Wing Commander Man Singh was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the Indian Air Force in June, 1951, and has been employed on the operational staff of Headquarters Western Air Command since June 1969. He improved the operational efficiency of the Squadrons under Western Air Command. He successfully organised and conducted numerous exercises to test the efficiency of the Squadrons. He contributed greatly to the formulation of the Operational Plans of the Command and his advice had always been very useful. He made a significant contribution towards the success of the plans of the Command Headquarters during the operations against Pakistan in December, 1971.Throughout, Wing Commander Man Singh displayed professional skill and devotion to duty.

Wing Commander Man Singh was commissioned in the Flying Branch of the Air Force in June, 1951. He served in several operational squadrons, and as an Instructor at the Gunnery School in the Armament Training Wing. Later, he was a member of the Directing Staff of the Joint Air Warfare School, and the Commanding Officer of an operational squadron. In his latter appointment he raised and trained a nine-aircraft formation aerobatic team.

Wing Commander Man Singh has been serving at Headquarters Western Air Command since June, 1969 on staff duties connected with offensive air support operations of the fighter Wings and Squadrons of the Command. He has applied his intimate knowledge of various fighter aircraft and their performance to good effect in the preparation of Operational plans, which have improved the operational potential of the fighter Wings and Squadrons. With his keen intellect, professional acumen, untiring zeal, practical approach to problems and meticulous attention to detail, he has made a significant contribution to improving the operational preparedness of the command.

Throughout his career, Wing Commander Man Singh has rendered distinguished service of a high order. He is awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal.

Air Commodore Man Singh was commissioned in the Indian Air Force 1951 and has since held many imports assignments, including the command of fighter squadron, two air staff appointments in Command Headquarters and the command of two operational Wings. He was awarded Vayu Sena Medal in 1971 for his professional skill and contributions towards conduct of operations in December, 1971. Again in January, 1973, he was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal for render distinguished service of a high order.

In 1976, he took over command of a major fighter Wing and, within a short span of 20 months, transformed it dynamic and operationally oriented base, a number of viable welfare and infused a new spirit among the personnel at the station.

The Wing commanded by Air Commodore Man Singh is the base for an aircraft which had been plagued with various maintenance problems, resulting in a poor rate of utilisation. He worked with dedication throughout 1977 to improve the serviceability and utilisation rate of the aircraft and achieved a breakthrough in October that year. Thereafter, all the squadrons have consistently achieved the authorised flying tasks and a high standard of operational preparedness. The particular aircraft fleet is now a viable strike element of the Force which was amply demonstrated during the Air Force Fire Power Demonstration at Tilpat in 1978. It was due to his unflinching dedication and the result­oriented approach to problems that he brought the standard of performance of his station at par with the best in the Air Force.

Air Commodore Man Singh has thus rendered distinguished service of an exceptional order.

Air Mshl Man Singh, ex-co of 7 Sqn, passed away last evening (23 April 2010) in Delhi. Funeral tomorrow at Lodi Estate Crematorium 1600 hrs 25 Apr.

He was my Flight Commander in 7 Sqn and whatever little I learnt about fighter flying was due to him. He was like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde- An absolute terror in office and a loving caring father figure during off working hrs. I vividly remember how despite repeated calls to get in deep in finger-four formation in valley flying, I refused to do so. The debrief was, Plt Offr Pingo!! He tore me apart before the whole sqn!!

His resonant laughter after working hrs and his continuing looking after his 'boys' even later on was unforgettable. I say again-Whatever little I achieved in the IAF was mainly due to the sound grooming in my formative years by 'Maan'.

Air Marshal Man Singh was certainly one of a kind. I first came across him in Halwara when he was in 7 and I was in 27. – his wit and humor were legendary!

