Sepoy Amar Singh
By Verinder Sandhu
Kirpa Singh Rai was my great, great maternal grandfather. We don't know when he died or much about his life but war records from the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA) helped us identify his sons’ service from Punjab war registers in Lahore.
He had two sons who enlisted - Thakur Singh and Amar Singh.
Sepoy Amar Singh was my mum’s maternal grandfather. During World War One he joined the 28th Punjabis in his elder brother’s footsteps, but also as a relief force because the 22nd Punjabis - in which Thakur Singh was serving - suffered heavy losses during the first few months of the war.
I doubt he knew his elder brother was already dead before he was sent to Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) to help save his regiment. The reason I believe this is that it's unlikely that Kirpa Singh would have allowed both of his sons to go to war and possibly die leaving no heirs to the family name (Rai).
I think it's very likely that Kirpa allowed Amar to join as he possibly thought that he was going to help save Thakur and his force, unbeknown to them that he was already killed in action.
Amar Singh served for over two decades in the British Indian Army, travelling thousands of miles. He saw action in Sri Lanka prior to Mesopotamia; Egypt and Palestine against the Ottomans. On his return to India he was on the North West Frontier keeping the peace along the Waziristan/Afghanistan border with India. He was part of the regiment alongside the first Sikh Victoria Cross awardee, Isher Singh in Waziristan.
Amar Singh died around 1940 when he was returning home after 22-years of service. He and his comrades had made a pact that they would care for each other's families if one of them didn’t make it home.
Havildar Munsha Singh and his brother, Giani Santa Singh took care of my great grandad’s land and supported my great nan who had to raise six children as a single parent.
Amar Singh left a huge legacy and bloodline that now spans the UK, Canada and America. I have researched and made a huge family tree!
Amar Singh’s name still lives through us now five generations on and counting. But the pain, sacrifice and suffering from the wars has been passed down also, as we had no men left in the house relying on comrades to sow our farmland in Punjab and help marry the children who then moved abroad.
Unfortunately, my uncles decided to sell Amar Singh’s land in Punjab. So, his original house along with any possible war history has also been lost or forgotten. I'm trying to keep his name alive by sharing his history and our family legacy.
Our family made a huge combined contribution of service in the world wars. Other relatives we know who served are:
Havildar Munsha Singh, 3/14 Punjabis WW1
Sowar Harnam Singh, King George's own central India Horse WW1
Sepoy Santa Singh, 14th Punjabis WW2
Subedar Gajjan Singh, 15th Sikhs WW2
I am so proud of our British Indian history. It gives me a greater feeling of belonging and mutual sacrifice. It’s a shame that I wasn’t made aware of colonial service during the wars when I was in school. However, I am pushing for my daughters to grow up with this knowledge of how their family not only served for Britain but how we later came to settle here.