A Miracle During World War IIIn 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
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