok Sabha|1980]] and [[8th Lok Sabha|1985]] for the [[Jalandhar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Jalandhar]] constituency as a candidate of the [[Indian National Congress]].<ref name=elec>{{cite web |title=List of winner/current and past and runner up MPs of Jalandhar Parliamentary Constituency, Punjab |url=http://www.elections.in/punjab/parliamentary-constituencies/jalandhar.html |work=Elections.in |date=2014 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Seventh Lok Sabha Members |work=Lok Sabha |url=http://www.loksabha.nic.in/Members/lokaralpha.aspx?lsno=7 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Eighth Lok Sabha Members |work=Lok Sabha |url=http://www.loksabha.nic.in/Members/lokaralpha.aspx?lsno=8 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref> He died in May 1994, at the age of 83.<ref name=today>{{cite magazine |title=Former Congress (I) MP Rajinder Singh Sparrow passes away |magazine=[[India Today]] |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/former-congressi-mp-rajinder-singh-sparrow-passes-away/1/293312.html |date=15 May 1994 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref>

==Dates of rank==
{|class="wikitable" style="background:white"
! Insignia !! Rank !! Component !! Date of rank
|-
|align="center" |[[File:British_Army_(1920-1953)_OF-1a.svg|35px]] || [[Second lieutenant#United Kingdom & other Commonwealth countries|Second Lieutenant]] || [[British Indian Army]] || 1 February 1938 (seniority from 31 January 1937)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_45"/>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:British_Army_(1920-1953)_OF-1b.svg|35px]] || [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|Lieutenant]] || British Indian Army || 24 February 1939<ref name="Indian_Army_List_45">{{cite book|pages=231|title=Indian Army List for October 1945 (Part I)|publisher=Government of India Press|year=1945}}</ref>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:British_Army_(1920-1953)_OF-2.svg|35px]] || [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] || British Indian Army || 1941 (acting)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47"/> 16 April 1942 (temporary)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47"/> 9 January 1943 (war-substantive)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47"/> 31 January 1945 (substantive)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47"/>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:British_Army_(1920-1953)_OF-3.svg|35px]] || [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]] ||British Indian Army || 16 April 1942 (acting)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47">{{cite book|pages=232|title=Indian Army List (Special Edition) 1947|publisher=Government of India Press|year=1947}}</ref> 9 January 1943 (temporary)<ref name="Indian_Army_List_47"/>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:British_Army_(1920-1953)_OF-2.svg|35px]] || Captain || [[Indian Army]] || 15 August 1947<ref name="insignia" group="note">Upon independence in 1947, India became a [[Dominion of India|Dominion]] within the British [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. As a result, the rank insignia of the [[British Army]], incorporating the [[Tudor Crown]] and four-pointed [[Order of the Bath|Bath Star]] ("pip"), was retained, as [[George VI of the United Kingdom|George VI]] remained Commander-in-Chief of the [[Indian Armed Forces]]. After 26 January 1950, when India became a [[Republic of India|republic]], the [[President of India]] became Commander-in-Chief, and the [[Lion Capital of Asoka|Ashoka Lion]] replaced the crown, with a five-pointed star being substituted for the "pip."</ref><ref name="insignia_designs"/>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Major_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || Major || Indian Army || 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)<ref name="insignia_designs">{{cite web|title=New Designs of Crests and Badges in the Services|url=http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20807-BR/HOM-1950-01-06_484.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193914/http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20807-BR/HOM-1950-01-06_484.pdf|archive-date=8 August 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Lieutenant_Colonel_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || [[Lieutenant-Colonel]] || Indian Army || 31 January 1951 (substantive)<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=109 |date=9 June 1951 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Colonel_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || [[Colonel]] || Indian Army || 1954 (acting)<ref name="actg_col"/> 30 January 1957<ref name="col"/>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Brigadier_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || [[Brigadier]] || Indian Army || 1 March 1955 (acting)<ref name="actg_col">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=72 |date=9 April 1955 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> 31 January 1960 (substantive)<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=255 |date=1 October 1960 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>
|-
|align="center" |[[File:Major_General_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || [[Major general#India|Major General]] || Indian Army || 3 July 1961 (acting)<ref name="actg_gen">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=250 |date=23 September 1961 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> 1965 (substantive)<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=671 |date=18 December 1965 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>
|-
|}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

Vicky

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://oneindiaonepeople.com/major-general-rajinder-singh-sparrow-mvc-and-bar/ |title=Major General Rajinder Singh 'Sparrow',phaouji MVC & Bar |date=1 December 2016 |website=One India One People}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.sainiksamachar.nic.in/englisharchives/2016/aug16-16/h8.htm |title=Army Honours its Glorified Veterans |date=16 August 2016 |website=[[Sainik Samachar]]}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrow, Rajinder Singh}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian generals]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra]]
[[Category:People from Jalandhar district]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:7th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:8th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]
[[Category:People of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]]
[[Category:State cabinet ministers of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]

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Rajinder Singh Sparrow