Premindra Singh Bhagat

Lieutenant General Premindra Singh Bhagat VC, PVSM
Lt. Gen. P.S. Bhagat, VC, PVSM
Born	(1918-10-13)13 October 1918 Gorakhpur, United Provinces, British Raj
Died	23 May 1975(1975-05-23) (aged 56) Kolkata, India
Allegiance	British India (1939-1947)  India (1947-1974)
Service/branch	British Indian Army  Indian Army
Years of service	1939–1974
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Unit	Corps of Engineers
Commands held	Northern Army Central Army Commandant, Indian Military Academy 165 Infantry Brigade Corps of Engineers
Battles/wars	World War II Indo-Pakistan War of 1947 Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 Indo-Pakistan War of 1971
Awards	Victoria Cross Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Other work	Chairman of the Damodar Valley Corporation (1974-1975)

Lieutenant General Premindra Singh Bhagat, VC, PVSM (14 October 1918 – 23 May 1975) was a General officer in the Indian Army and an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The Victoria Cross was conferred on him for his actions in the Sudan theatre during World War II. General Bhagat is an alumnus of the famous Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun.

Bhagat was born on 13 October 1918 in Gorakhpur, British India to Surendra Singh Bhagat, an executive engineer in the provincial government of the then United Provinces. His mother died in 1927. In 1930, he entered the Royal Indian Military College, a military school in Dehradun, where he was an average student. In June 1937, he entered the Indian Military Academy. As a gentleman cadet, Bhagat captained the academy tennis and squash teams. While noted by his instructors as an intelligent all-round sportsman, he was also described as a careless student. In January 1938, Surendra Singh Bhagat died in a riding accident in Varanasi. Bhagat applied himself to his studies in his final year and was commissioned in the British Indian Army on 15 July 1939 as a Second lieutenant (2Lt.) in the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners. He was posted to the 21 Field Company of Engineers at Pune in September, shortly after war began in Europe.