Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria (English: Gurbachan Singh Salaria, born: 29 November, 1935; martyrdom: 5 December, 1961) was an Indian soldier awarded the Paramvir Chakra. He received this honor posthumously in 1961. The name of Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria is taken among the warriors who bravely sacrificed their lives against Belgium in favor of Congo along with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, who was posthumously awarded Param Vir Chakra for showing amazing bravery while fighting at Elizabeth Villa on 5 December 1961. given. He was only 26 years old at that time.
Gurbachan Singh was born on 29 November 1935 in Janwal village of Shakargarh. This place is now in Pakistan. His father was also a soldier and was posted in the Dogra Squadron of the British-Indian Army, Hudson House. His mother was a courageous woman and was busy in building the future of her children while running the household very smoothly. The stories of his father’s bravery also attracted Gurbachan Singh towards military life. Due to this attraction, Gurbachan took admission in King George’s Royal Military College, Bangalore in 1946.
In August 1947, he was transferred to the Jalandhar branch of the same college. In 1953, he reached the National Defense Academy and after passing from there, he joined the army with the rank of corporal. There also he created the same image as he had in school, that is, he was considered a soldier very conscious of self-respect. Once a student tried to harass him. He was a strong looking boy but because of this Gurbachan Singh challenged him to boxing. The match was decided. Everyone felt that Gurbachan Singh would lose, but due to the promptness with which Gurbachan Singh showered punches after entering the ring, even his skilled opponent could not stand before him and Gurbachan Singh won. Once a poor boy fell into a well, Gurbachan Singh was there. He took pity on the child and agreed to jump into the well to save him, even though he himself did not know how to swim. Well his colleagues stopped him from doing so.
Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria of 3/1 Gorkha Rifles was assigned to Elizabeth Villa as the Military Representative to the United Nations. On November 24, 1961, the Security Council of the United Nations passed a resolution that the United Nations forces should intervene in favor of Congo and if necessary, use force to curb foreign businessmen. Due to this decision of the United Nations, the businessmen of Tshombe etc. got angry and they started the initiative to create obstacles in the path of the United Nations forces. Two senior United Nations officials came to their center. He was beaten. Major Ajit Singh of 3/1 Gorkha Rifles was also captured by them and his driver was killed.
The plan of these foreign traders was to cut off all communications and routes beyond the Elizabeth Villa turn and then deal with the UN military troops. On 5 December 1961, the roads to Elizabeth Villa were so blocked that it became impossible for the UN troops to proceed further. At about 9 o’clock, 3/1 Gorkha Rifles were ordered to clear the Elizabeth Villa roundabout near the airport. About 150 armed policemen of the opponents were deployed on this route, blocking the route. The plan was that Charlie Company of 3/1st Gurkha Rifles would attack the barricades with a squad of Irish tanks. This company was headed by Major Govind Sharma. Captain Gurbachan Singh will attack from the Salaria Airport site with the Irish Tank Squad, thus preventing the blockaders from getting a chance to retreat and attack. Some soldiers of Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria’s A Company will be kept in reserve. Gurbachan Singh Salaria fixed the time for this action in the afternoon, when those armed policemen would not have the slightest expectation of attack. This plan was agreed upon between both Govind Sharma and Gurbachan Singh.
Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria was sitting at the Elizabeth Villa roundabout on 5th December 1961 in the afternoon with the intention of attacking and breaking the array of armed policemen so that the troops could move forward. Meanwhile, Gurbachan Singh Salaria along with his contingent managed to reach their decided destination. He fired rockets at the right time with the help of his rocket launching team and destroyed both the enemy armed cars. This was the right time when he could have dispersed the armed policemen. They felt that delaying would provide a chance to regroup. To prevent such a situation from happening, I immediately tightened my waist. He had only sixteen soldiers, while the enemy had a hundred soldiers in front. Nevertheless, regardless, he and his group attacked the enemy. A face-to-face encounter started in which the Khukri of the Gorkha platoon started creating panic. Forty out of a hundred enemy soldiers were killed there but there was panic among the enemy. And he got scared and then Gurbachan Singh became the target of one or two bullets.
