Readers Remember Lt Gen Nathu Singh

References and earlier posts:

Gen Nathu Singh & AFSPA: Readers Views

Lt Gen Nathu Singh: Courage and Candour has few equals or parallels

Lt Gen Nathu Singh's short bio- data by Maj Gen VK Singh

Dear Brigadier Kamboj,
I am attaching two photos of Gen Nathu Singh
Regards
VK Singh (Maj Gen VK Singh)

From: Sureshwar Sinha
Sent: 07 September 2010 10:40
To: Kamboj Chander
Subject: GEN NATHU SINGH … edited …
Dear Brigadier Kamboj,
Having read the above messages, I could not resist mentioning the interview General Thakur Nathu Singh gave me for my book, 'Sailing and Soldiering in Defence of India'. Earlier we had had many informal chats, as his son the late Rear Admiral R.V. Singh, {who was my course mate in the 2nd JSW now N.D.A. course}, along with another course mate, Captain R.N.Singh, had brought back a Land Rover from London for the General, by driving it all the way to Delhi. Though the vehicle was in pretty bad shape after the trip, the General did'nt bat an eye lid, and simply said that he was glad we had a nice and adventurous trip.
Coming back to my formal interview with him. It is well known that he was favoured by Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck to be the first Indian Army Chief and had made his recommendation accordingly. But in converstions with the then DM, Sardar Baldev Singh and the PM Mr. Nehru, Gen. Nathu Singh had said that it might not be fair to supersede General Cariappa. He was still young and could have been a Chief later, but his frank and honestly argumentative nature was not liked by his political bosses.
He recalled that at the time of the Chinese invasion of Tibet, he was the GOC-in-C of the Eastern Command, and had suggested that to the powers that be that one of his brigades could hold up the Chinese at the fort of Chamdo, whilst two more in reserve, could have prevented any breakthrough by them, as forces available to them then were far less in those days. But he was ignored. Our history and present security scenario would have been far different had he been listened to
As regards Kashmir, we had a first hand account of events from General Thymayya, when after relinquishing command in Kashmir, he came as our Commandant of the integrated academy, composed of the Military Wing {IMA} and the JSW.
But have we learnt the lessons even today?
Cmdr SD Sinha {Retd)

From: Yati Panwar
Sent: 07 September 2010 01:51
To: Kamboj Chander
Subject: Re: ON GEN NATHU SINGH
Dear Brig Kamboj,
Many mails are coming in talking about Gen Nathu Singh. I have never met the gentleman in real life but gleaned a lot about his towering personality from his ACR's (dating back to 1920's) that are preserved in the Archives of the MS Branch. I glanced through those captivating accounts while reorganising the archives in 1995. I do not recollect the exact contents but the British Officers were rather piercing in their description of him - they were certainly as much in awe of him as they were unable to see him straight in the eye.
Perhaps (...) one may be asked to revisit the MS Archive to retrieve the contents for the benefit of all of us- i am sure they would be as much revealing as they would be inspirational.
Best regards,
Yati Panwar
Lt Gen YS Panwar, Former Commandant MCTE

