Sam Manekshaw

Manekshaw's parents had left Mumbai in 1903 for Lahore, where his father was going to start practising medicine.

However, when their train halted at Amritsar station, Hilla found it impossible to travel any further due to her advanced pregnancy.

After Hilla had recovered from giving birth, the couple decided to stay in Amritsar, where Hormizd soon set up a clinic and pharmacy.

The couple had four sons (Fali, Jan, Sam and Jami) and two daughters (Cilla and Sheru).

Manekshaw was their fifth child and third son.

During World War II, Hormizd had served in the British Indian Army as a captain in the Indian Medical Service (now the Army Medical Corps).

Manekshaw's elder brothers Fali and Jan became engineers, while his sisters Cilla and Sheru became teachers.

Manekshaw's younger brother Jami became a doctor and served in the Royal Indian Air Force as a medical officer.

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), also known as Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the chief of the army staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal.

His active military career spanned four decades, beginning with service in World War II.

Sam Manekshaw was born on 3 April 1914 in Amritsar, Punjab, to Hormizd Manekshaw (1871–1964), who was a doctor, and Hilla, née Mehta (1885–1970).

Both of his parents were Parsis who had moved to Amritsar from the city of Valsad in coastal Gujarat.

After completing the higher command course at the Imperial Defence College, he was appointed the general officer commanding of the 26th Infantry Division.

He also served as the commandant of the Defence Services Staff College.

In 1929, he graduated from the college at the age of 15 with his junior high school certificate.

In 1931, he passed his senior high school examinations with distinction.

Manekshaw then asked his father to send him to London to study medicine, but his father refused as he was not old enough.

His father was already supporting Sam's elder brothers who were studying engineering in London.

Manekshaw instead enrolled at the Hindu Sabha College (now the Hindu College, Amritsar).

Manekshaw joined the first intake of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, in 1932.

In April 1932, Manekshaw sat for the final exams held by the University of the Punjab, passing with a third division (equivalent to a C) in science.

A formal notification for the entrance examination to enrol in the newly established Indian Military Academy (IMA) was issued in the early months of 1932.

Examinations were scheduled for June or July.

In an act of rebellion against his father's refusal to send him to London, Manekshaw applied for a place and sat for the entrance exams in Delhi.

On 1 October 1932, he was one of the fifteen cadets to be selected through an open competition, and placed sixth in the order of merit.

Manekshaw was part of the first batch of cadets at the IMA.

Called "The Pioneers", this batch also included Smith Dun and Muhammad Musa Khan, the future commanders-in-chief of Burma and Pakistan, respectively.

Following the Partition of India in 1947, he was reassigned to the 8th Gorkha Rifles.

Manekshaw was seconded to a planning role during the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War and the Hyderabad crisis, and as a result, he never commanded an infantry battalion.

He was promoted to the rank of brigadier while serving at the Military Operations Directorate.

In 1948, Jami became the first Indian to be awarded air surgeon's wings from Naval Air Station Pensacola in the United States, after completing a training course there.

Jami joined his elder brother, Sam, in becoming a flag officer, and retired as an air vice marshal in the Indian Air Force.

Manekshaw completed his primary schooling in Punjab, and then joined Sherwood College, Nainital.

He became the commander of 167 Infantry Brigade in 1952 and served in this position until 1954 when he took over as the director of military training at Army Headquarters.

In 1963, Manekshaw was promoted to the position of army commander and took over Western Command, transferring in 1964 to Eastern Command.

Manekshaw became the seventh chief of army staff in 1969.

Under his command, Indian forces conducted victorious campaigns against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh in December 1971.

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, the second and third highest civilian awards of India, respectively.

He was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment.

In World War II, he was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry.