Britain's highest medal for valour during World War II was the Victoria Cross (VC). Subedar and Hony Capt Umrao Singh, a resident of Haryana, passed away last month aged 86. He was the last surviving Indian VC winner.

According to Brig Sant Singh (Retd) President of the War Decorated India, an association of Indian gallantry awardees, as many as 40 VCs were awarded to Indian soldiers (including those who later moved to Pakistan) for gallantry in various campaigns around the globe as part of the British Indian Army during the era of the Raj.

Though the story of Indian VCs started from the battle at Hollebeke, the first Indian soldier to receive the VC was Subedar Darwan Singh Negi of the 1st Battalion of 39th Garhwal Rifles.

According to his citation, when on the night of November 23-24, 1914, near Festubert in France, when the regiment was engaged in retaking and clearing the enemy out of the British trenches, although he had been wounded at two places in the head, and also in the arm, he was one of the first to push round each successive traverse, in the face of severe rifle fire and bomb explosions at close range.

Though Subedar Khan's actions pre-dated those of Subedar Negi, he was in fact the second recipient of the VC. Subedar's Negi's VC is reported to be on display at the Garhwal Rifles Centre at Lansdowne in Uttaranchal. Subedar Khan is said to have retired from the Army before the Partition and settled down in an area that is now in Pakistan.

Though instituted in 1856, the right to receive the VC was extended to Indian native soldiers only in 1912. Till then, the Indian Order of Merit (IOM) was the highest decoration for gallantry that could be awarded to Indian soldiers. This is interesting as the largest number of VCs won in a single day—24—was in India in 1857 at Lucknow during what in India is called as the First War of Independence and the British refer to as the Sepoy Mutiny. All awardees were British.

"The award of the VC to Indian soldiers greatly enhanced their prestige and respect," says Mandeep Bajwa, a Chandigarh-based defence analyst. "The VC is recognised the world over as a symbol of extreme courage and it gave Indian troops their due," he adds. Post- Independence, the VC was replaced by the Param Vir Chakra.

Till date, 1,355 VCs have been awarded. With the death of Capt Umrao Singh, the number of surviving VC winners has come down to just 12. Till he was alive, Capt Umrao Singh was a legend in his home district of Jind in Haryana.

According to records, Capt Umrao Singh was awarded the VC for fighting off repeated attacks made on his section by the Japanese during the Arakan advance in December 1944. When all ammunition had been expended, Captan Singh closed in upon the enemy by engaging in hand-to-hand fighting. He felled three enemy soldiers before being knocked unconscious. Later, when a counter-attack regained the position, he was found badly wounded beside his gun, with 10 dead Japanese lying around him. He was awarded his VC by King George VI in October 1945. He retired from the Army in 1965.

The VC is arguably the most widely recognised gallantry award in the world and some say, also the most prestigious. In India, which has a chequered history of warfare, not much, however, is known about the gallantry award winners, including post-Independence awards. Unfortunately, in India gallantry award winners do not get public recognition and respect as they do in many other countries where many honours are bequeathed on heroes.

In the United States, for example, the winner of the Medal of Honour, its highest gallantry award, is saluted first by any uniformed person regardless of rank. In Britain, it is always "VC first!" Surviving members of the Victoria Cross Association hold a convention in the United Kingdom once in two years. "A dinner is hosted in their honour by the ruling monarch," Brig Sant Singh said.

"Indian soldiers played a crucial role in both World Wars, but their role is relatively unknown. History taught in schools and colleges makes little reference to wars and battles, both pre and post- Independence in which Indian troops won laurels," says the Brigadier. The most striking example is the epic battle of Saragarhi, fought in 1897 in the mountains of the North-Western Frontier Province.

Etched in military history as one of the five greatest battles ever fought, it is taught in schools of France and figures as one of the eight collective stories on bravery. Troops of 36th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment (now 4 Sikh), had died defending their post to the last man against an estimated 7,000 tribesmen. All 21 troopers killed were awarded the IOM. Except for a brief mention in history schoolbooks prescribed in Punjab, nowhere does this battle feature in the academic curriculum at the school and college levels.

Indian VCs have been in the public eye in the recent past, after there were reports of them being auctioned off, generally to anonymous buyers. "There are several websites on the Internet where details about auctions are available," Bajwa says. In fact, the Directorate of Sainik Welfare, Punjab, recently cautioned ex- servicemen against buyers and agents posing as representatives of the Army and seeking their medals on the pretext that their regiments wanted these for ceremonial purposes. There have been cases where unsuspecting ex-servicemen have been duped of their hard-earned campaign medals.

The most notable of these auctions was the auction of the VC awarded to Capt Ishar Singh, the first Sikh soldier to win a Victoria Cross. The Cross was reportedly auctioned to an unknown buyer in London in 1998 for £55,000 pounds. This was the third time this VC was auctioned.

Capt Ishar won the VC for extraordinary deeds of valour during a three-hour battle on the North-Western Frontier Province in 1921. Though he was wounded, he captured a Lewis machine gun and shielded the medical officer with his body while the doctor attended to the wounded. Then a sepoy with the 28th Battalion of the Punjab Regiment, he was commended by King George V, who wrote that the "award was well and gallantly won.'' During his military career, Ishar Singh had won several other decorations. He died in 1963.

He was a resident of Nainwan village in Hoshiarpur. His family members were deeply upset over the VC being "lost" and had made efforts at that time to pool in resources to get the decoration back. While the Sainik Rest House at Hoshiarpur has been named after Ishar Singh, the family has built a small memorial to keep the war hero's memory alive.

Double gallantry

Naib Subedar Nand Singh, who fell on the battlefield on December 12,1947 is the highest decorated Indian soldier. He was awarded the Victoria Cross in World War II and in 1947 was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (posthumously), India's second highest gallantry award, in operations against Pakistani invaders.

At Arakan in Burma, he had single handedly charged and captured three trenches held by the Japanese. Although wounded and the sole survivour of his section, he personally killed seven of the enemy with his rifle bayonet. In Uri, he led his men to evict the enemy from bunkers. Wounded and under heavy fire, he pressed on and engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, killing five of them. His personal example inspired his men and the enemy fled before their onslaught. He captured the position but as he stood atop the bunker, a burst from an enemy machinegun killed him.