Umrao Singh: Difference between revisions

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|awards= [[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|23px]] [[Victoria Cross]]<br/>[[File:IND Padma Bhushan BAR.png|23px]] [[Padma Bhushan]]<br/>[[File:Ribbon - 1939-45 Star.png|23px]] [[1939–1945 Star]]<br/>[[File:Ribbon - Africa Star.png|23px]] [[Africa Star]]<br/>[[File:Ribbon - Burma Star.png|23px]] [[Burma Star]]<br/>[[File:Ribbon - War Medal.png|23px]] [[War Medal 1939–1945]]<br/>[[File:Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon.png|23px]] [[Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal|Golden Jubilee Medal]]<br/>[[File:QEII Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.png|23px]] [[Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal|Silver Jubilee Medal]]<br/>[[File:Ribbon - QE II Coronation Medal.png|23px]] [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal|Coronation Medal]]

'''Umrao Singh Yadav''' {{post-nominals|[[Victoria Cross|VC]]}} (21 November 1920 – 21 November 2005) was an [[India]]n recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.  He was the only [[non-commissioned officer]] in the [[Royal Artillery]] or the [[Royal Indian Artillery]] to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the [[Second World War]], and the last survivor of only 40 Indian soldiers to be awarded the VC between 1912, when Indians first became eligible to be awarded the VC, to [[Partition of India|Indian independence]] in 1947.

Umrao Singh Yadav, son of Mohar Singh, was born into a [[Hindu]] [[Yadava]] family in [[Palra (Jhajjar)|Palra]], a small village in [[Jhajjar district]] in [[Haryana]] (then the [[Rohtak]] district of undivided [[Punjab region|Punjab]]), 50&nbsp;km north of [[Delhi]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Indian information, Volume 16 | publisher = Press Information Bureau, Government of India | page = 783 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yXdLAQAAIAAJ&q=%22umrao+singh%22+ahir&dq=%22umrao+singh%22+ahir&hl=en&ei=UyiUTs7fJszirAeo9dW9Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg| year = 1945 }}.</ref><ref>[[The Illustrated Weekly of India]] (1970): Volume 91, Issue 3, Page-4, "Umrao Singh (Rohtak Ahir) won the Victoria Cross during the second world war"</ref>

At the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of [[VE Day]] in London in 1995, he was almost turned away from the VIP tent because his name was not on the correct list, but [[Brigadier]] Tom Longland, who had organised the event, recognised his medal and gave orders for him to be admitted.  After the event, Singh complained to British [[Prime Minister]] [[John Major]] about the meagre [[pension]] of [[pound sterling|£]]168 per year paid to the then ten surviving Indian VC holders.  The amount had remained fixed since 1960, but Major subsequently arranged for the pension to be raised to £1,300 per year. He was awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1983.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2016 | access-date=3 January 2016}}</ref>

{{quote|I had gone to UK in 1995 as Deputy Leader of the Indian Delegation to take part in the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the victory in Europe during the Second World War. I, along with four other Army officers, had just stepped out after attending the inaugural session and were waiting on the roadside for the traffic to ease so as to walk across the road to the vehicle park. Among those with me was Honorary Captain Umrao Singh, a Victoria Cross winner. All of a sudden, a car moving on the road came to a halt in front of us and a well-dressed gentleman stepped out. He approached Umrao Singh and said, "Sir, may I have the privilege of shaking hands with the Victoria Cross (winner)?" He shook hands with him. Evidently he had spotted Umrao Singh's medal from his car and had stopped his car to pay his respect to a winner of the highest gallantry medal of his country. Then he looked at me and said, "General, you are from the Indian Army." When I replied in the affirmative, he gave out his name, saying that he was [[Michael Heseltine]]. I was absolutely astounded, as the recognition dawned on me that he was the Deputy Prime Minister of [the] UK. I was totally overawed by such courtesy shown by a dignitary of the second highest status in the British Government, and humbly thanked him for having invited our delegation for the VE-Day function. Again, his reply was typical of his sagacity, "General, it is we, the British, who should be grateful to your country and your Armed Forces, who had helped us win both the First and the Second world wars. How can we be ever so ungrateful to forget your country's great contribution?" Suddenly I became conscious that all the traffic behind his car had come to stand still. I hurried to thank him and politely requested him to move along to relieve the traffic hold-up. He stated, "Sir, how dare I drive off when [the] Victoria Cross has to cross the road." Realizing his genuine feeling I and my colleagues quickly crossed the road. Reaching the other side I looked back and saw that Mr. Hailstine was still standing waiting for the Victoria Cross to be safely across.}}

After being diagnosed with [[prostate cancer]] in July 2005, he died, at the [[Army Research and Referral hospital]] in [[New Delhi]] on his 85th birthday, 21 November 2005.  He was [[cremation|cremated]] in his native village with full [[military honours]], attended by [[Bhupinder Singh Hooda]] (Chief Minister of Haryana), General [[Joginder Jaswant Singh]] (Army Chief), and Lt Gen [[Charanjit Singh]] (Director General of Artillery). His wife, Vimla pre-deceased him, but he was survived by two sons and a daughter.

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*[http://haynese.winthrop.edu/india/medals/VC/2USingh.html Umrao Singh]

[[Category:Indian military personnel]]