Param Vir Chakra Awardee: Best Defence Coaching in Lucknow
1st Param Vir Chakra Awardee: The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India’s highest military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime. Param Vir Chakra translates as the “Wheel of the Ultimate Brave”, and is awarded for “most distinguished bravery in the presence of the enemy”. To date, the medal has been awarded 21 times, of which 14 were awarded posthumously and 16 resulted from actions in Indo-Pakistani conflicts. Of the 21 awardees, 20 have been from the Indian Army, and one has been from the Indian Air Force.
While celebrating India at 75, let us take a moment to look back at the brave officers who always put their motherland before anything else. Let’s remember the departed souls who never thought twice before sacrificing their lives for India.
1st Param Vir Chakra Awardee list
Here’s the list of 21 men of steel, who gave their everything to protect our country. With acts of highest and selfless bravery, they have won the country’s highest wartime gallantry award.
1st Param Vir Chakra winner Major Somnath Sharma, Kumaon Regiment
Operation: Battle of Badgam, Indo-Pak War, 1947
Major Somnath Sharma was the first person to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra Award. Major Sharma, with a broken arm, countered the enemy attacking Badgam aerodrome and Srinagar. He was individually filling magazines and issuing them to the light machine gunners. His death inspired his fellow soldiers to fight the enemy with a strength of 7:1 for a continuous six hours.
2nd.Naik Jadunath Singh, Rajput Regiment
Operation: Battle of Taindhar, Indo-Pak War, 1947
Naik Singh was holding a forward post when the enemy attacked. We suffered heavy losses. Eventually, Singh anyhow managed to save his troops but died because of his injuries.
3.2nd Lt Rama Raghoba Rane, Bombay Engineer Group
Operation: Battle of Rajouri, Indo-Pak War, 1947
Rane confronted machine gun fire, removed mines and roadblocks as he laid a path for the tanks. His persistence over days, despite being wounded, helped the advance on Rajouri. He drove to a roadblock in a tank, crouched under it, and removed the mines.
4. Company Havildar Major Piru Singh, PVC Rajputana Rifles
Operation: Battle of Tithwal, Indo-Pak War, 1947
From Rajputana Rifles, Major Singh single-handedly occupied an enemy post and proceeded to attack another when a grenade hit him. He still launched grenades and succeeded to destroy another bunker before succumbing to death.
5. Lance Naik Karam Singh, PVC, Sikh Regiment
Operation: Battle of Richmar Gali, Indo-Pak War, 1947
Lance Naik Singh commanded a post when the enemy launched eight strikes. The Sikhs repulsed each wave but Karam Singh was wounded. When 2 enemy soldiers came too close, he bayoneted the intruders to death.
6. Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria, PVC, 1 Gorkha Rifles
Operation: Congo Crisis
Part of the UN Force, Capt. Salaria and his Gorkhas attacked a roadblock, killing 40 and hitting two enemy cars. The rest bolted. Salaria died of heavy bullet injuries.
7. Major Dhan Singh Thapa, PVC, 8 Gorkha Rifles
Operation: Battle of Srijap, Indo-Sino War, 1962
Major Thapa’s post in Ladakh came under Chinese invasion. He killed several in hand-to-hand combat before he was subjugated. He was assumed dead but it came to light that he’d been taken as PoW. Major Thapa was later released.
8.Subedar Joginder Singh, PVC, Sikh Regiment
Operation: Battle of Bum-La, sino-Indian War, 1962
Holding a position in the Tongpeng La area, Subedar Singh faced repeated charges by the Chinese. Despite an injury in the thigh, he declined evacuation. He garrisoned a light machine gun and killed a large number of enemies. Finally, more conventional weapons of the enemy predominated and Singh was martyred.
9.Major Shaitan Singh, PVC, Kumaon Regiment
Operation: Battle of Rezang-La, Sino-Indian War, 1962
Holding a chief position, Major Singh’s men came under heavy Chinese invasion. Injured, he commanded his men to leave him there. They located him behind a boulder where he died from his injuries.
10. Col. A B Tarapore, PVC, Poona Horse
Operation: Battle of Chawinda, Indo-Pak War 1965.
He was asked to deliver the armoured thrust to capture Phillora, Lt. Col. Tarapore was at the wheel of the tank battle of the 1965 Indo-Pak war. He led the assault on Jassoran & Butur-Dograndi. He was mortally wounded.
11. Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, PVC, The Grenadiers
Operation: Battle of Assal Uttar, Indo-Pak War 1965
Havildar moved out with his anti-tank recoilless rifle positioned on a jeep when Pak forces attacked the Karan sector. Hamid was severely wounded.
12. Lance Naik Albert Ekka, PVC, Brigade of the Guards
Operation: Battle of Hilli, Indo-Pak War, 1971
Ordered to occupy a position during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Ekka attacked an enemy bunker, stabbed enemy soldiers, silenced a Light Machine Gun (LMG), threw a grenade into an enemy bunker before finally dying from injuries.
13. Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, PVC, No. 18 Squadron
Srinagar airfield was attacked by a wave of 6 Sabre aircraft. Flying officer Sekhon engaged a pair of the attacking Sabres, succeeded in destroying two of the enemy aircraft before his plane crashed.
14. Second Lt. Arun Khetarpal, PVC, Poona Horse
Operation: Battle of Basantar, Indo-Pak War, 1971
To establish a bridgehead over a river in the 1971 war, he charged at enemy points, defeated soldiers and destroyed tanks. Finally, he died when his tank was hit.
15. Major Hoshiar Singh Dahiya, The Grenadiers
Operation: Battle of Basantar, Indo-Pak War, 1971
Facing a wave of counter-strikes, Major Singh, while he was wounded, hurried to a machine-gun pit and protected the gun himself till the enemy withdrew. Singh refused to be evacuated till the ceasefire.
16. Naib Subedar Bana Singh, PVC, Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry
Leading his men through a perilous route to clear the area of Pakistani infiltrators in 1987, Naib Subedar Singh launched grenades, charged with a bayonet, and, running from trench to trench, cleared the post of all enemies.
17. Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran, PVC, Mahar Regiment
Operation: Operation Pawan, Sri Lanka, 1987
Parameswaran’s company was ambushed. He surrounded the enemy and charged. Despite getting shot in the chest, he grasped the rifle from a militant and shot him in the head. He gave commands till his last breath.
18. Param Vir Chakra in Kargil War Captain Vikram Batra, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles
Operation: Battle of Point 4875, Operation Vijay, Indo-Pak Conflict-Kargil, 1999
During the Kargil war, Captain Batra engaged three enemy soldiers in close fight and shot them as his Delta Company regained Point 5140 before defeating enemy posts at Point 4750 and Point 4875. He was shot by enemy fire while he was trying to rescue his fellow officer.
19. Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, PVC, 11 Gorkha Rifles
Operation: Battle of Khalubar, Operation Vijay, Indo-Pak Conflict-Kargil, 1999.
Lt. Manoj Kumar Pandey overpowered intruders from Batalik and led his men to recapture Jaubar Top. In an effort to recapture Khalubar, the battalion was stopped by enemy fire but Pandey progressed ahead through a rain of bullets, dropping only after the last of the enemies had been killed.
20.Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav, PVC, The Grenadiers
Operation: Battle of Tiger Hill, Operation Vijay, Indo-Pak Conflict-Kargil, 1999.
Ordered to capture 3 Tiger Hill bunkers, Grenadier Yadav, after being hit by three shots, climbed the remaining 60 feet to an enemy bunker at the top and launched a grenade, killing 4 and offsetting enemy fire.
21.Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, PVC, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles
Operation: Battle of Flat Top of Point, Operation Vijay, Indo-Pak Conflict-Kargil 1999
Ordered to capture a point in Ladakh’s Mushkoh Valley, Rifleman Kumar crawled alone up the track, picked up an opponent machine gun and annihilated three enemy soldiers.
