Three brother's WW2 stories
- Jaivir Singh
- Jul 2, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Jul 5, 2024

My maternal grandfather Col R S Kalha was 1 of 5 brothers, 3 of whom served in the army. Their father Sunder Singh Kalha was an engineer from Rourkee and was well known for laying the railroads in Burma. The 3 brothers including my grandfather served with distinction. My grandfather was commissioned into the 1/14 Punjab Regiment and later left to join the survey of India became the survey general of India post independence. His younger brother Col Sarabjit Singh DSO and bar was amoung the first few Indian commanding officers of an infantry battalion. He led them with distinction in Indonesia through the war and was one of the officers leading the Japanese surrender in Singapore. He was accompanying the contingent of Japanese generals. He unfortunately lost his life in a Japanese ambush on his way back home to visit his first / new born son. Their youngest brother Lt Gen Daljit Kalha was a pow in Italy during the war, and after he successfully escaped he spent 6 months in an Italian farmhouse before coming home.