World war veteran Piyara Singh dies

Jun 18, 2011 |

IANS

Shimla

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Piyara Singh, a World War II veteran who took seven bullets but survived while fighting against Germany, has died here at the age of 106, his family said. Piyara Singh, who was unwell for some time, died in Takoli village in Una district on Thursday.

He was cremated in the village. “My father died a natural death at my youngest brother’s house,” his eldest son B.S. Rana told IANS. Piyara Singh’s wife, Hansa Devi, had died at age 101 in November 2009. Rana said his father was born Jan 6, 1906 in a village in Hoshiarpur district in Punjab. His mother was born March 15, 1908 in Takoli village in Una.

The couple, who married in 1922, saw five generations. They have left behind 92 family members. Piyara Singh joined the British Indian Army in 1930. He fought the Germans in Sudan during World War II. He retired on medical grounds with a pension of just Rs 8. This had swelled to Rs 12,000 a month now.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the elderly couple voted together. “We have been voting since the first election (1952). We would love to participate in the next election too,” Piyara Singh had said after casting his vote.

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