During the 1965 war, a group of an infantry brigade of the Indian Army suddenly came under heavy and concentrated enemy artillery fire. Lt Col Gurbans Singh Sangha, who was commanding a Mahar infantry battalion, skillfully extricated his troops despite heavy enemy shelling and directed his battalion with courage and confidence and recaptured three forward posts in the face of heavy enemy resistance.

Subsequently, when his battalion was cut off from the brigade by the enemy’s heavy tank attack, he put up a stiff resistance and foiled all attempts of the enemy. Throughout the operation that lasted about three weeks, Lt Col Gurbans Sangha displayed commendable courage and leadership in the best traditions of the Indian Army and was awarded Mahavir Chakra.