From: Krishan K Punchhi
To: vinod pasricha
Sent: Tue, September 7, 2010 10:13:05 PM
Subject: Re: Gen Nathu Singh
Dear Pasha,
I'm glad you sent your mail to me. I was just wondering whether I should share my thoughts with others and now I will. This mail will eventually be copied to all my friends. I'm glad you want to include the reference to Lt Gen Thakur Nathu Singh in the book you are writing about Indian Navy's 300 Sqn.
Yes, our friend and colleague, Ranvijay Singh, was the second son of Lt Gen Thakur Nathu Singh. This is the first time that I too have heard of their surname Rathore. RV or Ranu was 2 JSW and I belong to 7 JSW.
I first came to know about Lt Gen Thakur Nathu Singh when we were told that he was going to take the salute at the passing out parade at JSW. I have taken part in four parades, 4JSW to my own 7JSW. Sh. Surjit Singh Majithia took our salute. So, Thakur Saheb must have taken the salute of 4th, 5th or 6th course. This happened in mid fifties and I hope my memory is not playing tricks with me. I also remember that he had a religious scripture ( Bhagvat Gita? ) in his hand and he read out and translated a shloka out of it. That is how he ended his lecture. This was most unusual. Here was a high ranking officer who was not fully anglicised, who valued and cherished Indian philosophy.
When I joined the Seahawk Sqn in the UK, RV was already there and so was Kumud, his wife. Kumud Bhabhi was a very fine and gentle lady and it was a pleasure interacting with both of them. That is when I came to learn that RV's father was that famous Thakur Nathu Singh. Later on when RV became the Sqn Cdr and we all embarked on VIKRANT, Kumud Bhabi took all the wives under her wings and really looked after them. Indu, my newly married wife, received special attention.
Years later, I think it was in Delhi that RV held a dinner party to which we were also invited. That is where I had the proud privilege of meeting the General. I think the elder son was also there. We all found him to be a grand old man, down to earth with no airs, very proud of his sons and very nice to all of their friends. During the talks, we learnt about Ranu's naval trg in the UK and his jeep trip back to India. Gen sahib wanted a brand new jeep and sent the money to his son. He bought the jeep and, as agreed to, he drove it back to India. Another friend and course mate ( Gokhale? ) was with him. Somewhere in the Middle East, the jeep went out of control and rolled over. Luckily, no one was hurt and the jeep was drive-able. So, they continued and entered Pakistan. There they were stopped and questioned. Once their identity was established, the MP pilot jeep and outriders were lined up. Thakur Nathu Singh had requested his old friend Gen Ayub (?) to look after RV and ensure he had no problems in Pakistan. So, a battered jeep was piloted and escorted like a VIP vehicle and came to Wagah in grand style. In that party, there was much lighthearted banter about RV's driving prowess.
We had to leave the party early as our very small son was alone at home under ayah's supervision. The general made it a point to come to the main door and see us off with all the love and affection that you show to a son and bahu. That family was full of decent sanskars. It is a pity that Kumud bhabhi and RV are no more. edited...
I close with best wishes and kind regards ...mac.
Cdr KK Punchhi
President Indian Navy Foundation, Canada

From: MG Kapoor
Sent: 07 September 2010 01:32
To: Kamboj Chander
Subject: Re: ON GEN NATHU SINGH
Dear Brig Kamboj Sir,
I have read with great attention officer's tributes to Gen Nathu Singh. It really fills one with pride that our great Indian Army can boast of having such great Generals. It was very satisfying.
I have a suggestion. We do have many more great leaders of whom the present generation may know very little but nonetheless they need be remembered. Why not to start similar tributes to such great leaders? Amongst others, one such leader who comes to my mind is great Lt General Bikram Singh. Others are Lt General Kulwant Singh, Lt General PS Bhagat, Lt Gen Harbux Singh, Marshal of the Air Force Arjun Singh, and so on and so forth. Such like tributes to them would kindle the flame of patriotism amongst us all and in particular the present generation of the armed forces who are the pillars of our armed forces in times to come.
With kind regards,
MG Kapoor

1st trained commando to take over as Army Chief

Image: General VK Singh takes over the charge as new Chief of Army Staff from General Deepak Kapoor: Photograph: PIBHe will be at the helm of the Army for 2 years. A counter-insurgency expert The right man for the top job.

March 31, 2010 15:47 IST
Gen V K Singh, the senior-most infantry officer, was on Wednesday handed over charge of the Indian Army, the world's second largest, by outgoing chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and he will formally assume his new office on Thursday.

He will be the first trained commando to take over as the Army Chief.

Gen Singh, who has vast experience in counter-insurgency operations and till lately was the GOC-in-C of Kolkata-based Eastern Command, was handed over charge by Gen Kapoor at a ceremony in the South Block in New Delhi.

Kapoor retired from the Army after over four decades of service and would formally cease to be the Army Chief at midnight on Wednesday.

Singh, who picked up the four-star rank of General on Wednesday, will be the 26th chief and will stay at the helm of the 1.13 million personnel-strong Army for over two years.

The Defence Ministry had on January 23 issued the order appointing Singh for the top post after the Cabinet Committee on Appointments cleared his name a day earlier.

Singh was in the news recently when he recommended action against four General-ranked officers indicted by a probe in the Sukna land scam in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

A third generation officer from the Rajput regiment, Singh had participated in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War as a young captain. He is a graduate of the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College as well as the US Army War College at Carlisle. He also did a Rangers Course, a prestigious commando training, at Fort Benning in the US.
1st trained commando to take over as Army Chief

Lt Gen VK Singh is to be the new Army Chief

Lt. Gen. V.K. Singh, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC, presently GOC-in-C, Eastern Command has been appointed the next Chief of the Army Staff in the rank of General with effect from the afternoon of March 31, 2010.

