conferred on Singh, the first and only officer of the IAF to receive the honour. Early life and education Singh was born on 15 April 1919 in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), a town in the erstwhile Punjab Province of British India (in present-day Pakistan), into a Punjabi Jat Sikh family of Aulakh clan. Men from the family had joined the armed forces, in keeping with community traditions, and Singh was the fourth generation of his family to join the British Indian armed forces. Singh's father was a Lance Daffadar in the Hodson's Horse at the time of his birth, and retired as a full Risaldar in the Cavalry, serving for a time as ADC to a Division Commander. His grandfather Risaldar Major Hukam Singh served in the Guides Cavalry between 1883 and 1917, and great-grandfather, Naib Risaldar Sultana Singh, was among the first two generations of the Guides Cavalry enlisted in 1854; he was martyred during the Afghan campaign of 1879. Thus, after three generations of men serving in the lower and middle ranks of the army, Singh was to become the first member of his family to become a commissioned officer. Singh was educated at Montgomery, British India (now Sahiwal, Pakistan) and was a well-known sportsman. Singh then attended the Government College Lahore. He was the Captain of the College swimming team and set four Punjab and four University records in swimming. He also won the All-India One-mile swimming event in 1938. Singh entered the RAF College Cranwell in 1938. At the College, he was the Vice Captain of the swimming, athletic and hockey teams. Military career World War II Singh was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in December 1939, after topping the Empire Pilot training course among his batch of Indian Cadets. He joined No. 1 Squadron which was then stationed at Air Force Station Kohat in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and flew Westland Wapiti biplanes. The Squadron was conducting operations against the tribal forces in NWFP, in which he participated. While flying with the squadron in NWFP, Singh's Hawker Audax was shot down by the Pathans. He crashed in a dry stream in the midst of a fight between British troops and the Pathans. He was not hurt and within two weeks he was flying again in the same area. According to Singh, fighting in the NWFP prepared the squadron for the fight against the Japanese. He