https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kanwar_Jaswant_SinghKanwar Jaswant Singh - Revision history2026-11-04T05:13:01ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kanwar_Jaswant_Singh&diff=508364&oldid=prevHildred82A: made some bio added tags2026-04-05T10:23:31Z<p>made some bio added tags</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|First chief of airstaff Ghana}}<br />
{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| honorific_prefix = [[Air Vice Marshal]]<br />
| name = Kanwar Jaswant Singh<br />
| honorific_suffix = [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal|PVSM]]<br />
| native_name =<br />
| native_name_lang = <br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| office = [[Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command|2nd Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command]]<br />
| president = [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]]<br />
| prime_minister = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]<br />
| predecessor = Kundan Lal Sondhi<br />
| successor = Shivdev Singh<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1915|09|15}}<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1963|01|01|1915|09|15}}<br />
| birth_place = [[United Province]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />
| death_place = India<br />
| alma_mater = [[Indian Military Academy]]<br />
| nickname = <br />
| allegiance = {{flag|British India}} (1937–1947)<br/>{{flag|India}} (1947–1963)<br />
| branch = {{army|British India}}<br>{{air force|British India}} <br/>{{air force|India}}<br>{{air force|Ghana}}<br />
| rank = [[File:Indian IAF OF-7.svg|25px]] [[Air Vice Marshal]]<br />
| service_years = 1937-1963<br />
| unit = <br />
| commands = [[Eastern Air Command (India)|Eastern Air Command]]<br/>[[Training Command (India)|Training Command]]<br />
| battles = [[World War II]]<br>[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]]<br />
| awards = [[File:Param Vishisht Seva Medal ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal]]<br />
| spouse = Mariam Khan<br />
| children = <br />
| term_start = 3 March 1962<br />
| term_end = 1 January 1963<br />
| office1 = [[Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command|4th Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command]]<br />
| term_start1 = 27 May 1958<br />
| term_end1 = 22 March 1959<br />
| predecessor1 = [[Pratap Chandra Lal]]<br />
| succeeded1 = [[Ranjan Dutt]]<br />
| president1 = [[Rajendra Prasad]]<br />
| prime_minister1 = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]<br />
| relations = [[Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan|Abdul Jabbar Khan]] (father-in-law)<br />
| office2 = [[Chief of Air Staff (Ghana)|1st Chief of Ghana Air Force]]<br />
| predecessor2 = Office established<br />
| successor2 = [[Ian Gundry-White]]<br />
| term_start2 = May 1959<br />
| term_end2 = August 1960 <br />
}}<br />
[[Air vice marshal (India)|Air Vice Marshal]] '''Kanwar Jaswant Singh,''' [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal|PVSM]] (15 September 1915 – 1 January 1963) was an [[Indian Army]] and [[Indian Air Force]] officer and also served in the [[Ghana Air Force]]. He was the [[Chief of Air Staff (Ghana)|Chief of Air Staff]] of the Ghana Air Force from May 1959 to August 1960.<ref name="GAF">{{cite web|last1=Air Staff|first1=Chiefs|title=Past CAS|url=http://gafonline.mil.gh/past-cas/|website=gafonline.mil.gh|publisher=Ghana Armed Forces|accessdate=5 June 2017|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013123113/http://gafonline.mil.gh/past-cas/|archivedate=13 October 2016}}</ref> He was the AOC-in C of Training Command and Eastern command in Indian Air Force.<br />
<br />
== Early life ==<br />
Singh belonged to the [[Kapurthala State|royal family of Kapurthala]]. He was born to Jasbir Kaur and Mabel Singh on 19 September 1915 in [[Budaun]], [[United Provinces (1937–1950)|United Provinces]]. He was nicknamed Jumper because of his inability to pronounce his own name. In January 1927, he went to study at the [[Rashtriya Indian Military College|Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College]] (RIMC) in Dehradun. He graduated from RIMC in February 1936. He graduated from the [[Indian Military Academy]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The story of Jaswant Singh, the only Indian to have ever commanded a foreign Air Force |work=[[The Print]] |url=https://theprint.in/opinion/the-story-of-jaswant-singh-the-only-indian-to-have-ever-commanded-a-foreign-air-force/723889/%3famp}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Military career==<br />
Jaswant Singh joined the [[Frontier Force Regiment|4/12th Frontier Force Regiment]] in 1937. He saw action at [[Jamrud Fort|Fort Jamrud]] against the Pashtuns in 1939. Singh signed up to be transferred to the IAF and was seconded in June 1940 as a [[Flying officer|Flying Officer]]. He was the fifth Army officer to offer himself for such an assignment. He joined the 3rd Pilot Course at the Initial Training School, Walton, [[Lahore]], to undergo his ground and flying training, and completed his advanced training from the Service Flying Training School, [[Ambala]], at the end of May 1941. He led a squadron into [[Burma campaign|operations in Burma]] during [[World War II]]. He commanded the offices of several senior command and staff appointments. Jaswant Singh took charge as [[Eastern Air Command (India)|Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command]] in March, 1962. He organised his command to undertake logistic support operations in the [[North-East Frontier Agency|NEFA]] and [[Assam]] areas. He was also in the charge Air Officer in charge of Training Command. He later became the CAS of Ghana Air Force.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Vice Marshal Kanwar Jaswant Singh |url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Database/1587 |website=Bharat Rakshak}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Awards==<br />
He was posthumously awarded the [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal]] for his distinguished service to the Indian Air Force.<br />
<br />
== Personal life ==<br />
Jaswant Singh married Mariam Khan (1920–1988), the only daughter of [[North-West Frontier Province|North West Frontier Province's]] former Prime Minister, [[Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan|Abdul Jabbar Khan]], popularly known as Dr Khan Sahib, and niece of [[Abdul Ghaffar Khan]]. It was a high-profile wedding.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gandhi |first=Rajmohan |author-link=Rajmohan Gandhi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnTtQrRVNKAC&pg=PA133&dq=&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjB8fvEnvmQAxVBNvsDHdFyBFAQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Ghaffar Khan, Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-306519-7 |pages=133 |language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Twenty-five days later taking charge of AOC in C Eastern Command, on New Year's Eve of 1963, Singh died after suffering a heart failure.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Chiefs of Air Staff (Ghana)]]<br />
[[Category:1915 births]]<br />
[[Category:1963 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Army personnel]]<br />
[[Category:British Indian Army personnel]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian royalty]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian military personnel]]</div>Hildred82A