It is time to remember one of greatest sons of India on his Birth anniversary today. Man of Men, as the General is called. We are talking about the only Indian to command an Infantry Brigade during WW2 & regarded as the most distinguished Combat Officer the Indian Army ever produced. None else but General Thimayya.
Born on March 31,1906, Mercara’s Kodandera Subayya Thimayya was called “without doubt the greatest” by Major General E D’Souza, PVSM (Retd).
“General Thimayya was not only a brilliant tactician and strategist but one whose vision went beyond everyone else’s. The challenges he faced, and his response to them, were simply incomparable,” said Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw, MC when asked who he thought was the best General of the Indian Army.
Famous author Humphrey Evans in his book, ‘Thimayya of India” described Thimayya as a legend who led a life of a great soldier and a man with ethics.
As a child, he was always ahead in extracurricular activities. At the tender age of 15, young Timmy joined the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College. The institution trained Indian cadets to join British Army’s prestigious academy, Sandhurst.
It was considered a tough shot to get admission to the institute, especially by an Indian. But, Thimayya managed to do so. After life at Sandhurst, Thimayya got posted at Bangalore. A year later, he served with the 4th Battalion of 19th Hyderabad Regiment in Baghdad in 1927.
Padma Bhushan awardee, General Thimayya led the Infantry brigade in Burma during the Second World War. He was also known for playing a key role during the surprise attack on Pakistani raiders during post-independence clashes in 1948.
During his 35 years long career, General K S Thimayya got recognised with the General Service Medal and Indian Independence Medal for his services when India got independence in 1947.
After his two-year stint in Singapore, Thimayya was granted a transfer to Agra as Second-in-Command, spending the last few months of 1941 there.
He served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961. He excelled in shouldering his duties and responsibilities.
The history between Pandit Nehru and Thimayya goes back in time. It is said that they had cordial relationships with one another. However, many believed that it was also Nehru because of whom Thimayya had resigned. In September 1959, General Thimayya sent his resignation to Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. But, soon he withdrew it.
It is believed that the resignation was motivated by his unhappiness with the style of functioning of the then Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon. They both had disagreements over the promotion of senior officers.
However, Shiv Kumar Verma’s book gives another version, that it was in fact Nehru and Menon’s conspiracy to discredit the army chief and a series of other events that led to India’s Worst defeat during the Indo-China conflict of 1962.
An excerpt from the book.. says-
“Nehru was waiting for Thimayya and for the first time, the normally reticent Timmy exchanged angry words with the prime minister. He told Nehru that his arbitrary decision of making NEFA [North-East Frontier Agency] the responsibility of the army, made public in Parliament, was preposterous and completely against Indian interests. Thimayya felt that Nehru had completely compromised the army.
Without providing the additional resources required, handing over the borders to the army was a meaningless gesture; this would allow the Chinese the opportunity to claim that the Indians were the aggressors, for they always went to great pains to describe their own troops as border guards. Thimayya asked Nehru to find a way out of the mess in the next couple of weeks, after which he departed. Immediately after Thimayya’s departure, the shaken prime minister summoned Krishna Menon to Teen Murti.
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