Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, OBE, LOM

The Man who said to Pakistani General to treat his son like any other POW (Prisoner of War).

If the Indian Army is not involved politically in any matter, and Govt. of India is not worried about the coup (Army takeover) it is because of one man. The man who sat the Ethical Standards so high for the soldiers of Indian Army that a soldier made up himself to sacrifice his life for saving the life of his countrymen. The Swordsmanship of Field Marshal Cariappa can not be defined in just few articles still i will try to light. Ladies & Gentlemen please feel the Proud within you are getting introduced to Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa

After gaining Independence a meeting was organized to select the first General of the Indian Army. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru chaired that meeting. Leaders and Army officers were discussing to whom this responsibility should be given. 

In between the discussion Nehru said, “I think we should appoint a British officer as a General of Indian Army as we don’t have enough experience to lead the same.” 

Everybody supported Nehru because if the PM was suggesting something, how can they not agree? 

But one of the army officers abruptly said, “I have a point, sir.” 

Nehru said, “Yes, gentleman. You are free to speak.” 

He said, “You see, sir, we don’t have enough experience to lead a nation too, so shouldn’t we appoint a British person as first PM of India?” 

The meeting hall suddenly went quiet. 

Then, Nehru said, “Are you ready to be the first General of Indian Army?” 

He got a golden chance to accept the offer but he refused the same and said, “Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Lt Gen Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us.” 

The army officer who raised his voice against the PM was Lt General Nathu Singh Rathore, the 1st Lt General of the Indian Army. 

On being appointed as the first Commander-in-Chief of an independent Indian Army on 15 January 1949, Gen. Cariappa was instrumental in the integration of troops and turning an imperial army into a national army. 

During the 1965 and 1971 wars, he visited the front lines to talk to the troops and keep their morale up.

Apart from being a military man, Cariappa had insight about the status of the country. He is quoted as saying, “In modern warfare, a large army is not sufficient, it needs industrial potential behind it. If the army is the first line of defense, the industry is the second.” Cariappa had even said that “soldiers know the facility of wars to solve the internal problems. We ought to be ashamed that today they had more peace in war than peace in peace.” Such insight has placed him above many in this field. “Army is there to serve the Government of the day, and we should make sure that it does not get mixed up with party politics. A soldier is above politics and should not believe in caste or creed,” was another insight of this soldier.

He lived and remained, as he said, “an Indian and to the last breath would remain an Indian. To me there is only two Stans - Hindustan (India) and Foujistan (the Army).”

During the 1965 war, when his son, an Indian Air Force pilot, flew an aircraft. The plane was shot down by Pakistan. He was captured and imprisoned as a Prisoner of War (POW). 

When Ayub Khan learned about this, he informed Cariappa he would not be kept in a POW Camp like other Indian POWs, since they had worked together before independence. But Cariappa politely declined the offer, saying every soldier in the Indian Army was his son, so he could not request special privileges for only one.  

Field Marshall K M Cariappa was popularly known as ‘kipper’ among his colleagues.

As a token of gratitude of the nation for the exemplary service rendered by him, the Government of India conferred Cariappa with the rank of Field Marshal in 1983; till date there are only two appointments that is made by the government of India to the rank of Field Marshal and Kipper was one among them.

Field marshal(5 stars) is the highest military rank in Army. Field marshal would be the senior most officer in the army and is permitted to wear the uniform till death.

On 15th May 1993, Field Marshal K M Cariappa died in Bangalore, when he was 94. Let us all salute this great Indian Soldier, a national hero and a warrior.

Abhishek Tiwari

MAJOR GENERAL IAN CARDOZO, AVSM, SM

He cut off his own injured leg by his own Khukhri and ordered his sahayak Gurkha  " Go Bury it".

A Perfect Example of Chivalry himself, a Soldier by profession, an Officer by right & a Gentleman by all his Might. Ladies & Gentlemen I present you one of the finest men of our clan. Major General (Retd.) Ian Cardozo, AVSM, SM.

He is an inspiration to entire clan of Soldiers. His Books Param Vir Chakra & Sinking of INS Khukri.   

A lovely Poem he gave me when i got honor to meet him.......

"I am the unknown soldier, forgotten and ignored

When once the war is over and peace and quiet assured...

... Although we have left earth's orbit and need to rest in peace

Our souls are not past caring, our pain will never cease

Till you and the country's leaders created a haloed space

For a fitting War Memorial, on valour and honour based."

Major General Ian Cardozo was a young major in the 5 Gurkha Rifles in the 1971 war with Pakistan. In a swift military offensive, India defeated Pakistan within 13 days, liberated a region and led to the creation of Bangladesh.

In the war, the then Major Cardozo stepped on a landmine and had to cut off his badly wounded leg with his own khukri.

Yet, through sheer will power and determination, he did not let his disability come in the way of his duty as a soldier and went on to become the first disabled officer in the Indian Army to command an infantry battalion and a brigade.

