Subedar Major Fateh Sing Newar, Bahadur, OBI

I was recently contacted by Bhomik Pradhan, the great-great-grandson of Subedar Major Fateh Sing Newar of the 2nd Battalion. He had discovered a pension document (click to download it) which referenced him. It relates to a ‘Jangi Inam’ (‘Warlike Reward’) a payment instituted by the Honourable East India Company in 1837 and awarded for meritorious military service. It was payable to a second beneficiary on the death of the person to which it was first given, in this case Jai Gopal Newar, Fateh Sing’s son. Although it is difficult to make out in the badly damaged document, it appears as if Jai Gopal was still receiving the pension in 1981 but Bhomik Pradhan is uncertain when he died and consequently when the pension would have ceased.

Fateh Sing Newar enlisted on 1 June 1890 and served on the North-West Frontier in 1897-8 including the Tirah expedition and the action at Chagru Kotal. He also went on the Abor Expedition in 1911-12. He was promoted Jemadar (Lieutenant) on 1st March 1912 and Subedar (Captain) on 9th August 1914. He is mentioned twice in the Regimental History. The first instance relates to the 2nd Battalion’s bravely-fought but disastrous first battle in the Western Front in France on 2nd November 1914, when under heavy German attack 31 officers and men were killed, including seven of the Battalion’s nine British Officers and four of the 13 Gurkha Officers. 64 officers and men were wounded and 37 missing presumed dead, although some were later found to have become prisoners of war. At one point there only remained in the front line the remnants of No 4 Double Company with Subedars Fateh Sing Newar and Dalbahadur Rana and Jemadar Suba Sing Gurung together with stray men of other companies and a reinforcing detachment of the Connaught Rangers, a total of about 150 men. They too were forced out of their position but their withdrawal route was blocked by enemy fire, dead and wounded so they stood and fought where they were. At nightfall they were reinforced by a further company of the Connaughts, whose commander told them to withdraw. Most did, but some men stayed with the British troops until the following morning. Subedar Fateh Sing Newar was later awarded the Order of British India, 2nd Class, for his coolness and gallantry in the battle.

Among the dead that day was the Battalion’s Subedar Major, Man Sing Bohra. A document in the Gurkha Museum, Winchester, records that Fateh Sing Newar took over as Subedar Major although there is no mention of this in the Regimental History. However, the history does record that on 25th January 1915 he was evacuated with bad neuritis. This may have been a euphemism for shell-shock or post traumatic stress disorder, conditions which at that time were not well understood or acknowledged.

The historian Chris Jupp has been able to piece together what might subsequently have happened to Fateh Sing Newar by looking through the Indian Army Lists of the period. Fateh Sing’s promotions to Subedar and Subedar Major are not recorded there, but this is not unusual for temporary or wartime promotions. He ceases to appear on the active list for the 2nd Goorkhas from 1916 onwards, probably indicating that he was medically discharged from the Army at some point in 1915. He no longer appears on the list of holders of the Order of British India from 1924 onwards, implying that he may have died in 1923.

Chris Jupp has also been very helpful in suggesting why Fateh Sing and his son Jai Gopal may have been in receipt of a ‘Jangi Inam’ award. The award of the Order of British India (OBI) 2nd Class brought with it the title of ‘Bahadur’ (warrior), which Fateh Sing is known to have had. Prior to the First World War the OBI also attracted additional pay/pension of 2 Rupees a day (first class) or 1 Rupee (second class). There was a strict limit of 100 holders of each class of the OBI and new awards could only be made on the death of a previous recipient. However, in the greatly expanded operations of the First World War there was a requirement to make many more than 100 such awards. Unfortunately the associated budget could not be enhanced to provide all the additional recipients with a pension and the 100-man limit (with regards to monetary payment as opposed to the number of medals awarded) remained in place. We assume therefore that Fateh Sing was also awarded a ‘Jangi Inam’ by way of compensation, as were perhaps other wartime recipients of the OBI.  This provided a supplementary pension from a different (and presumably better-provisioned) budget but no additional medal or post-nominal letters. He nominated his son Jai Gopal as the second beneficiary, possibly because at the time of the award his wife had already died.

There are no known photographs of Fateh Sing Newar, but he may be one of the 2nd Battalion Gurkha officers in the January 1915 picture below which appears in the Regimental History. Unfortunately it is not annotated with the names of those shown. As he would at that stage have been the senior officer present, it is a reasonable assumption that he is one of the two seated in the centre of the picture.


Bhomik Pradhan is planning to continue his investigations into his great-great-grandfather’s history and has promised to let me know if he uncovers any additional material.

2nd bn gos january 1915

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