Thursday 9 February 2012

A Miracle During World War II

In 1964, when some of the holy weapons of Guru Gobind Singh were 
brought back from England, an Englishman, in complete Sikh form, 
accompanied the weapons. The Englishman was asked by someone the 
reason for his adopting the Sikh form. "Was it due to respect for the 
weapons or was there any other reason?" The explanation given by him 
at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib is...
 
"My name was A. David. I happened to be commanding a Sikh Regiment 
during World War II. My Regiment suffered very heavy losses. Most of 
the soldiers of my Battalion were killed. Only a few survived, and we 
were all surrounded. As there were very remote chances for our 
survival, I called the Subedar Major of the Battalion and informed 
him about our precarious situation. Death was facing us and there was 
no chance of our survival. I suggested to him that the soldiers 
should individually attempt to escape from the enemy encirclement and 
save their lives.
 
"The Subedar Major replied, 'We cannot bring disgrace to the Sikh 
Regiment by running away from the battlefield.' However, he had a 
suggestion that they should perform an Akhand Path (a continuous 
reading of the Siri Guru Granth Sahib) and take action as guided by 
the divine hukam. Accordingly, necessary security arrangements were 
made and the Akhand Path was completed without interruption. After 
the ardas, the hukam was explained to me by Subedar Major and the 
granthi (religious teacher). The guidance given by the hukam was that 
we should not abandon the battlefield; victory will be ours.
 
"Then I conveyed to them the miracle that I had witnessed during the 
ardas. While standing with my eyes closed during the prayer, a fully 
armed Sikh on horseback, with a unique grandeur, appeared in front of 
me and ordered 'Follow me.' I pointed out the direction in which the 
fully armed Sikh went after giving the order, and asked the Sikh 
soldiers about the identity of the warrior. The Subedar Major said 
that by my description, he knew it was none other than Guru Gobind 
Singh. So, we got ready and launched an attack in the direction 
pointed out by the Guru. After a short while, we were able to break 
through the enemy encirclement and save ourselves. We then got in 
touch with the Brigade Commander on wireless and requested additional 
help.
 
"After the war, I reflected upon the incident and the divine 
personality who had saved my life and my men's lives from a desperate 
situation by ordering me to follow him. I made up my mind to follow 
him for the rest of my life. I resigned from the army, and along with 
my daughter, I embraced Sikhism with the initiation ceremony of the 
Khalsa. Now my name is Devinder Singh and my daughter's name is 
Surjit Kaur. This is due to the blessings of Guru Gobind Singh who 
took pity on us and made us his disciples."
 
This incident was narrated to me by my younger brother Sardar Raghbir 
Singh (Retired Subedar), who happened to be present at Gurdwara 
Bangla Sahib on the day the Englishman (Devinder Singh) narrated his 
above mentioned personal experience.
 
Article From “Prosperity Paths” Issue: February, 1999

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