Agencies
New Delhi
Indian Army oldest artillery man Major (retd) Gurdial Singh Jallanwalia, who fought four wars, including World War II and two wars against Pakistan, has passed away. He was 103.
The war veteran breathed his last on May 21, a senior Indian Army officer said on Friday.
Jallanwalia and 13 of his family members served in the Indian Army and have the distinction of having fought all wars since the World War 1. Jallanwalia's father Risaldaar Duleep Singh fought in the World War 1 in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq).
Jallanwalia was shot in Burma during the World War II. He along with others was sent to Burma (now Myanmar) by road from Bangalore to fight war against the Japanese in 1944 during World War II. When he along with other army personnel reached the Iraawadi river, they were shot at by a Japanese soldier. He gathered his team and killed two Japanese hidden in the bushes in an open field but he got hit by a bullet. He had served as a gunner for over three decades in the Indian Army.
Born on August 21, 1917, Jallanwalia matriculated from the Royal Indian Military School, Jalandhar Cantt and then joined the Mountain Artillery Training Center on June 15, 1935. On completion of training, he was posted with 14 Rajputana Mountain Battery at Abbottabad (now in Pakistan). Later in 1940 , he was posted to a Survey Troop at Cammbellpur (now in Pakistan).