Tell us about your wound.

At that time, I was still not wounded.

There was a BSF commander who got panicky when he saw all these fellows (prisoners) and asked: "Please send someone here.' I told the CO that I would go. I did not know that I was walking on a minefield. I stepped on a mine and my leg blew off.

A Bangladeshi saw this happening, he picked me up and took me to the battalion headquarters. They were feeling bad. I told the doctor, 'Give me some morphine.' They had no#8800 it had been destroyed during the operations. 'Do you have any Pethidine?' 'No'

I told him: 'Could you cut this off?'

He said: 'I don't have any instrument.'

I asked my batman: 'Where is my khukri?'

He said: 'Here it is, Sir.'

I told him: 'Cut it off.'

He answered in Gorkhali: 'Sir, I can't do it.'

I told him: 'Give it to me.' I cut my leg off and ordered: 'Now go and bury it.'

You tell people that you are embarrassed to tell the story because it was nothing at all. What was your first thought?

My first thought was for her (pointing to his wife, Priscilla). I thought, 'What a stupid thing happened to me. It was beyond my control, it just happened.'

Then the doctor came and tied it up. My CO also came: 'Ian, you are very lucky, we have captured a Pakistani surgeon. He will operate on you.'

'Nothing doing, Sir, I don't want to be operated by a Pakistani doctor. Just get me back to India,' I answered.

By that time Dhaka had fallen and there was no chopper available.

I then told the CO: 'Two conditions.' He immediately said: 'You are not in position to put conditions.'

I told him: 'OK, two requests. One, I don't want Pakistani blood.'

He retorted: 'You are a fool.' I said: 'I am prepared to die a fool. My second request, Sir, I want you to be present when they operate on me.' The CO asked: 'Why?' I answered: 'You know why.' (There had been cases of torture). So, he agreed.

Anyway, the Pakistani surgeon did a good job. His name was Major Mohamed Basheer. I have never been able to say, 'Thank you.' I owe him a thank you, but it is not easy (to find someone in Pakistan].

What did you feel when you cut your own leg?

People are giving more credit than I do. Actually I just felt deeply embarrassed because my leg was in a terrible state. I did not want to look at it and others to look at it. I wanted to get rid of it. Nobody wanted to do it, so I did it.

You have said that you always dream that you have two legs.

Yes, in my dreams, I have two legs, no artificial leg.

How did you manage to get a promotion after being disabled?

One has to accept that the army puts a great amount of emphasis on physical fitness. One has to be fit to be a commander at any level.

From my side, I felt that the doctors were unfair to me to say that I could not perform as well as anybody else.

With my wooden leg, I was determined to prove to the army as well as to the world in general, that a person with a wooden leg could do as well, if not better, than a two-legged person. I resolved to keep myself physically fit.

I woke early morning, did some exercises and went for a run. I did the battle physical test. I had a problem with the officer in charge of the test who refused to allow me to pass the test. He said he would not let me go through that test because a year earlier someone physically unfit had gone through the test and died.

I told him I was fit, but he answered that he would arrest me if I do the test. I told him: 'You can put me under arrest only after I commit the offense. So let me do the test and you can arrest me after.'

So I did the test and left seven officers with two legs behind me. The officer was a good man, he said, putting his arm around my shoulder: 'Well done, Sir, good job.'

I later went to the vice-chief and asked him, what else should I do? He said: 'Come with me to J&K.'

He came by helicopter to a place at 6,000 feet. I climbed from the road to the helipad. When he arrived, he asked me: 'How did you come here?' thinking I had used my contacts to fly with a chopper. I told him: 'Sir, I climbed from the road.'

He was surprised: 'You can climb!' I told him: 'What I can or can't do is the minds of my senior officers.'

He said 'Alright' and put up my case to the army chief (General T N Raina) who asked me to accompany him to Ladakh. I walked in mountains in snow and ice. General Raina saw this and when he returned to Delhi, he asked for my file and wrote: 'Yes, give him a battalion and to all other officers who are not taking shelter behind their wounds.'

For me, it only meant that one has to do what is required by one's job. I was the first disabled officer to be approved to command a battalion.

The same thing happened when I was to take command of a brigade. The bureaucracy said: 'No, you can't command a brigade.' I wrote to the army chief that I had proven that I could command a battalion; there was no reason why I should be demoted in a staff job.

The chief said: 'Why do you harass this man, give him the command of a brigade.'

Later three disabled officers became army commanders. One even became vice-chief: he had earlier had both his legs amputated.

What would you tell the youth of this country?

I have many things to say: 

1.You have only one life to live, live it to the full.

2. You have 24 hours in a day: Pack it up.

3. The other thing is 'Never give up.'

4. If you believe in something, do it in a right way at the right time.


Abhishek Tiwari