Famous/forgotten War heroes : Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair

Famous/forgotten War heroes

crousel

Famous/forgotten War heroes

After a long and hard fought battle, India finally achieved its independence on 15th August 1947. But even after this, India has had to fight many more battles, mostly with its neighbours, to keep its borders safe and maintain the dignity of the country as a strong nation.

On this Independence Day, let us salute some famous and a few forgotten sons of our motherland whose tales of bravery inspire and evoke an awe in every Indian’s heart. Some of them even laid their lives while safeguarding the country.

crousel

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (3rd Apr 1914 - 27th Jun 2008)

Sam Manekshaw, also fondly called Sam Bahadur, was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. Starting his exploits with World War II, Manekshaw took part in five battles and had a career spanning over four decades. He was the eighth Indian Army chief and under his command, India defeated Pakistan in 1971, thereby liberating Bangladesh.

crousel

Field Marshal KM Cariappa (28th Jan 1899 - 15th May 1993)

Kodandera Madappa Cariappa was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army and in 1947 Indo-Pak War he led the Indian forces on the Western front. He is among only two Indian Army officers to hold the post of Field Marshal. His distinguished career spanned three decades. During the partition, Cariappa handled the division of the Indian Army and sharing of its assets between India and Pakistan.

crousel

Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora (13th Feb 1916- 3rd May 2005)

Jagjit Singh Aurora was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. He had led the ground forces which gave a crushing defeat to Pakistan and helped in the creation of Bangladesh.

crousel

Major Somnath Sharma (31st Jan 1923- 3rd Nov 1947)

Major Somnath Sharma is the first recipient of India’s highest wartime gallantry medal - Param Veer Chakra. In a heroic show of valour, Major Sharma laid down his life for his country on November 3rd, 1947 in Kashmir, in a brave fight against the Pakistani troops. Under heavy fire and outnumbered, Somnath Sharma and his troops fought till the last drop of blood in their body and halted the advances of Pak invaders till reinforcements arrived.  

crousel

Gurbachan Singh Salaria (29th Nov 1935- 5th Dec 1961)

Gurbachan Salaria was commissioned in the 1st Gorkha Rifles on 9th June 1957. India contributed many of its forces in Congo, after a civil war broke out their in 1961. Captain Salaria prevented the enemy from going to the UN Headquarters in Elizabethville. The valiant captain and his men killed 40 enemy soldiers and knocked out two cars. His bold action and amazing leadership quality demoralised the enemy who fled despite having more numbers. Captain Gurbachan succumbed to his injuries and was awarded the Param Veer Chakra for his bravery.  

crousel

Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri

Kuldip Singh Chandpuri held the rank of Major in the Indian Army’s 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment when the Pak Army attacked the Longewala post in Rajasthan, in1971. Chandpuri and his company of 120 soldiers defended the post, against the 2000-3000 strong assault force of the 51st Infantry Brigade. Kuldip Singh and his men held the Pakistani army for an entire night before Indian Air Force arrived in the morning. The much acclaimed film ‘Border’ was made with Sunny Deol playing the role of ‘Major Chandpuri’.  

crousel

Nand Singh

Nand Singh has the distinction of receiving the British Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Post-independence, he also took part in India’s first war with Pakistan in 1947, where he was mortally injured at the age of 33.

crousel

Captain Anuj Nayyar

Captain Anuj Nayyar of 17 JAT Regiment was killed on Pimple 1, in the South West sector of Tiger Hills on 5th July 1999. Anuj Nayyar killed nine enemy soldiers and destroyed three medium machine gun bunkers of the enemy. The success of this operation was due to the outstanding bravery and leadership of Captain Nayyar. He was awarded Maha Veer Chakra for his sacrifice.

crousel

Lieutenant Vikram Batra

Lieutenant Vikram Batra is another hero of 1999 Kargil War who was influential in recapturing Peak 5140, at 17000 feet, from the enemy. The Peak was very important and Batra showed immaculate courage while capturing it. Nicknamed ‘Sher Shah’ for his exemplary bravery, an enemy counter-attack cut short his life at the age of 24. He was awarded with the highest military honour Param Veer Chakra for his courage.

crousel

Flight Lieutenant R Massay, Flight Lieutenant MA Ganapathy, Flying Officer D Lazarus

The Battle of Boyra in 1971 showcased three of India’s finest and most daring pilot of Indian Air Force- Flt Lt R Massay, Flt Lt MA Ganapathy and Fg Offr D Lazarus. The scene in action was in a small hamlet of Boyra, where the Pak Air Force jets were provocating the Indian Army by repeated incursions. The three pilots were given the job of thwarting the incursions. Massay, Ganapathy and Lazarus shot down two of the Pak jets while the third had an accident. All three became heroes overnight.

crousel

Flight Lieutenant Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon

He was the only officer of Indian Air Force to have received the military honour of Param Veer Chakra. He was awarded the gallantry award in recognition of his lone defence of the Srinagar Air Base against a Pakistan air raid during the war of 1971.

crousel

Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav

Among many other Indian soldiers who re-captured the Tiger Hill during the Kargil War of 1999, Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav was one of them. Despite hit by three bullets in his groin and shoulder, Yadav climbed up a cliff of 60 feet and lobbed a grenade in the enemy army bunker, killing Pak soldiers and neutralizing enemy fire. This brave act of Yadav allowed his platoon to climb the cliff without any difficulty. His courage was saluted by the Indian government by giving him the Param Veer Chakra.

crousel

Major Dhan Singh Thapa

The Sirijap Valley, near the Pangong Lake in Ladakh was considered crucial for the defence of Chushul airfield. The 1/8 Gorkha Rifles had outposts their to thwart any incursions. Major Dhan Singh Thapa, in-charge of outpost Sirijap-1, repulsed a major Chinese attack. He fought very bravely inflicting heavy losses to the Chinese, who were constantly attacking the Indian posts. He even went on to fight in a hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, before being finally overpowered by the Chinese. Param Veer Chakra was awarded to him for his bravery for facing such a gruesome enemy at such a high altitude.

crousel

Lieutenant Arvind Singh

Lieutenant Arvind Singh was an officer with the Indian Marines Special Forces in 1987 who was deployed with the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was awarded the Maha Veer Chakra for advancing his team through the heavily mined areas of Jaffna. He has been bestowed with many more medals and is one of the most decorated officers of the Indian Navy.

crousel

Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair

Colonel Neelakantan Nair of 16 Maratha Light Infantry was deployed in Nagaland in 1993. His convoy was ambushed by Naga rebels, when the Colonel showed exemplary bravery by breaking the ambush and saving his men. But in all this he laid down his own life. Colonel Nair was awarded Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra, the only Indian to win both the prestigious awards.

By Sushmita Dutta

More Slideshow

In solemn remembrance - The Heroes of our Freedom

Independence Day in Words of India`s Great Leaders

Landmark political events since 1947

Snippets of PMs` speeches

India`s military strength

45th anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Ways to help save environment

Climate Change: 10 Islands that may disappear

Women`s day: Eminent women in Science

The Week That Was - October 04

The Week That Was - September 27

Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks in India

First Prev 1 2 3 4 5  .. Next Last