Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, Distinguished Flying Cross is the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to five-star rank, equal to a Field Marshal, to which he was promoted in 2002.
Background
He was born in the Punjab town of Lyallpur, British India (now Faisalabad, Pakistan). His father was Risaldar Darbara Singh of the Hodson"s Horse who had served in Gallipoli during the First World War and was wounded in Burma during World World War II and retired from the Army in 1943. Arjan Singh was born on 15 May 1919 in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan) in the Punjab in what was then British India in a distinguished military family.
His father was a Lance Daffadar in the Hodson"s Horse at the time of his birth, and retired as a full Risaldar of the Cavalry, serving for a time as Aide-de-Camp to a Division Commander, and his grandfather was Risaldar Major Hukam Singh, of the Guides Cavalry between 1883 and 1917.
Education
Royal Air Force College Cranwell.
Career
With the death of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in June 2008, he is the only living Indian military officer with a five-star rank. His great-grandfather was Naib Risaldar Sultana Singh, among the first two generations of the Guides Cavalry who enlisted in 1854, served with distinction in the 1857 war and was martyred during the Afghan campaign of 1879. Arjan Singh was educated at Montgomery, British India (now in Pakistan).
He entered the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1938 and was commissioned as a pilot officer in December 1939.
As a distinguished graduate of the Royal Air Force College, Singh"s portrait is now to be found on the walls of the College"s west staircase. Singh led Number. 1 Squadron, Indian Air Force into command during the Arakan Campaign in 1944.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (Distinguished Flying Cross) in 1944, and commanded the Indian Air Force Exhibition Flight in 1945. Singh almost faced a court-martial in February 1945 when he tried to raise the morale of an trainee pilot ( later rumoured to be future Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh) by conducting a low level air pass over a house in Kerala, but he insisted that such tricks are needed for every cadet to be a fighter pilot.
He also became the first Air Chief Marshal of the Indian Air Force when, in recognition of the Air Force’s contribution in the 1965 war, the rank of the Chief of Air Staff was upgraded to that of Air Chief Marshal.
After he retired in 1969 at the age of 50, he was appointed the Indian Ambassador to Switzerland in 1971. He concurrently served as the Ambassador to the Vatican. He was appointed High Commissioner to Kenya in 1974.
He was the Lieutenant
Governor of Delhi from December 1989 - December 1990 and was made Marshal of the Air Force in January, 2002. Career highlights.
Membership
He was a member of the National Commission for Minorities, Government of India from 1975-1981.