Insight Article
Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, commonly called Sam Manekshaw and also Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, as well as the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. His armed forces profession extended four decades as well as five battles, beginning with his stint in the British Indian Army in World War II.
Manekshaw signed up with the very first intake of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1932. He was appointed into the 4th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment. In World War II, he was granted the Military Cross for gallantry. Complying with the partition of India in 1947, he was reassigned to the 8th Gorkha Rifles. Manekshaw was seconded to a planning role during the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War and the Hyderabad situation, and also therefore, he never ever commanded an infantry battalion. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier while at the Military Operations Directorate. He became leader of 167 Infantry Brigade in 1952 and served in this setting till 1954 when he took over as the Director of Military Training at Army Headquarters.
After completing the higher command course at the Imperial Defence College, he was assigned General Officer Commanding the 26th Infantry Division. He also functioned as the Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College. In 1961, Manekshaw made negative comments about the political management which allowed his challengers to classify him as unpatriotic, and he was charged with insurrection. After being vindicated in the succeeding court of questions, he took command of IV Corps in November 1962. The following year, Manekshaw was promoted to the position of army commander and took over Western Command, transferring in 1964 to the Eastern Command.
Having currently commanded soldiers at division, corps as well as regional degrees, Manekshaw became the seventh chief of the army team in 1969. Under his command, Indian forces carried out victorious campaigns against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which brought about the creation of Bangladesh in December 1971. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and also the Padma Bhushan, the second as well as 3rd highest possible non-combatant awards of India. In January 1973, Manekshaw was conferred with the rank of Field Marshal, the very first army man of independent India to be so honoured.
Manekshaw wed Siloo Bode on 22 April 1939 in Bombay. The couple had two little girls, Sherry and also Maya (later Maja), born in 1940 and 1945 specifically. Sherry married Batliwala, and also they have actually a daughter named Brandy. Maya worked with British Airways as a stewardess and also wedded Daruwala, a pilot. The pair have two children called Raoul Sam and Jehan Sam.
Manekshaw passed due to problems from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, at 12:30 a.m. on 27 June 2008 at the age of 94. He was buried in the Parsi cemetery in Ootacamund (Ooty), Tamil Nadu, with army honours, nearby to his wife's grave. Yearly, on 16 December, Vijay Diwas is commemorated in memory of the success achieved under Manekshaw's leadership in 1971. On 16 December 2008, a postage stamp showing Manekshaw in his field marshal's uniform was released by then President Pratibha Patil.
An overpass bridge in Ahmedabad's Shivranjeeni location was named after him in 2008 by Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat. In 2014, a granite statuary was erected in his honour at Wellington, in the Nilgiris district, close to the Manekshaw Bridge on the Ooty-- Coonoor road, which had actually been called after him in 2009.
On his life, Meghna Gulzar is guiding a motion picture, Sam, starring Vicky Kaushal, which is expected was release in very early 2021, if there were no COVID-19 related delays.
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