Sam Bahadur would have turned 109 today. A soldier the nations love to love and enemies love to hate but both respect and salute Field Marshal Shamsherji Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, MC was the first officer in the Indian Army to be promoted to the five-star rank of field marshal. His distinguished military long career four decades and five wars, beginning in World War II.  Manekshaw rose to become the Indian Army’s eighth Chief of Army Staff in 1969, and under his command, Indian forces won victories against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, leading to the liberation of Bangladesh in December 1971.

The most well-liked and respected Indian general, he never held back, and one can never forget his quote, “A ‘Yes man’ is a dangerous man. He is a menace. He will go very far. He can become a minister, a secretary, or a Field Marshall but he can never become a leader nor, ever be respected. He will be used by his superiors, disliked by his colleagues, and despised by his subordinates. So discard the ‘Yes man’.”

Interesting Instance From His Personal Life

1971 was a year when Indira Gandhi served as prime minister, and this was also the time that Pakistan and India were at war. Indira was really upset about this, so she approached then-General Sam Maneck Shaw about it. When Indira asked Sam Bahadur if he was ready for war, General Sam Manekshaw replied in a very shy way – I am always ready sweetie

When Sam was questioned by Indira Gandhi about rumors of a planned coup by the army chief

Manekshaw replied in his style,

“You mind your own business, I’ll mind mine. You kiss your own sweetheart, I’ll kiss mine. I don’t interfere politically, as long as nobody interferes with me in the Army.”

First Indian Army officer who became Field Marshal

Although he was set to retire in June 1972, his term was extended by 6 six months to facilitate him with promotion to the rank of field marshal. Therefore, in recognition of his outstanding services to the Armed Forces and the nation, he was promoted to Field Marshal and thus became the first-ever Indian Army officer to be promoted to this rank.

Wars fought

In a career spanning across four decades, Sam fought five wars – World War II in 1942, the Indo-Pak partition war in 1947, the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the Indo-Pak War in 1965, and the 1971 war of Bangladesh Liberation.

Cheated Death

He is known to have cheated death on many occasions. There was this one time when during World War II while fighting around the Pagoda Hill, he was hit by a burst of light machine gun fire and he was severely wounded in the stomach. He was rescued and taken to an Australian surgeon who operated on him and took out a total of seven bullets from his lungs, liver and kidneys. Along with that, a big part of his intestines also had to be removed.

Sam was known for his wit and sense of humor

During the above-mentioned incident, the surgeon initially refused to treat Sam as his chances of survival were very low. When he asked Sam how he got injured, Sam replied that he was ‘kicked by a mule’. The surgeon was impressed by his wit and thereby agreed to operate upon him.

Controversies

Towards the end of his career, he was involved in various controversies and was also branded ‘anti-national’ by some. One of the controversies arose when he objected to political interference with the army. The other two were almost non-existent and didn’t do much harm to his career.

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Death

Sam breathed his last on 27th June 2008 at the age of 94 due to complications from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington. It is believed that his last words were ‘I am Ok’ and that just proved his positivity, resilience, and strong personality.