You are on page 1of 20

SAM Bahadur Manekshaw

(April 3, 1914 – June 27, 2008)


Click to continue there are 20 slides
In 1942 at the height of the World War II a fierce battle was
raging in Myanmar, then Burma, at the Sittang Bridge. A
company of the Indian Army was engaged in hand-to-hand
combat with the invading Japanese forces for the capture of a
position, which was critical for the control of the bridge. The
young company commander was exhorting his troops when his
stomach was riddled by a machine gun burst. Afraid that his
company would be left leaderless if he were evacuated, he
continued fighting till he collapsed…..
His company won the day and the general commanding the
Indian forces arrived at the scene to congratulate the soldiers.
On seeing the critically wounded commander, he announced the
immediate award of the Military Cross -- the young officer was
not expected to survive much longer and the Military Cross is
not awarded posthumously. Thus began a historic military career
that spanned the Indo-Pak wars and the Sino-Indian conflict, the
wounded captain surviving to become India's first field marshal.
In 1947 when Pakistan invaded Kashmir, Sam Manekshaw
was the colonel in charge of operations at the Army
Headquarters. His incisive grasp of the situation and his
acumen for planning instantly drew the attention of his
superiors and Manekshaw's rise was spectacular, though not
without controversy. He was outspoken and stood by his
convictions. This, coupled with his sense of humour, often
got him into trouble with politicians.
In 1961, for instance, he refused to toe the line of the then defence minister
V.K. Krishna Menon and was sidelined. He was vindicated soon after when
the Indian army suffered a humiliating defeat in nefa the next year, at the
hands of the Chinese, resulting in Menon's resignation. Prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru rushed Manekshaw to nefa to command the retreating
Indian forces. This had an electrifying effect on the demoralised officers. In
no time, Manekshaw convinced the troops that the Chinese soldier was not
"10 ft tall". His first order of the day characteristically said, "There will be
no withdrawal without written orders and these orders shall never be
issued." The soldiers showed faith in their new commander and successfully
checked further ingress by the Chinese.
The Indo-Pak war of 1965 saw Manekshaw as army
commander, Eastern Command. When India was forced to
launch operations in the west, Manekshaw was against
attacking in the east since the main sufferers would be the
people of East Pakistan. The wisdom of his advice dawned
when the Indian forces fought the Pakistan army in East
Pakistan in 1971.
This was Manekshaw's finest hour. As army chief and
chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, he planned the
operation meticulously refusing to be coerced by
politicians to act prematurely. His strategic and
operational finesse was evident when Indian pincers cut
through Pakistani forces like knife through butter, quickly
checkmating them.
When the prime minister asked him to go to
Dhaka and accept the surrender of the Pakistani
forces, he declined, magnanimously saying the
honour should go to his army commander in the
east. He would only go if it were to accept the
surrender of the entire Pakistan Army.
Manekshaw's competence, professional standing and public stature
was such that the politician and the bureaucrat alike crossed his path
only at their peril. On one occasion, he found that the defence
secretary had penned his own observations on a note he had written
to the prime minister and defence minister. Infuriated, Manekshaw
took the file and walked straight into Mrs Gandhi's office. He told her
that if she found the defence secretary more competent than him to
advise her on military matters she did not have a need for him. The
defence secretary was found a new job.
As a commander, he was a hard taskmaster. He
encouraged his officers in the face of adversity but did not
tolerate incompetence. That is perhaps Manekshaw's
greatest contribution, to instil a sense of duty, efficiency,
professionalism in a modern Indian army and to stand up to
political masters and bureaucratic interference.
In a way, he was following the path of other army chiefs, K.S. Thimayya
K.M. Cariappa. A holy terror, there are many tales of the power of his
whiplash. Following Pakistan's surrender in the east, Manekshaw flew into
Calcutta to compliment his officers. The ceremonial reception over at
Dum Dum airport, he was escorted to a car -- a Mercedes captured from
the enemy. Manekshaw refused to sit in it, leaving the officers red-faced.
On another occasion, a general accused of misusing funds was marched up to
him. "Sir, do you know what you are saying?" asked the general. "You are
accusing a general of being dishonest." Replied Manekshaw: "Your chief is not
only accusing you of being dishonest but also calling you a thief. If I were you I
would go home and either shoot myself or resign. I am waiting to see what you
will do." The general submitted his resignation that evening.
Yet another unforgettable incident that sheds light on his
remarkable character took place almost a decade before the
1971 war. As a Lt Gen commanding the Tezpur-based 4 Corps
in 1963, Manekshaw was asked to brief prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru and defence minister Y B Chavan on the
debacle of the Sino-Indian war. However, he refused to let
Indira Gandhi into the operations room for the debriefing, as
she had not taken the oath to secrecy. Nonetheless, the
incident, recounted in a book by Chavan’s personal secretary R
B Pradhan, did not stop Gandhi from appointing him as the
Army Chief six years later or from building an excellent
equation with him.
Times - Lone_minister_represents_govt
IndianExpress -No top brass at funeral

Busy..Celebrating 25 years of prudential world cup victory he he …


It is really a shame on us if we didn’t know
about our great hero’s like ManekShaw. Sam
Manekshaw was the first of only two Indian
military officers to hold the highest rank of
Field Marshal of the Indian Army
I’m really surprised when people asked
me who is ManekShaw which Inspired
me to create this and to share at least
a bit about him….

You might also like