A proud soldier, a military leader par excellence and a great human being.
A General Thimayya is not born in every generation.
Birth anniversary of General KS Thimayya aka Timmy Sahib, a military legend in his own right.
1. He was the first Indian to ever command an Infantry Brigade during the WWII.
2. His elder brother Ponnappa served in the INA, while his younger brother Somaiah was killed in action in Kashmir.
3. In the Army he had a running feud with his British officers over their snobbery and racism.
4. He wanted to quit the Army and join the freedom movement but was however and fortunately dissuaded by PM Motilal Nehru.
5. During Quit India movement he gave orders to the troops not to fire on the protesters.
6. He oversaw the surrender of INA at Rangoon, his brother, Ponnappa was one of the POW(Prisoner of War).
7. After the Korean War, he played a major role in repatriation of POWs, winning plaudits from General Douglas MacArthur.
8. During the first Kashmir War in 1947, personally led from the front, in a tank to capture the Zozi La Pass.
9. He asked Nehru for just three months to beat back the raiders in Kashmir, however the latter (controversial) referred it to the UN.
10. Had a running feud with the Defence Minister VK Menon (Another LUTYENS Roadblock) over undue interference with Army.
11. Had the foresight to recognize the dangers from China, much before any one.
12. His proposal to appoint Lt Gen Thorat as Army Chief was shot down by Nehru, who instead appointed the mediocre Pran Nath Thapar (Also COR of the RAJPUTANA RIFLES).
He spent his last days in Cyprus , as part of UN Peacekeeping Force during the Civil War there.
He passed away in Cyprus in 1965, due to heart attack.
No important person attended his funeral (like Sam’s), he was buried in a nondescript site at Wilson Garden Cemetery.
When the President of Cyprus, came to India, specifically to honour him, our government (then the LUTYENS), woke up and hastily erected a memorial, at ASC center, Bangalore.
When General Thimayya died in Cyprus, the Cyprus Govt declared a 10 day mourning , and their Flag was at Half Mast !
On his birth anniversary please do forward this to as many as you can.
Posted by a proud RIMCOLLIAN, alumnus of RIMC.
VIVA RIMC – JAI HIND!.
Delighted to read this a post on CLN Online.
Few additional inputs on my Uncle:
– An important military point was that General Thimmayya was commissioned at Sandhurst.
– The men he commanded of all ranks held him in high regard.
– Also, he was present at the signing of the surrender of the Japanese in Singapore and in Manila.
– He was sent to Tokyo by Field Marshal Auchinleck after the war ended to resolve a sit-down strike by a Gurkhas unit, who were refusing to follow orders from their British officers, which he did quickly and fairly, after which he was recalled to India by Auchinleck as Indian Independance approached.
– He spoke well and was an excellent dancer, tall and dark, well built and light on his feet. Much in demand in the soirees, in Korea and Cyprus, as well at his postings in Indian Army. My mother, his youngest sister, doted on him.
I met a young lady from Cyprus 50 years ago, who told me how he was held in such high esteem by local Cypriots for his handling of the situation with such fairness and if I remember correctly, he was on a postage stamp in Cyprus, much before it happened in India.