On CDS’s staff: Brigadier in line for a promotion, Lt Col who had served in Siachen

Brig Lidder had been approved for the rank of Major General and would have shortly left the staff of General Rawat to serve as the General officer Commanding of a Division.

The son of a retired Brigadier, Lidder had also commanded a Brigade on the Himachal border with Tibet. He later attended the prestigious course at National Defence College, New Delhi. Lidder would often write on military matters. This  September, he wrote an article titled ‘China’s counter space capabilities’  for the Centre for Land Warfare Studies.

Fondly called Tony by his friends, Lidder was married to Geetika, an educator. On November 28, the couple celebrated the launch of a book by their 16-year-old daughter, a Class XII student. The book, In Search of a Title,  was released, among others, by Madhulika Rawat and former Puducherry Governor Kiran Bedi.

Another officer on Gen Rawat’s staff, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, belonged to 11 Gorkha Rifles, the same regiment as Rawat.  He had served in various operations with his battalion including deployment on the Siachen Glacier and a tenure in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission. He originally belonged to Lucknow but the family later settled in New Delhi.

Apart from the two officers, five PSOs of Special Forces and a Havildar of 11 Gorkha Rifles on the staff of Gen Rawat also died in the crash.

Naik Gursewak Singh, 35, who was serving with General Rawat for the past three years, also died in the crash. He was from Dode village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district.

Gursewak’s brother, Gurbakhsh Singh told The Indian Express, “We hadn’t  thought  of this even in out wildest dreams. He spoke to us last night and today he is no more.”