Lachhman Singh Lehl: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}

{{Use Indian English|date=June 2022}}

[[Major general|Major-General]] '''Lachhman Singh Lehl''' [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal|PVSM]], [[Vir Chakra|VrC]] (9 July 1923 – 18 June 2020) was a highly decorated [[Indian Army]] general and military historian noted for his command of the 20th Mountain Division in the [[Battle of Hilli]] during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]].<ref name="war_decorated">{{cite news|date=18 June 2020 |title=War decorated General Lehl dies |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/war-decorated-general-lehl-dies-101113|work=Chandigarh Tribune |access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="swordsman">{{cite news |last=Bajwa |first=Mandeep Singh |date=22 June 2020 |title=Military Digest: The Indian swordsman who struck in Bangladesh |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maj-gen-lachhman-singh-lehl-renowned-veteran-of-1948-1971-wars-dies-aged-97-6470026/|work=Indian Express |access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref>

On 12 October 1942, Lehl was selected for a temporary [[British Indian Army]] commission from the [[Indian Military Academy]].<ref name="glory"/><ref>{{cite news|date=21 June 2020 |title=War Hero Crucial To Pakistan's Surrender In 1971 Dies At 97 |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/major-general-retd-lachhman-singh-lehl-war-hero-crucial-to-pakistans-surrender-in-1971-dies-at-97-2249623|work=NDTV |access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref> After training at the School of Artillery, Deolali, he received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Indian Artillery on 11 July 1943.<ref name="Indian_Army_Special_List_47">{{cite book|pages=269F (2)|title=Indian Army List Special Edition for August 1947|publisher=Government of India Press|year=1947}}</ref> His first posting was with the 2nd Indian Field Battery of 1 Indian Field Regiment, a motorised artillery regiment then at [[Peshawar]].<ref name="glory"/> He fought in the [[Burma Campaign]], including at the [[Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay]] as a gun position officer (GPO),<ref name="glory"/> and after the war saw action as an officer in the British occupation force during the [[Indonesian National Revolution]].<ref name="swordsman"/> After the war, Lehl's battery was incorporated into an all-Muslim unit, which was stationed at Rawalpindi in early 1947. He took his annual leave with effect from 12 August 1947, three days before Indian independence and the country's partition.<ref name="glory"/>