Hardit Malik

Sardar Hardit Singh Malik (23 November 1894 – 31 October 1985) was an Indian civil servant and diplomat. He was the first Indian High Commissioner to Canada, and then Indian Ambassador to France.

He was the first Indian to fly as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War.^[1] He also played first-class cricket between 1914 and 1930.

Early life

The second son of Sardar Bahadur Mohan Singh and Sardarni Lajvanti, he was born in Rawalpindi, Punjab, then in British India and now in Pakistan. He travelled to England aged 14, where he attended a prep school and then Eastbourne College, before studying history at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 1915. He achieved an Oxford blue in golf.

He appeared in 18 first-class cricket matches. He played in 5 County Championship matches for Sussex in 1914 and then returned to play for Sussex in 1921, also playing one match for Oxford University in 1921. He later played for Sikhs and then Hindus in the short-lived Lahore Tournament in India between 1923 and 1930. A right-handed batsman, he scored 636 runs with a highest score of 106; as a bowler, he took four wickets with a best performance of two for 92.^[2]

First World War

He volunteered at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine during university vacations. After graduating, he attempted to join the Royal Flying Corps with friends from university but he was denied a commission, perhaps on account of his race. He served with the French Red Cross in 1916 as an ambulance driver. After he offered his services to the French air force, the Aéronautique Militaire, his Oxford tutor 'Sligger' Urquhart wrote to General David Henderson, head of the RFC, and secured Malik a cadetship.

He trained at No.1 Armament School from April 1917 and was commissioned as a Flight Lieutenant into No. 26 Squadron on 22 June 1917. As an observant Sikh, he wore a turban instead of a helmet, and later wore a specially designed flying helmet that fitted over his turban. As a result of his unusual helmet, he was nicknamed the "Flying Hobgoblin".

He transferred to No. 28 Squadron RFC and served on the Western Front, flying a Sopwith Camel. His commander was Canadian Major William Barker, who later won the Victoria Cross. He flew combat missions over France and Italy in late 1917, and secured several kills. He sustained bullet wounds to his right leg in a dogfight later in 1917 and was hospitalised. After he recuperated, he rejoined the RFC, now renamed the Royal Air Force, flying the Bristol F.2 Fighter with No. 141 Squadron RAF based at Biggin Hill, alongside pilots from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, and Argentina. After the armistice, he was posted back to France with No. 11 Squadron RAF at Nivelles.

Later life

He returned to India and in April 1919 he married Parkash Kaur. She was the daughter of Bhagatishvar Das, a lawyer from Lahore. He returned to England to pass the Indian Civil Service examination, and then served as assistant commissioner and then deputy commissioner of Sheikhupura District. He later joined the Indian Foreign Service. He returned to London as Trade Commissioner in 1930, and was then Trade Commissioner in Hamburg from 1933. After a period back in India, he was Trade Commissioner in Washington and then Ottawa in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

He served the Maharaja of Patiala Yadavindra Singh as Prime Minister of the princely state of Patiala from 1944 to 1947. After India secured its independence in 1949, he was appointed as the first Indian High Commissioner to Canada. He then served as Indian Ambassador to France, during the period when France decolonised its Indian possessions in French India, including Pondicherry. He was also leader of the Indian delegation when the United Nations General Assembly was held in Paris. He was awarded the Legion d'honneur in 1952.

He retired in 1957, and moved to Delhi. His autobiography, A Little Work, A Little Play, was published posthumously in 2011.

References

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/31338.html