Intellectual warrior (1913-2000)
General Kumarmangalam was born on 1 July 1913 in the family estate of Kumarmangalam near Thiruchengode in Salem district of Tamil Nadu. His father, P. Subburayam was a prosperous landlord, freedom fighter, Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency, a minister in the Nehru cabinet and Governor of Maharashtra. He had his early education at home and went to a prep school in United Kingdom at the age of 11 years. He did his secondary education at Eton College and joined the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in 1933, the second Indian officer to do so. He was the last King’s Commissioned Indian officer in the Indian Army.
In September 1940, the Italian Army attacked Egypt, which was then a British Protectorate. The attack was beaten back. Tobruk in Libya was captured and held by the Allies. The Africa Corps under Rommel arrived in Africa in February 1941 to help the Italian Army and commenced advance on 24 March 1941. Tobruk was a good harbour between Tripoli and Alexandria. It was vital for the Allies to hold on to Tobruk and successive attacks by the German Army were beaten back. The Tobruk siege was lifted by the 8th Army on 27 November 1941.
Rommel abandoned Tobruk and resumed offensive on 21 January 1942 after receiving reinforcements and supplies. He captured Benghazi on 28 January and pressed on Tobruk. In early 1942, Kumarmangalam was posted to the artillery unit in Tobruk. On 27 May, Rommel attacked the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade which had been deployed at Ghazala at short notice. It faced the full fury of attack by German tanks and the position was overrun in two hours. Two hundred soldiers were killed and 17 officers including Major Kumarmangalm and about 670 JCOs and soldiers were taken prisoners. For his courageous action, Kumarmangalam was awarded DSO and MBE.
On 1 June 1942, Tobruk fell. The soldiers were released due to shortage of water and the others were flown to Italy. Kumarmangalam was the senior most Indian officer and was appointed Camp Senior officer. Incidentally, Captain (later C-in-C Pakistan Army) Yahya Khan was the Camp Adjutant. They were later moved to PW Camp PG 91 (PG stands for prigione di guerra meaning prison of war) in Avezzano. In the confusion that followed the surrender by Italy in 1943, Kumarmangalam, Lt. Sahibzada Yaqub (later foreign minister of Pakistan) and Lt. Abhey Singh managed to escape from the camp. Yaqub spoke Italian and with the help of sympathetic villagers, they tried to move towards the Allied troops in the South. They were captured by the Germans after four months and sent to a prison camp in Silesia in Germany. The escapes through tunneling has been depicted in two films, The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse. On 27 January 1945, they were taken to Sprenberg when the Russian Army was just 20 km away. They were liberated by the United States Army on 29 April 1945 and returned to India.
Kumarmangalam went to USA for artillery training and became Brigadier in 1948. He commanded the elite Parachute Brigade and carried out various staff and command appointments He was the Adjutant General at Army HQ when Y. B. Chavan became Defence Minister after the 1962 debacle. He took charge of the Eastern Command in 1963, followed by a tenure as Vice Chief. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff on 8 June 1966, the first artillery officer to be so honoured. He prepared the army for the next war and was decorated with the award of Padma Vibhushan in 1970 and retired on 7 June 1969.
He enjoyed cricket and polo and was president of the Indian Polo Association and World Wild Life Fund. The brave warrior, intellectual and sportsman passed away on 13 March 2000 at the age of 87.