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1st Punjab Infantry
- Subadar, 1885
The dark green uniform
is not mentioned in the regimental dress regulations until
1886. Before that the uniform was indigo although it is
not clear when the green was adopted.
"He was a Patiala
Sikh, and had been invalid from the service. As the 1st
Punjab Infantry neared Delhi, Major Coke saw the old man
standing in the road with two swords on. He begged to be
taken back into the service, and when Coke demurred he said:
"What! My old corps going to fight at Delhi without
me! I hope you will let me lead my old Sikh Company into
action again. I will break these two swords in your cause."
Coke acceded to the old man's wish, and throughout the siege
of Delhi he displayed the most splendid courage. At the
great attack on 'Sammy House', Ruttun Singh, amidst a shower
of bullets, jumped on to the parapet and shouted to the
enemy, who were storming the piquet, "If any man wants
to fight, let him come here, and not stand firing like a
coward! I am Ruttun Singh of Patiala." He then sprang
down among the enemy, and drove them off with heavy loss.
On the morning of the assault the regiment…falling
in again, were doing so 'right in front'. Ruttun Singh came
up to Lieutenant Charles Nicholson, who was commanding the
regiment, and said "We ought to fall in 'left in front'",
thereby making his own company the leading one in the assault.
In a few minutes more Ruttun Singh was mortally wounded…"
- Forty-One years in India 1900
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