Colonel Harwant Singh (retd), a World War-Two hero decorated with the Military Cross, the highest award of the British Army, died on Tuesday night at Patiala at the age of 95. He was officer in charge of the flag hoisting ceremony on the first Independence Day in 1947. <br/><br/>Commissioned in 2nd battalion of the Sikh Regiment in September 1941, he served in Iraq, Palestine, North Africa, Cyprus and Italy during World War-2 for the British Army and won the Military Cross in 1944 for gallantry during an offensive against the German forces in Italy.