India marks birth centenary of Marshal of Air Force Arjan Singh on Monday

NEW DELHI: India on Monday will mark the birth centenary of Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, the iconic “air warrior” who was the IAF chief in 1964-1969 and passed away as the country’s last surviving five-star general in 2017.

Arjan Singh, born on April 15, 1919 in Lyalpur of undivided Punjab, was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross during the Burma campaign of World War-II, and later entrusted with the responsibility of leading the IAF when he was just 44 years old. He successfully steered the force during the 1965 Indo-Pak war after some initial setbacks.

Setting high standards for IAF with his daredevil combat flying and upright conduct during service, Arjan Singh later served as India's envoy to Switzerland and Kenya in the 1970s as well as the Lt-Governor of Delhi during 1989-90. A philanthropist, he once donated Rs 2 crore for the welfare of retired IAF personnel and their families.

In 2002, he became only the third Service chief to be conferred with the Field Marshal-rank, the highest honorary rank in the armed forces, after former Army chiefs Sam Manekshaw and K M Cariappa. The first, Field Marshal Manekshaw, the architect of the swift military operation to liberate Bangladesh in 1971, died in 2008 at the age of 94. The second, Field Marshal K M Cariappa, the first commander in chief of the Army, died in 1993 at the age of 94.