Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, who crafted India’s greatest military victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that created just not history, but also a new nation, will be immortalised on the silver screen with Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur starring Vicky Kaushal in the titular role hitting the theatres on Friday.
A soldier’s General, Sam Manekshaw was the architect of many a military triumph, but his finest hour came when Pakistani forces were vanquished in 14 days flat. And Bangladesh was born.
Affectionately called ‘Sam Bahadur’, the handsome and witty Manekshaw had the rare distinction of being honoured for his bravery – Military Cross – right on the battle front itself during the Second World War. He was also the first Indian officer to command the Gorkhas after India got Independence.
Manekshaw, who got a second life after the young Captain survived near fatal wounds during the Second World War in Burma, is the first of only two Indian military officers to hold the highest rank of Field Marshal of the Indian Army (the other being Field Marshal KM Cariappa).
His distinguished military career spanned four decades from the British era and through five wars, including the Second World War.
The Beginnings
Born on April 3, 1914 in Amritsar to Parsi parents who migrated to Punjab from the small town of Valsad on the Gujarat coast, Manekshaw rose to be the Eighth Chief of Staff of the Indian Army in 1969. The year of the General’s birth was around the time when the First World War broke.
After completing his schooling in Amritsar and Sherwood College (Nainital), he joined the first batch of 40 cadets at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun on October 1, 1932. He passed out of the IMA in December 1934 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Indian Army. He held several regimental assignments and was first attached to the Royal Scots and later to the 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment.
Marriage to Silloo Bode
In 1937, at a social gathering in Lahore Manekshaw met Silloo Bode. They fell in love and were married on April 22, 1939. Silloo was a graduate of Bombay’s Elphinstone College. In Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur, Silloo is played by Sanya Malhotra.
‘Dead Man Can’t Win Military Cross’
During World War II, Manekshaw saw action in the Burma campaign on Sittang River as a Captain with the 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment.
Manekshaw was leading a counter-offensive against the invading Japanese Army in Burma. During the course of the offensive, he was hit by a burst of LMG bullets and was severely wounded in the stomach.
Major General DT Cowan spotted Manekshaw holding on to life and was aware of his valour in face of stiff resistance from the Japanese. Fearing the worst, Major General Cowan quickly pinned his own Military Cross ribbon on to Manekshaw saying: “A dead person cannot be awarded a Military Cross.”
But luck was on the young Captain’s side and he survived. Having recovered from those near-fatal wounds in Burma, Manekshaw went for a course at Staff College, Quetta and later also served there as an instructor before being sent to join 12 Frontier Force Rifles in Burma under General (later Field Marshal) Slim’s 14th Army.
He was once again involved in a fierce battle with the Japanese, and was wounded for a second time.
Towards the close of World War II, Manekshaw was sent as Staff Officer to General Daisy in Indo-China where, after the Japanese surrender, he helped rehabilitate over 10,000 POWs.
Partition and J&K Ops
Manekshaw showed acumen for planning and administration while handling the issues related to Partition in 1947, and later put to use his battle skills during the 1947-48 Jammu and Kashmir Operations.
After command of an Infantry Brigade, he was posted as the Commandant of the Infantry School and also became the Colonel of 8 Gorkha Rifles, which became his new regimental home, since his original parent regiment, The 12th Frontier Force Regiment, went on to join the new Pakistan Army upon Partition.
He commanded a Division in Jammu and Kashmir and a Corps in the North East. As GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, he handled the tricky problem of insurgency in Nagaland.
Creation of Bangladesh
A shrewd tactician, Manekshaw meticulously planned the Indian attack on Pakistan on both fronts — East and West. While the Indian forces captured the then East Pakistan in the eastern sector, the army made heavy inroads in the western sector going up to Lahore.
Adopting a mature war strategy, he masterminded the rout of the Pakistan Army in one of the quickest victories in the recent military history to liberate Bangladesh.
Sam, the Field Marshal
Manekshaw was bestowed the Padma Bhushan in 1968 and Padma Vibhushan in 1972. The President conferred upon him the rank of Field Marshal, a prestigious honorary rank, on January 1, 1973.
Retirement
Manekshaw retired a fortnight later (although technically Field Marshals of the Indian Army never retire because the rank is conferred for life), on January 15, 1973, after completing nearly four decades of military service. After retirement, Manekshaw settled down in Coonoor in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu.
Death and Funeral
He breathed his last June 27, 2008 and was buried with full military honours in a Parsi graveyard adjacent to the place where his wife was buried.
With PTI inputs
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