A Collection of Awards to the Scinde Rifles

India General Service 1936-39, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1936-37 (16536 Sepoy Shanghara Singh, 6-13 F.F. Rif.), official correction to first name, contact marks and edge nicks, very fine £80-100

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Awards to the Scinde Rifles.

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Shanghara Singh, a Jat Sikh, was awarded the M.M. for gallant deeds in Italy in November 1944 (London Gazette 10 May 1945 refers). The original recommendation states:

‘During a night fighting patrol on 18 November 1944, on which the Patrol Commander was killed, No. 16536 Naik Shangara Singh showed great courage and daring with complete disregard for his own safety.

The patrol had to occupy a house on Mount Colombo, reported empty on previous patrols, but on arrival the house was very strongly held by the enemy. The Patrol Commander being killed in the first instant of the combat, this Naik took over command and himself crept up to the house with his two forward scouts and fired point blank range at a German sentry in the doorway and threw a grenade into a room full of the enemy. The enemy by this time had taken up position on the first floor of the building. Under cover of his patrol, this Naik crept round to the back of the house and climbed through a back window and surprised a number of the enemy in a side room by spraying them with tommy gun fire and throwing in two hand grenades amongst them.

This Naik realising the enemy were far too strong for his patrol, and that already he had had two killed and two wounded out of his total of 10 men, gave the enemy all the fire his patrol could muster, collected his wounded, and returned back to his Company.

This example of personal bravery and leadership by Naik Shangara Singh had great effect on the morale of the reminder of his patrol, and on the success of the operation.’