सैम मानेकशॉ Sam Manekshaw

Life and career

  1. 1914 · Born in Amritsar. Born on 3 April 1914 in Amritsar. His father was a doctor. He studied for eight years at Sherwood College in Nainital. He graduated from Hindu Sabha College in Amritsar in 1932. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw)
  2. 1932 · One of the Pioneers. He joined the first batch of the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. Training began on 1 October 1932. The batch was called the Pioneers. It included Muhammad Musa and Smith Dun who later led the armies of Pakistan and Burma. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · The Tribune (21 September 2015))
  3. 1934 · Commissioned. He was commissioned in December 1934. He was first attached to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots in Lahore. He then joined the 4th Battalion of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment. (ThePrint (27 June 2019) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw)
  4. 1942 · Wounded in Burma. He led a counter-attack on Pagoda Hill near the Sittang River in February 1942. Machine-gun fire hit him in the stomach. His orderly Sher Singh carried him out. He told the surgeon a mule had kicked him. He received the Military Cross. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · ThePrint (27 June 2019))
  5. 1947 · Partition and Kashmir. His parent unit went to Pakistan. Jinnah asked him to join the Pakistan Army and he declined. He moved to the Gorkha Rifles and then to Military Operations at Army HQ. On 25 October 1947 he flew to Srinagar with V.P. Menon. In 1949 he was part of India’s team at the Karachi talks. (The Indian Express (1 December 2023) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw)
  6. 1952 · Brigade, school and division. He commanded 167 Infantry Brigade at Firozpur from 1952. He was Director of Military Training and then ran the Infantry School at Mhow from 1955. He attended the Imperial Defence College in London. He took over 26th Infantry Division in December 1957. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw)
  7. 1959 · Staff College and the inquiry. He became Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in October 1959. In the Krishna Menon years he faced a court of inquiry on charges he called frivolous. The court under Lt Gen Daulet Singh cleared him. Nehru wrote to Menon in July 1962 that “we should dispose of this.” (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · Hindustan Times (13 January 2016) · Nehru Archive: To V.K. Krishna Menon, Maneckshaw case (12 July 1962))
  8. 1962 · IV Corps after the China war. After the defeat by China he took over IV Corps at Tezpur on 2 December 1962. He told his officers there would be no more withdrawals. He went on to lead Western Command from December 1963. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · CLAWS Scholar Warrior: Rohit Singh (Spring 2011))
  9. 1964 · Eastern Command. He took over Eastern Command on 16 November 1964. In 1967 he backed Maj Gen Sagat Singh’s decision to hold Nathu La against the Chinese. He received the Padma Bhushan in 1968 for the response to the insurgencies in Nagaland and Mizoram. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw)
  10. 1969 · Chief of the Army Staff. He succeeded Gen P.P. Kumaramangalam on 8 June 1969. The name Sam Bahadur came from Gorkha soldiers. Rumours of a coup circulated during his term. He dismissed them. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · The Tribune: review of Leadership: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (January 2006))
  11. 1971 · War and the surrender at Dhaka. In April he told the cabinet the army was not ready to move into East Pakistan. The war began on 3 December. Lt Gen A.A.K. Niazi surrendered in Dhaka on 16 December. About 93,000 Pakistani personnel were taken prisoner. Between 79,676 and 81,000 of them were in uniform. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · ThePrint (16 December 2021) · Wikipedia: India–Pakistan war of 1971)
  12. 1973 · India’s first Field Marshal. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1972. He was promoted to Field Marshal with effect from 1 January 1973. President V.V. Giri conferred the rank at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 3 January. He retired on 15 January and settled in Coonoor. He later chaired company boards including Escorts and Britannia. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sam Manekshaw)
  13. 2007 · Arrears paid. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visited him in hospital in Wellington. On 19 April 2007 Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt handed him a cheque for Rs 1.16 crore. It covered his Field Marshal’s pay from 1 January 1973. (Business Standard (19 April 2007) · The Quint fact-check (1 July 2020))
  14. 2008 · Death in Wellington. He died at the Military Hospital in Wellington on 27 June 2008 aged 94. He was given a state funeral and buried beside his wife in the Parsi cemetery at Ooty. The absence of the Prime Minister and the service chiefs drew criticism. (Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · Oneindia (27 June 2008) · IANS via TwoCircles (July 2008))
  15. 2023 · Sam Bahadur on screen. Meghna Gulzar’s film Sam Bahadur opened on 1 December 2023 with Vicky Kaushal as Manekshaw. It was a commercial success. It won three awards at the 71st National Film Awards. (Wikipedia: Sam Bahadur (film))

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