Lt Gen Singh would succeed the present Chief of Army Staff, Gen Deepak Kapoor, who will retire from service on March 31, 2010.

His appointment was decided by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the chair.

Lt. Gen. Singh was commissioned into the Rajput Regiment on June 14, 1970. During his long and distinguished career spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments. He participated in the 1971 operations and the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) operations in Sri Lanka. He is presently serving as the Eastern Army Commander. Prior to that, he commanded a Corps in the Western sector.

Besides being an ‘Honours Graduate’ of the US Army Infantry School, Georgia, in the United States, Lt Gen Singh studied at the Defence Services Staff College, the Army War College and the US Army War College, Carlisle.

He is a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) awards. He is also one of the honorary ADCs of the President of India.

Lt General Singh is married to Mrs Bharati and the couple has two daughters. The elder daughter is married to an Army officer while the younger one is working in the corporate sector.
Lt Gen VK Singh to be new Army Chief

V.K. Singh is next Chief of Army Staff

Special Correspondent The Hindu
Lt. Gen. V.K. Singh
NEW DELHI: Lieutenant General V.K. Singh will be the new Chief of the Army Staff. He will assume office on March 31, the day the current Chief, General Deepak Kapoor, retires from service, the Defence Ministry announced on Friday.
Lt. Gen. Singh (59) is the seniormost infantry officer, who currently heads the Eastern Army Command. During a career spanning nearly four decades, he took part in the 1971 operations in East Pakistan and the Indian Peace Keeping operations in Sri Lanka.
“I am grateful for this honour and the responsibility which our leaders have bestowed on me. I shall carry out my duties well to lead one of the world’s finest Army. It will be my endeavour to lead the brave men while keeping up with the best traditions of the Indian Army and upholding the Indian Constitution,” the Army Chief-designate said.Commissioned into the 2 Rajput Regiment, Lt. Gen. Singh is a graduate of the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College.
Besides graduating with Honours from the U.S. Army Infantry School, Georgia, he also attended the Rangers Course at Fort Benning, U.S., and the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle.
He was awarded the Yudh Sena Medal for his distinguished service in Sri Lanka.
PTI reports:
V.K. Singh is next Chief of Army Staff

Signal Officer recounts 1962 Chinese intrusion in Tawang sector

20th October 1962. It was 5 O' Clock in the morning the mountains and the valley were all asleep. It was quiet in the Brigade HQ at Rongla 10500 feet above sea level in the narrow valley of River Namkachu lying sandwiched between the Thagla feature infested by the Chinese and Tsangdhar occupied by own troops.

I was sleeping in my one-man arctic-tent fully clothed as was my practice. Suddenly a mortar bomb landed in the HQ with a big bang the make believe was over and so were the pious hopes of all and sundry all the way right up to Delhi. The Chinese meant business. It took me a few moments to locate my snow-boots and put them on. It was my practice to keep the radio set 62 switched off in the night for more reasons than one; To conserve the batteries and rest the operators who were on duty round the clock without relief. We had line communication to the battalions as also Divisional Tactical HQ so radio was a stand by. In any case there was nothing but static on the radio during the night. The traffic net D-2 was however kept switched-on at least for form sake.

My first and immediate reaction was to get the B-1 the Brigade Command Radio Net switched on. On checking the lines to the battalions were found to be out. The Chinese had done the trick and cut the lines just before commencing the shelling. It was amazing to see the raw signalmen some of whom had joined the section only a few days back straight from the training centre on job without fear or tension on their faces. May be it was the team spirit perhaps it was confidence in their superiors or sheer ignorance of the danger being faced. No one left the radio sets or the Signal Centre even though mortar bombs were exploding over the Brigade HQ fairly rapidly.

2 Rajput that faced the brunt of the initial Chinese attack came on air for about 15 minutes to inform that they were under attack; soon there was this ominous silence. What had transpired was that the battalion’s Signal bunker was demolished by enemy fire killing all including the operators of my section manning the forward link with the battalion. Those dead included Capt Mangat also, the Battalion Signal officer, whom I had met only on the afternoon of 18th, when the Signal Officers of the battalions had been called to Brigade HQ for a coordinating Conference. He was to leave this morning for Poona this day as instructor at national defence Academy.

