Remembering Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw: Here's what you must know about this legend

India is today observing the 108th birth anniversary of Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, the legend who planned independent India's greatest military victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak War and paved the way for the creation of Bangladesh.
 
A Soldier's soldier, Sam Manekshaw or 'Sam Bahadur', as he was affectionately called, was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the five-star rank of field marshal in 1914. His glorious military career spanned over four decades and he participated in five different wars. Here are some other fascinating aspects about Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw you should be porud about.

Here are some fascinating things you should be aware of:

1. Manekshaw enrolled at the Indian Military Academy to defy his father, who refused to send him to London to study.

2. Manekshaw was chosen as a member of the first batch of cadets known as "The Pioneers."

3. During his time at the Indian Military Academy, he demonstrated his wit and went on to achieve a number of firsts, including becoming the first graduate to join one of the Gorkha regiments, the first to serve as Chief of the Army Staff of India, and the first to acquire the rank of field marshal.

4. During the 1947 partition, Sam Manekshaw was active in providing administrative solutions and making decisions. Furthermore, he distinguished himself as a combatant during the Jammu and Kashmir operations in 1947 and 1948.

5. Manekshaw served in the Army for 40 years, fighting in five wars: World War II, the India-Pakistan conflict of 1947, the Sino-Indian war of 1962, the India-Pakistan war of 1965, and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

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6. "If a man says he is not terrified of death, he is either lying or a Gorkha," he once said. It is one of his famous quotes.

7. Manekshaw, 94, died of pneumonia complications in the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, on June 27, 2008, at 12:30 a.m. His last words, according to reports, were "I'm okay!"

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