11 Lesser Known Facts Of This Legendary Marshall, ARJAN SINGH, DFC

ARJAN SINGH, DFC

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, was an Indian Air Force marshal born on 15 April 1919 in Lyallpur, Punjab (now in Pakistan).

Arjan Singh entered the distinguished Royal Air Force College at Cranwell at the age of 19 and graduated as a pilot officer the following year.

He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1964 to 1969. He is the only Air Force chief who held the position for five years as against the norm of two-and-a-half years to three years.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THIS LEGENDARY MARSHALL, ARJAN SINGH, DFC

1. Marshal Arjan Singh was the first, after three generations, from the family to become a commissioned officer of the Armed Forces. Marshal Arjan Singh is best remembered for his contribution in the 1965 war as the Air Force chief.

2. He played the decisive role in 1965-India-Pakistan war. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan - second highest civilian award in the country - for his services in the war.

3. Arjan Singh led the first fly-past of the Indian Air Force over the Red Fort as part of the Independence Day celebrations on August 15, 1947.

4. One of the youngest to serve as the Chief of Air Staff, Arjan Singh was only 45 when he took over the reigns of the Air Force in 1964.

5. It was during his tenure as CAS that the IAF acquired its first supersonic fighters, strategic reconnaissance aircraft, tactical transport aircraft and assault helicopters.

6. After his retirement in 1969, Arjan Singh took the position of the Ambassador to Switzerland in 1971. He concurrently held the position of the Ambassador to the Vatican.

7. He was Lieutenant Governor of Delhi from 1989 to 1990.

8. On the Republic Day in 2002, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government elevated Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh to the five-star rank of the Air Force Marshal. He became the first Air Force Officer and only till date to have been decorated with the five-star rank.

9. He proved his valour during the Second World War, when he faced the Japanese Army while serving as a pilot officer in the British-Indian forces in Burma (now Myanmar).

10. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for "fearless and exceptional" service during World War II in 1944.

11. An Air Force station, Panagarh in West Bengal was named after Air Force Marshal Arjan Singh as Air Force Station Arjan Singh. He was the only living officer to have a base named after him.

After suffering a massive cardiac arrest, Marshal Arjan Singh breathed his last on Saturday evening (16th September 2017) at the Army's Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi. He was 98.