Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

India General Service 1936-39, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1937-39 (11928 Sep. Hamir Singh, 2-12 F.F.R.) minor edge nick, nearly extremely fine £70-£90

Hamir Singh served as a Naik with the 2nd Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, and was taken Prisoner of War at the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Held in captivity for the remainder of the War, he was one of ten Indian soldiers, the only survivors of their contingent, liberated by the Australian Army at Marienberg, New Guinea, in October 1945. On 14 October 1945 the party was transported to Boram for medical treatment for their wounds and beri-beri at the 2/15th Field Ambulance. Afterwards, they were sent to Law where they embarked upon a Dakota aircraft to testify at the War Crimes trials at Rabaul, New Britain. Hamir Singh was tragically killed when the transport aircraft, the U.S.A.A.F. Douglas Dakota A65-54, crashed into a mountain in dense fog near to Wide Bay, New Britain, with the loss of all lives. He is buried alongside the rest of the crew and passengers of the aircraft in Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea.

Sold with copied research including a photographic image of the recipient following his release from captivity.