Cariappa & Manekshaw : Field Marshals who defined courage
“Look after all of them well. They are all my sons,” said Field Marshal Cariappa, refusing special treatment for his POW son.
Updated At : 07:11 AM Oct 28, 2025 IST
Sandeep Joshi
AFTER 1947, among India’s first six Army chiefs, two were, in the literal sense, sons of the soil: schooling and college in India, one, KM Cariappa, commissioned from the temporary Cadets Facility in Daly College, Indore, and the other, SFJ Manekshaw, from the inaugural session of IMA, Dehradun; both graduated from the Defence Services Staff College, Quetta; both were blooded and distinguished over battlefields during WW II, the first was thrice decorated for distinguished service — in Iraq, Persia and Burma — with a Mention-in-Despatches and an OBE, the second with MC for Valour in Burma and Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan for Services in India.
