Rajendrasinhji was born on 15 June 1899, at Sarodar in the Kathiawar region of what is now the western Indian state of Gujarat.

His youngest daughter was married to the Raja Sahib of the erstwhile princely state of Khairagarh in then Madhya Pradesh (present day Chhattisgarh).

While the vanguard suffered much loss of life by a German tank attack, Rajendrasinhji's squadron was not seriously impacted.

He led his squadron in a charge through the enemy ranks, and they gained respite in the safety of some nearby hills.

The squadron essayed further action on the enemy forces after nightfall and achieved considerable success; indeed, it returned to base with sixty prisoners of war.

[7][8] For his courageous leadership and determined action, Rajendrasinhji was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1941.

During this critical period, Rajendrasinhji was called upon to shoulder many onerous responsibilities and received rapid promotion in rank commensurately.

Operation Polo, which resulted in the integration of Hyderabad State with India, was executed during his term in office as GOC-in-C (South).

With effect from 1 April 1955, the President of India was constitutionally designated the Commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.