Background
His first work experience was as a spanner boy in his father"s garage, and he gained further experience as a mechanic in other organisations before becoming the Royal East African Automobile Association"s first patrolman in 1958.
His first work experience was as a spanner boy in his father"s garage, and he gained further experience as a mechanic in other organisations before becoming the Royal East African Automobile Association"s first patrolman in 1958.
The eldest of ten children born to Sardar Battan Singh and Sardarni Swaran Kaur, he was educated at a boarding school in Nairobi.
He was even one of the so-called "Unsinkable Seven" – the only crews in the 1968 event who were able to reach the finish at Nairobi when the rest of the entire field of 74 were stranded on the Mau Escarpment along the western rim of the Great Rift Valley. He had no motorsport experience until he was 26, but made up for his late start by eventually accumulating over sixty wins in the East African Rally Championships in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. lieutenant was the 13th running of the event, and his car was given the number 1 which was at that time considered an unlucky number in the Safari.
Nevertheless, there was only good fortune for Joginder and Jaswant, despite piloting the same Volvo which factory driver Tom Trana had used in 1963 and 1964 and which had clocked up 42,000 competitive miles on its odometer before the Bhachu brothers" victory.
He spent many years as a resident in the United Kingdom from the 1980s and lived in Canada. He was present as a guest at the opening of the 50th running of the Safari Rally in 2002, and was appointed patron of the Safari Classic for 2007.
Joginder Singh died of heart failure in London on Sunday 20 October 2013, he was aged 81. Published by TransAfrica Publishers in 1975, this 109-page book gives an account of his early life.
An article in the Daily Nation quotes the book describing Singh"s father as his inspiration.