Sam Manekshaw, well known as Sam Bahadur (‘Sam the brave’) is the first to attain the rank of Field Marshal which was conferred to him in January 1973. Field Marshal is the highest rank that can be attained in the Indian Army. He is one of the only two to reach the rank of Field Marshal. He served in the Indian Army about 40 years and 5 Wars. His first war was the World War || serving the British Indian Army.
In 1932 Manekshaw joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun and from then he had a long career in the Indian Army about five wars in four decades. He served in the 2nd Battalion and the 4th Battalion. In 1952 Sam Manekshaw became the 167th Infantry Brigade’s Commander. In 1954 he became the Director of Military Training at the Army Headquarters.
After undergoing the course of higher command at Imperial Defence College he became the General Officer Commanding of the twenty-sixth Infantry Division. He even served the Defence Services Staff College as the commandant. In 1961 he faced some controversies which he was termed as unpatriotic by some opponents regarding his comments about the political leadership and got charged with sedition. However, the allegations on him proved to be false in the subsequent court of inquiry. He then in November 1962 took the command of Four Corps. In 1963 Manekshaw got a promotion of army commander of Western Command, was transferred to the Eastern Command in 1964.
Family :
He was born to Parsi parents- Heerabai Manekshaw and Mr.Hormusji Manekshaw. Hormusji was a Doctor. Sam Manekshaw also thought of studying Medicine like his Father in the earlier days but luckily he went on to serve the Indian Military. He was married to Siloo Bode.
Children and Siblings :
Quotes :
Here are the some famous Sam Manekshaw quotes –
1)If someone tells you that he is never afraid, he must be a liar or he is a Gurkha.
2)Ability to make a decision and accepting the full responsibility for that decision is the next big thing one needs for leadership.
Sam Manekshaw Speech :
One of the inspiring and motivational speech by Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw at Indian Military Academy (IMA, Dehradun). This is one of the best Sam Manekshaw speech you will see.