Harjinder Singh (IAF Officer)
Air Officer in the Indian Air Force / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh, PVSM, MBE (4 February 1909 – 6 September 1971) was an Air Officer in the Indian Air Force. He was one of the earliest to join the newly created Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1933 in the lowest rank of 'Hawai sepoy'. In a career spanning over three decades and two wars, he rose from the lowest enlisted rank to the then second-highest rank in the Indian Air Force. Hailed as technical wizard and innovator, he is considered a legend of the IAF.
Harjinder Singh | |
---|---|
Born | (1909-02-04)4 February 1909 Hoshiarpur district, Punjab Province (British India) |
Died | 6 September 1971(1971-09-06) (aged 62) Chandigarh |
Allegiance | British India (1931–1947) India (from 1947) |
Service/ | British Indian Army (1931–1947) Indian Air Force (from 1947) |
Rank | Air Vice Marshal |
Unit | No. 1 Squadron IAF |
Commands held | Maintenance Command 1 Base Repair Depot |
Battles/wars | Sino-Indian War World War II |
Awards | Param Vishisht Seva Medal Member of the Order of the British Empire |
Spouse(s) | Beant Kaur |
Born in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab Province, Singh became an orphan at the age of 11, having lost his father and siblings to plague very early and his mother a few years later. Raised by his aunt in Jalandhar, he joined the MacLagan Engineering College, Lahore at the age of 17. Graduating five years later, he left a potentially comfortable life as a graduate engineer in civil service and joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a 'hawai sepoy'. After his apprenticeship, he joined the Indian Air Force at RAF Drigh Road. He served in the Northwest Frontier Province during the Waziristan campaign. In World War II, he led the enlisted men as the warrant officer of No. 1 Squadron IAF in the Burma Campaign.
Singh was commissioned as a Flying Officer after his return from Burma. In June 1943, Singh was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He then served at RAF Station Kohat and as the Chief Technical Officer of the RAF Operational Training Unit at Peshawar. After the partition of India, he led the technical and maintenance ability of the IAF. He ensured a high serviceability of aircraft during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. In 1948, he was appointed Station Commander at Kanpur in the rank of Group Captain.
In April 1950, at the age of 41, Singh earned his wings after completing his flying training. In January 1955, Singh took command of the newly created Maintenance Command. He would be at the helm of the command for about 9 years, until his retirement. In 1958, the post was upgraded to Air Commodore, and in 1959, to Air Vice Marshal. During this stint, he designed and built a light communication aircraft which he test-flew, he launched the first Indian-built jet engine and manufactured the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft at Kanpur.
He had many firsts to his credit - the first Indian corporal, the first Indian sergeant, the first Indian warrant officer, the first Indian engineering commissioned officer and the first Indian to be awarded the MBE in the IAF.