Major-General Kumar Shri Himmatsinhji Jadeja CIE (1897 – 9 January 1973) was the first Deputy defence minister of India and the first Lieutenant-Governor of Himachal Pradesh.
A keen sportsman, like many in his family, Himmatsinhji was introduced to cricket during his education in England, where he boarded at Malvern College in Worcestershire.
The match, played at Lord's and umpired by Himmatsinhji's brother, Digvijaysinhji, included six other (future and former) first-class cricketers: for the Public Schools, Lionel Hedges and Nigel Atkinson, and for the Artillery team, Edward Lee, Graham Doggart, Frank Orr, and Peter Remnant.
Two of his relatives also served overseas during the war – a cousin, Savaisinhji Devisinhji, was wounded in African campaign, while a brother, Dajirajsinhji, was killed in action in France in 1917.
[13] His brothers, Pratapsinhji and Digvijaysinhji, with their uncle, Ranjitsinhji, the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, regularly vacationed together at Ballynahinch Castle, his residence in County Galway, Ireland.
A member of the Indian National Congress, he was a party whip before being appointed Deputy Minister of Defence in Jawaharlal Nehru's first ministry.
[19] In this position he chaired a committee responsible for recommended improvements to India's defences along its border with what was then the Kingdom of Tibet, prior to China's invasion and eventually annexation.