We had also got through to 1/9 GR and Div TAC HQ immediately. As mentioned the Chinese had cut the telephone lines from Brigade HQ to the battalions. However the portion of the lines from Div TAC HQ passing through 9 Punjab and 4 Grenadiers was intact; both had tapped the line there in clandestine fashion to eavesdrop on the conversations between Div and Brigade. This act, though unauthorised, kept us informed as to what was happening in their locality through Div TAC HQ.

Tewari who had spent the night with the Gurkhas had by now come to the Signals bunker and was on the set with me sitting on the control at Brigade HQ. 1/9 GR remained on the air till about 8'clock and then went off. According to Lt Col Tewari the Chinese converging on to the bunker and firing had hit both the operators one of the operators was riddled by bullets and must have died immediately the other operator was also hit though partially protected by the radio set. This was the end of the Brigade Command net and also the command of the brigade as there was no one left to be commanded and no means to command.

First time in action for me it was all so unreal - like a bad dream which would hopefully go away. To the Commander and his experienced staff it was real. I can still recall Brig Dalvi’s ashen face seeing his command disintegrating right in front of him his helplessness to do any thing his frustration on what had been happening since 8th September. It makes me sad even now as I can now understand as to what must have been going on through his mind at that time and his impotence to influence the events.

Casualties had by now started to trickle to Bde HQ. The first officer to land in Brigade HQ was Lt Ravi Eipe of 2 Rajput who staggered with a few of his Jawans worse for wear and rather incoherent but made the gravity of the situation more obvious to the Commander and all of us. Next to fetch up was Major Pawar of 1/9 GR Commander of the forward company on the left of the Bde HQ. He walked in a dazed condition with his revolver pointing straight ahead and informed the Commander that the Chinese were just 200 yards away and following at that moment.

The Brigade having lost both command and control could do little to influence the battle. We could only cluster together and look around and up, the question of bed tea and breakfast never arose that day and for the next few days to follow. With the deteriorating tactical situation we were told to organise ourselves in 10 minutes and get out the next destination being the earlier location of Tsangdhar to where Brigadier Dalvi having taken permission from the GOC planned to withdraw and hoped to re- establish his command with at least two of our battalions 9 Punjab and 4 Grenadiers still appearing to be intact.

In the short time available we started getting organised at a fast pace for the move. I asked Manikam to arrange for some sugar and tea leaves for the move to Tsangdhar not too faraway but according to him all the stock had already finished by the previous evening so much for Adm in War. There were no porters and the equipment had been distributed on various personnel of the section. I had the headphones and connectors with me as my share of the load in addition to my small haversack and one blanket. Rations or no rations porters or no porters we did carry on with two 62 Radio sets with two small batteries one pedal generator one ten line Telephone Exchange and three field telephones J.

This being the total equipment with which we hoped to set up communications out station on the Divisional Link and control of the Brigade command net at our next projected location Tsangdhar. The ciphers had already been sent with the commander’s party. With this limited equipment and the approximately 40 Signals personnel with me at this time I hoped to provide hard scale communications to the Bde HQ at Tsangdhar. For the first time I was going to have excess of manpower than required. Hard scale as a slogan coined by Gen Kaul had by now become famous.

My last look at the till now Bde HQ location that we were abandoning was that of a solitary goat tied to a tree scared to death bleating loudly due to the deafening sounds of the ongoing bombardment. It had travelled all the way from Gauhati by air parachuted at Tsangdhar brought down to Rongla possibly on some one’s shoulders as meat on hoof for the troops. The poor goat was now being left behind by us to welcome the Chinese.

I do not recall my feelings at that time or what was going through my mind. It is a total blank. A thought did pass through my mind at that time. It may sound funny or improbable to some but it is factual otherwise I would not have remembered it even after so long. With mortar bombs falling all around a couple of casualties already in the HQ the prevailing confusion and chaos and the attacking Chinese possibly very near with death or worse a serious injury happening any time being very much on cards I did think of praying to God. Though God fearing I did not pray, nor do I now; immediately after the first a second thought came fleeting in about the book of records up there of my deeds and miss- deeds if any was being maintained a prayer at that time would be the only entry and may be considered as a selfish action by an opportunist; an adverse entry on my report card. I quickly discarded the idea; in any case there was no time even for a silent prayer. Possibly my unsaid prayer did some how reach God otherwise I would have still remained ‘Missing in Action’ as I was soon to be declared by AG’s Branch at AHQ.

Brig Lakshman Singh VSM (Retd)

Report my Signal Team thanks Brig Lakshman Singh, VSM for sharing his near death experiences and recollecting vividly the situation after a span of 45 years.