Page 57 - Leadership in the Indian Army

that he himself personally had no wish to proceed to Sandhurst…. He wishes to serve in either the army
or police in a Native State, and I strongly recommend that he be allowed to do so.

Finally, General Claud W. Jacob, GOC-in-C Northern Command, wrote: ‘The
sooner this officer is removed from the army the better.’ With this, it appeared that
Nathu Singh’s fate was sealed. He was called for a final interview with the Army
Commander, at which his CO was also present. General Jacob was impressed by
Nathu Singh’s family and educational background, as well as his obvious
intelligence. He decided to give him another chance, and sent Nathu Singh off
after advising him to adjust to army life. He then gave the CO a dressing-down for
not appreciating the impressive qualities of the young Indian officer and handling
him properly. Nathu Singh who was standing outside the door, heard the entire
conversation, which he often recounted in later years.
When the first report on him was written, he had been in the battalion for just
three weeks. After a year, however, his CO and the other officers had begun to
view him differently. Nathu Singh had obviously taken the Army Commander’s
advice to heart and had become moderate in his views as well as his behaviour. On
1 April 1926, Lieutenant Colonel B.S.A.F. Greville, who was now commanding
the battalion, wrote:

A keen, hard-working officer who takes great interest in his work…. With regard to the adverse remarks
in last year’s report, he has shown much improvement in all respects and appears to be much more
broadminded in his views…. His manners in the mess are now satisfactory and he finds no difficulties in
the feeding arrangements…. conveys the idea that he is very pleased and happy with army life.

Apart from his religious belief, Nathu Singh’s reluctance to dine in the mess can
be attributed to the fact that he was married, and since his wife was in purdah , as
most Rajput women of station were in those days, he was hesitant to leave her
alone at home while he dined in the mess. He had been married at a very young
age to Surya Kumari, the daughter of Thakur Laxman Singh, a highborn Rajput
chieftain from Mewar in Rajputana. He had two daughters and three sons, two of
whom joined the services. The eldest daughter, Chandra Kumari, who was born in
November 1927, married a police officer. The second, Anand Kumari, was born in
March 1929. She married Major Guman Singh, who later commanded his father-
in-law’s battalion, 1/7 Rajputs, during the Jammu and Kashmir operations in
1947–48, when it performed with legendary gallantry and suffered heavy
casualties. Nathu Singh’s eldest son, Pratap Singh, was born in July 1931. He was
commissioned into an elite cavalry regiment, but had to leave after a few years
due to ill health. The second son, Ran Vijay Singh, was born in December 1932.
He joined the Indian Navy and was trained at Dartmouth, from where he passed
out in 1952. He retired as a Rear Admiral. The third, Amarjeet Singh, who was
born in December 1935, joined a tea company.