Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
Field Marshal K M Cariappa
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh
The three highest-ranking military heroes of the Indian Armed Forces.
They were the rarest of the rare. The bravest of the brave.
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, popularly known as 'Sam Bahadur' was the first general to be promoted to field marshal in modern India.
The legendary officer witnessed five wars and won the Military Cross for bravery in the first war he fought as a young officer in World War II against the Japanese in Burma.
A full burst of machine gun fire ripped his stomach and nearly took his life. On reaching the hospital 36 hours later, his sense of humour was still intact.
'A mule kicked me,' he told the Australian doctor attending to him and went on to serve the Indian Army for the rest of his life.
He was the chief of army staff when India defeated and cleaved Pakistan into two with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
He was awarded the rank of field marshal on January 3, 1973 by President V V Giri.
The rank of field marshal is the rarest of rare military honours and awarded for extraordinary leadership during wartime or for exemplary service.
Field marshals wear five stars on their shoulders and carry a special baton. They salute by raising the gold tipped baton to their forehead and don special accoutrements on their uniform
The field marshal's baton has the Ashokan Lions in golden colours at the head. The rank is held for life and a field marshal is entitled to full salary till death.
Unfortunately, Field Marshal Manekshaw did not receive his salary for a long time and arrears were transferred on the intervention of then President A P J Abdul Kalam who learned about it when he visited the ailing field marshal in hospital.
An outstanding leader of men, Field Marshal Manekshaw was not only a lion on the battlefield, but had the courage of conviction to stand up to then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
He refused to launch the 1971 campaign into East Pakistan at a time Mrs Gandhi wanted and delayed it for six months till weather conditions were suitable for an Indian advance.
He was right and India inflicted a punishing defeat and won a glorious victory.
'Indian troops won their last great victory against a foreign army of importance in 303 BC when Chandragupta Maurya's army defeated Seleucus Nicator,' wrote retired Lieutenant General Eric A Vas of General Manekshaw's role in the 1971 victory.
'After 2,300 years of unremitting defeats of Indian armies against every invading army, Sam Manekshaw made the country experience the glow of a stunning victory against the Pakistan army in what is now Bangladesh. That will remain Field Marshal Manekshaw's unique position in Indian military history.'
The field marshal's younger brother served in the Indian Air Force and retired as air vice marshal.
The field marshal remains an iconic and beloved figure in Indian consciousness.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1968 and Padma Vibhushan in 1972.
He passed away on June 27, 2008 in Wellington. He was 94.
Field Marshal K M Cariappa
Popularly known as 'Kipper' Cariappa, the officer was the first Indian to be appointed commander in chief of the Indian Army in 1949.
Commissioned into the British Army in 1919, the Coorg native served in Mesopotamia [Iraq] in World War II. He was among the first Indian officers in the British Army.
He was responsible for the division of officers, troops and assets between India and Pakistan after Partition and played a pioneering role in shaping, unifying and giving direction to the Indian Army immediately after Independence.
He played a crucial leadership role in the first India-Pakistan war, shortly after Independence in 1948 and launched many strikes that were pivotal to the security of J&K.
He was effectively founder of the modern Indian Army and raised two regiments -- the Brigade of Guards and the Parachute Regiment.
He retired as commander in chief in 1953 and served as India's high commissioner to Australia and New Zealand till 1956.
He was elevated to field marshal in 1986.
His son Air Marshal K C Cariappa served as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force and retired in 1996. As a young officer in the 1965 War, his plane was shot down in Pakistan and he was taken prisoner of war.
His father General Cariappa refused the offer of his son's release from Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the military dictator of Pakistan.
Ayub Khan had served under General Cariappa in an undivided India in the British Army. General Cariappa turned down the offer and said that no special treatment was needed for his son. He was to be treated like other Indian PoWs who were all like his sons.
Field Marshal Cariappa passed away in May 1993. His cremation in Coorg was attended by the service chiefs and Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
The day that he took command of the Indian Army on January 15 is celebrated as Army Day annually.
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh
He is the only IAF officer to be elevated to the highest rank in 2002, and was the chief of air staff from 1964-69.
He trained at Cranwell, England, in 1939 and was commissioned as a pilot in the Royal Indian Air Force in December 1939.
The officer received the medal of the Distinguished Flying Cross for his exceptional service in Burma in WW II. The fighter pilot led the air attack against the Japanese in the Arakan and Imphal campaigns which aided the advance of Allied Forces.
As air chief, he led the IAF in the India-Pakistan war in 1965, outwitting the enemy which had superior US jets at that time.
IAF Gnats and Vampire slayed the Pakistani air attack under his strategic brilliance and proficiency in air tactics.
His leadership during the 1965 War exemplified courage under fire and he was a leader who led from the cockpit, not just the command room, said the IAF in a tribute on his 106th birth anniversary this year.
He served as air chief till 1970 and subsequently was appointed as India's ambassador to Switzerland and the Vatican.
He passed away in 2017 at 98 and remains one of India's foremost military heroes.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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