Havildar Bachittar Singh of 2 Sikh silenced a machine gun post near Naldurg on 13 September 1948 and died of his wounds.
Two Vehicles from Naldurg
On 13 September 1948, during the Hyderabad Police Action, Havildar Bachittar Singh was commanding the leading platoon of the 2nd Battalion, The Sikh Regiment, when two vehicles came towards his position from the direction of Naldurg.
He told a rifleman to open fire, then ran forward with one other man. Fire came back at them. The two reached the vehicles and took both, along with the escort.
Thirty Yards from the Gun
Later that day a strong point opened up on the platoon with a Bren gun, and he led the attack on it. About 30 yards short, a burst hit him in the thigh and he went down.
He crawled on and threw two grenades, which silenced the post. He would not let anyone dress his wounds and kept urging his men forward. They took the objective. He died of the wounds.
Notification No. 12-Pres./52
His name heads the first list of Ashoka Chakra, Class I awards, published in a Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 26 January 1952 under the number 12-Pres./52. The award, later renamed the Ashoka Chakra, was marked posthumous.
His service number was 13730. Profiles give his birth date as 10 January 1917. They spell his Punjab village differently: Lobo in one, Lopo, in Moga district, in another.
The citation
Hav BACHITTAR SINGH was commanding the leading Platoon on 13 Sep 48 when two vehicles were seen approaching his position from NALDRUG. He ordered a rifleman to fire on the approaching vehicles and himself with one man ran forward to capture the vehicles and their escort. Disregarding the fire opened on him, he continued his charge and captured both the vehicles and their escort.
The same day fire was opened on the leading platoon from a strong point with a Bren Gun. Hav BACHITTAR SINGH with great skill and determination led the attack on the position. When about 30 yds from the objective, he got a LMG burst in his thigh and fell. In spite of his wounds, he crawled forward and threw two grenades on the LMG post, thus silencing it. Hav BACHITTAR SINGH although mortally wounded refused to allow any one to dress his wounds and kept on encouraging his men to advance and capture the objective, which they did.
His personal example of unsurpassed valour, grim determination devotion to duty and leadership was an inspiration to all who saw it.
Source: Gazette of India. Reproduced as printed, including any errors in the original.
Cover image: Robert Prummel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashoka_Chakra_India_De_drie_medailles_van_voor_1967.jpg