Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam
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| Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam | |
| Born | July 1, 1913 Madras Presidency, India |
|---|---|
| Died | March 13, 2000 (aged 86) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation | military officer |
General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam (Tamil:பரமசிவ் பிரபாகர் குமாரம்களம்) PV, DSO (July 1, 1913 – March 13, 2000) was the 7th Chief of Staff of the Indian Army in the period (1967 - 1970). He was the last of the King's Commissioned Indian Officers trained at Sandhurst in the Indian Army.
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[edit] Early life and Education
P.P. Kumaramangalam was born on 1st July 1913 to the Former Cheif Minister of Madras Presidency Dr.P. Subbarayan in the zamin family of Kumaramangalam in Tamil Nadu. He had his early education at Eton College and graduated from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in England. He was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in 1933. He was the second Indian Officer to be commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery.
[edit] Military life
[edit] World War II
During World War II, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) as a Major for action in Libya on 27 May 1942. He was taken Prisoner of War in Italy in 1942. He escaped; however his luck ran out and was caught again and imprisoned, this time in Germany, where he was transferred to a high security Camp for PoWs. At the end of the war in 1945, he returned to India and became a Brigadier in 1948.
[edit] Positions held
General Kumaramangalam took over as General Officer Commanding –in - Chief, Eastern Command in May 1963. In Nov 1964 he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff and on 15th Jan 1965 he became Vice Chief of the Army Staff. General Kumaramangalam took over as the Chief of the Army Staff on June 8th 1966, the first Indian gunner officer to reach this coveted appointment. The tenure of General Kumaramangalam as Chief of the Army Staff was marked by an unpublicised but exhaustive re-organisation of the service, up gradation of weapons, training and tactics based on the lessons learned from the 1965 war. He served in the Indian Army with distinction for 36 years till his retirement on 7th June 1969. He received the Padma Vibushan in 1970.
[edit] Other Interests
He was also a polo player, horseman, show jumper, and cricketer. He was a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club, a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, and president of Indian Polo Association and Equestrian Federation of India. On retirement as army chief, he was elected President of the World Wildlife Fund - India (WWF-India) during its formative stages.
[edit] Family
His brother was the renowned politician Mohan Kumaramangalam
[edit] Death
He died following a heart attack on 13 March 2000.
[edit] See also
Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri |
Chief of Army Staff 1966 – 1969 |
Succeeded by Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw |
