Brigadier Rai Singh Yadav IC-5086
Maha Vir Chakra VSM
Brigadier Rai Singh Yadav was born on 17th March, 1925 in village Kosli, Rohtak district, Haryana. His father's name was Sh Ganpat Singh. He was commissioned in the Indian Army on 10th December, 1950. He was commanding officer of 2 Grenadiers and held several key appointments in Army Headquarters and in Indo-Tibetan Border Force. He served in the Directorate of Military Operations in the 1971 India-Pakistan War and retired as a Brigadier from the Indian Army.
1967 India-China border clash: On 20th August 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Rai Singh Yadav was a commanding unit at a border outpost at Nathu La. He was ordered to construct a wire fence along the water shed at Nathu La after the first Chinese intrusion at North Shoulder. Against grim enemy resistance, he managed to successfully complete the task. On 7th September 1967, he was ordered to extend the fence from North Shoulder to South Shoulder, the Chinese started firing, bayonets and rifle butts were used and in the scuffle Lt Col Yadav was injured. On 11th September when carrying out the work of strengthening the fence, his unit suddenly came under artillery fire from the Chinese side using mortars and recoilless guns. He ordered his unit to return fire with all available weapons, and personally opened fire with LMG on the Chinese bunker to give his men covering fire to allow them to get back to safety. When his own bunker was damaged he came out in the open, picked up a weapon of an injured soldiers and kept on firing on the Chinese. Later he manned the Browning machine gun when its operator was killed. Just a little while after he was hit in the stomach and collapsed on the spot. While being evacuated, he was again hit in the head by a splinter, yet he continued to give direction to his men to keep on fighting. For his gallantry and able leadership, he was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) on 11th September, 1967.
Lt Colonel H S Virk MVC |