Ranjit, Dilreet, and Dilsher Singh,

14th King George’s own Ferozepore Sikh Regiment, Ferozepore, Punjab State.

 

‘What had my insight been? It had been that I, Dilsher Singh, was about to die! That much was obvious to me. I had two- no- three enemies in front of me, with no chance of defeating them. Wait. No, I also had one more under me and two more behind me. Yes, and six enemies at once would certainly have been considered overwhelming odds in any man's army.

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‘What I did at this moment would be recorded as brave, but a major part of my insight was that, before now, I had always equated bravery with survival.

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‘In that tiny moment, I saw a brutal truth that, in all my training, had never revealed itself. It was that my actions reflecting my bravery were much more likely to be associated with my death. That came as a real surprise.

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‘My training had hardened my heart against fear, but it was difficult, too, to confront certain death and the pain that could be associated with it. However, I had been trained to analyse every battle situation, whether as an individual soldier or with a platoon or company.’