I first encountered him when he was narrating some else’s (Dice Dhiman’s?) formation aerobatics briefing in the bar. “You must keep getting closer till you get the feeling you are going to hit the other aircraft – then get a little closer till you are frightened and then a little closer till it looks positively dangerous. Now get slightly closer and you will be in correct position”

My next encounter was in WAC when he was Ops 1 and I was sent there to help out in the RD fly past planning. As a youngster I spent sleepless nights making sure that there were no mistakes in my planning and yet Man Singh tore into me for some imaginary mistake that he later found was not the case. Without outwardly showing it, his opinion of me seemed to have changed after that.

My last stint with him was in SWAC at Jodhpur when he was SASO and I was CADO and later TAC Commander. When I got my posting to TAC, he simply told me I was going nowhere and that I should remain in the CADO’s office and get my mail from the TAC sent across. I did get a farewell party from Command though and when I jokingly mentioned in my farewell speech that, wearing two hats, I frequently found myself opening and replying my own letters and reopening them and my typist had to keep asking me who I was signing a particular draft as, Man Singh guffawed the loudest in his inimical style.

He had a tremendous power of observation and nothing seemed to get past him. Sitting on his lawn in Jodhpur, he would notice officers riding their motorbikes far away and recognize who they were, who was not wearing a helmet how many drinks the pillion rider was holding in his hands and confront them the next morning. Once in a conference with about 30 officers that Man Singh was chairing, I was sitting at the other end of the table and I kept digging my elbow into the officer sitting next to me who was dozing off, careful that Man Singh should not notice. This officer was a favorite of his so he got away but Man Singh came up to me later and said with a twinkle in his eye “Don’t think I did not see what you were doing, I may have small eyes but I can see everything very clearly”

I do not think anyone was affected more by Baba Katre’s passing than Man Singh was and he never seemed to have got over it. It was sad that he had to retire in the manner he did and to see some people distance themselves during his last days in office even though he seemed to take it quite stoically.  May his soul rest in peace.

I am sad to hear about the sad demise of Air Marshal Man Singh. May his soul rest in peace and may the Almighty give courage to his family to bear this loss.
 
While I was the Station Cdr Bregumpet from 80 to 84, he was the Commandant of the CAW. Every one admired him for his forthright views and most importantly he had such a humane and kind face behind that stern mask he wore. When ever he invited guests to the functions in the CAW, both he and Mrs. Man Singh would not leave till the last guest left, irrespective of the rank of the guest, however Senior or Junior he might have been.
 
People like Man Singh have left behind a legacy and foot prints which the Air Force and Generations to come could be proud of.

Air Marshal Man Singh's passing away is very sad news indeed. His passing away is the passing of an era !  Good ol'"Maan" was a tough cookie with a soft heart. They don't make 'em like him anymore -- I think they threw away the mould after him !!

Gana, Chika, Godsa and I were the four "peelos(!)" posted in to the "Battle Axes" after our short stint at 221 Sqn at KKD. With [then} Wing Co Man Singh as the Bossman and stalwarts like Lambs and Daniels as the Flt Cdrs, we were indoctrinated into our first "Operational Squadron" . The orders for us filtered down from the Bossman were that until we went first solo we were not to be seen in the Crew room until after 11: 00 Hrs. Till then we were to be in one of the blast pens in the DSS Dispersal genning up on the Aircraft !! In pairs we spent our morning hours with the aircraft until we had saturated ourselves both in the cockpit and counted even the nuts and bolts outside the ac.

Godsa and I were paired up to fly our dual checks with the Boss. We were told to report to "Him" at the underground ACRR at the ORP . We reported , came to 'shun and stayed at 'shun for the next two hours or so and received the most comprehensive briefing for flying the Dual Checks. No breaks -- No cuppa cha -- No glass of water - no visits to the loo -- no nothing !! But after that  we just breezed through the whole DC & Conversion Phases !!

As a Group Capt he was posted as the Air (I) at 1 OPL GP at Jodhpur. I was then in 29 Sqn at the same base and Groupie Maan still had his protective Umbrella out for us to shelter under.

Air Marshal Man Singh's passing away is a personal loss for us who knew and worked with him. May God Rest His Soul In Peace.     

Farewell Air Marshall Man Singh