Sarbjit Singh Kalha

Lieutenant Colonel Sarbjit Singh Kalha, DSO (1914 or 1915 - 11 January 1946) was an officer of the British Indian Army, who saw action in the Burma Campaign during World War II, and later in the British Occupation of the Dutch East Indies. He was the first Sikh officer to be awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the first Sikh officer to attend the Staff College, Camberley, and the first Indian officer to lead a battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment.

Personal life Kalha hailed from Nawanpind, district Gurdaspur, Punjab Province, British India. His father, Rai Sahib Sunder Singh, was an executive engineer in the Burma Railways, and had supervised the laying down of the first railway line from Maungdaw to Buthitdaung. His wife was Mrs. Sarbjit Singh Kalha from Sarguja, Central Provinces, British India.

Military career Kalha was commissioned in 1935 at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He gained his first combat experience in the 1936-37 Waziristan Operations.

World War II Kalha then served in the Burma Campaign of World War II. In 1944, Kalha became the first Indian officer to command a battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment. His battalion, the 2/1 Punjab Regiment, was a part of the 5th Indian Division in Burma.

In 1944, while holding the rank of a Major, Kalha was awarded the DSO for his actions in the Battle of the Ngakyedauk Pass in Arakan, during the Burma Campaign. His 'skilful planning and bold execution' against the Japanese, for which he won the DSO, opened up the Ngakyedauk Pass to the besieged 7th Indian Infantry Division. He was the first Sikh officer in the British Indian Army to be awarded the DSO. He then got posted in the British Occupation of the Dutch East Indies (1945–46).

Death On 11 January 1946, Lt. Col. Kalha was killed in an ambush on a convoy he was moving in through Soerabaja/Surabaya in Java, Dutch East Indies.