Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

During the Indo-Pak War of 1971, field marshal S.H.F.J. Manekshaw was the first officer in the Indian Army to be promoted to field marshal. On June 27, 2008, he died in the Indian city of New Delhi. In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, for India to beat Pakistan.

Early Life of Sam Manekshaw:

• On April 14, 1914, he was born in Amritsar, Punjab, to Hormizd and Hilla Manekshaw. In the middle of the city of Amritsar, Dr Hormizd Manekshaw ran a successful clinic and pharmacy. The couple already had two daughters when Sam was born, so he was the last of their five children
• Sam asked his father to send him to London to study medicine so that he could become a doctor one day. Even though Sam was older and two of his siblings were already getting help from Hormizd so they could study engineering in London, Sam’s father was against it
• In April 1932, instead of going to the University of Punjab, Manekshaw switched to the Hindu Sabha College, which is now called the Hindu College in Amritsar. There, he got a third-class science degree
• The Indian Military College Committee suggested in 1931 that a school be built to train Indians to be officers in the military. For this to happen, it needed to be okayed by Congress. The Public Service Commission would use a test to choose people for a three-year programme. Sam Manekshaw took and passed the Delhi entrance exams despite his father’s wishes. On October 1, 1932, he was chosen as one of fifteen cadets after a public contest

Sam Manekshaw’s Time In The Army:

• Sam Manekshaw was sent to the 2nd Unit of the Royal Scots on February 4, 1935, which was the norm then. He was then sent to an Indian battalion. In May 1938, he was sent to Burma for the first time. He was put in charge of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment’s supplies
• As soon as World War II started, the man who would become Field Marshal was sent to Burma to fight the enemy. For his actions during the Battle of Burma in 1942, he was given the Military Cross, the highest honour to Commonwealth troops
• After India was split into two countries, his regiment, the 12th Frontier Force Regiment, moved to Pakistan, and he joined the 8th Gorkha Rifles.
• Before he took over the 3rd Battalion of the 5 Gorkha Rifles on October 22, Pakistani soldiers took over Domel and Muzaffarabad
• On October 26, 1947, when the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession, Sam Maneekshaw flew over Pakistan to keep an eye on things. He was the one who thought of the idea of flying the Indian Army into Kashmir to keep it from being taken over
• In 1957, he went to London to get a degree in higher command at the Imperial Defence College. When he was promoted to major general on December 20, 1957, he was given charge of the 26th Infantry Division
• On March 1, 1959, exactly one year after, Manekshaw was made a major general

A Key Part of The Indo-Pak War of 1971:

• East Pakistani separatists got stronger because the government in West Pakistan wouldn’t give the province more freedom. In March, the Pakistani Army took a very strong stance against the separatist movement. Tens of East Pakistanis died because of this operation, and millions left to go to India. India saw a chance to get ahead of its rival and help its economy, so it helped create the new country of Bangladesh through the Bangladesh Liberation War. Before long, the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971 would be well underway
• In April, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India asked how ready the Indian Army was. He said that it would take some time to get their tanks and foot soldiers to the border of East Pakistan. He said that they were not in East Pakistan. There was still a chance that China would attack the Himalayas, which would worsen India’s situation. Sam Manesksaw said he would win if he played by his own rules, which was okay with the Prime Minister
• Sam Maneskhaw’s plan, which used all three parts of India’s military, was helped by the guerrilla group Mukti Bahini, which had 75,000 members. To bother Pakistan’s military, the Indian Army used guerillas to cut off Pakistan’s supply lines, mess up their communications, and pass on important information
• On December 3, 1971, Pakistani planes attacked Indian airfields in western India early in the morning, and this started a war that is still ongoing today. Sam Manekshaw’s combined-arms strategy, which stopped any help from the western wing, made it possible for the Indian army to wipe out Pakistani resistance in the eastern theatre of the war
• Sam Manekshaw(3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008) asked the Pakistani forces to give up without conditions on December 9, 1971, when the Indian Army had taken over all key locations and was almost on top of Dhaka. He promised that they would be treated with respect and that the people of East Pakistan would not be angry with them. On December 11 and 15, his message was broadcast
• After a meeting of the UN Security Council failed, Pakistan’s top general realised there was no point in keeping the conflict going. At 9 a.m. on December 16, they agreed to Sam Manekshae’s idea to submit. As a result of the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War, Bangladesh was formed as a new country
• After the war, Indira Gandhi made Field Marshal Manekshaw India’s first Chief of the Defense Staff. Even though he was nominated to be the Chief of Defense Staff, bureaucratic problems got in the way of his nomination and even his formation

The Latter Years of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw:

In 1972, the Padma Vibhushan was given to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw for his service to the country. On January 15, 1973, after almost four decades of service, he was discharged from the military with honour. He and his wife Silloo moved to Coonoor, a civilian town near Wellington Cantonment, where he had been in charge of the Defence Services Staff College.

Conclusion:

After he retired, he worked for several companies; in a few of them, he was the head of the board. Manekshaw died at 12:30 a.m. on June 27, 2008, at the Wellington Military Hospital in Tamil Nadu. He died of complications from pneumonia. Every year on December 16, a holiday called Vijay Diwas is held to honour Manekshaw’s victory in 1971.