Humble tribute on his Birth Anniversary
General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya (1906-1965), was a distinguished soldier of the Indian Army and a military legand in his own right, who served as Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961 in the crucial years leading up to the conflict with China in 1962.
Thimayya was the only Indian to command an Infantry brigade in battle during the Second World War and is regarded as the most distinguished combat officer the Indian Army has produced.After the Korean War, he Thimayya headed a United Nation’s unit dealing with the repatriation of prisoners of war.
After his retirement from the Army, he was appointed Commander of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyrpus from July 1964 to December 1965 and died in Cyprus while on active duty on 18 December 1965. His story reflects how the Independent India `humiliated’ a unprecedented combat fighter.
His elder brother Ponappa served in the INA, while his younger brother Somaiah was killed in action in Kashmir.In the British army he had a running feud with his British officers over their snobbery and racism. He wanted to quit the Army and join the Freedom Movement , was however dissuaded by Motilal Nehru.
During Quit India movement he gave orders to the troops not to fire on the protesters. He oversaw the surrender of INA at Rangoon, his brother was one of the POWs. After the Korean War, he played a major role in repatriation of POWs winning plaudits from Gen Douglas Mc Arthur.
During the first Kashmir War in 1947, personally led from the front in a tank to capture the Zoji La Pass. He asked Nehru for just 3 months to beat back the raiders in Kashmir, however latter refused this and referred it to the UN.
Feud with Nehru, VK Menon
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.
Had the foresight to recognize the dangers from China much before any one. His appreciation of this was mocked at by Nehru in Parliament and Timmy tendered his resignation to the PM, in his office. He was again persuaded to withdraw it. But thereafter he was on the wrong side of the fulcrum.
His proposal to appoint Lt.Gen Thorat as next Army Chief was shot down by Nehru, who instead appointed the mediocre Pran Nath Thapar.
Spent last years in Cyprus
He spent his last days in Cyprus, as part of UN Peacekeeping Force during the Civil War there. Passed away in Cyprus in 1965, due to heart attack.
“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 Manekshaw, when asked who he thought was the best General of the Indian Army.
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
No important person attended his funeral, he was buried in Nondescript site at Wilson Garden cemetery. When the President of Cyprus, came to India, specifically to Honour him, our government, woke up, and hastily erected a memorial, at ASC center, Bangalore.
When General Thimayya in died Cyprus, the Cyprus Govt. declared 10 day mourning , and the their Flag was at Half Mast.
Thimayya was born in Madikeri, the district town of Kodagu (formerly known as Coorg), Karnataka, on 31 March 1906, to Subayya and Sitamma. His family was one of the leading coffee planters in the area. His mother, Sitamma, was highly educated and a social worker. She was the recipient of Kaisar-e-Hind Meda, in recognition of her work in public service. Thimayya was the third of six
Thimayya belonged to the Kodendera clan to which India’s first commander-in-chief General Cariappa also belonged (his uncle in fact). His mother, Cheppudi Chittauwa (or Cheppusi Chittavva), was from the Cheppudira family. His wife, Nina Thimayya, was a recipient of the Kaisar-e-Hind Medal, for her philanthropic contribution during the 1935 Quetta earthquake.
His maternal uncle, C.B. Ponnappa, was in the first batch of commissioned Indian officers from the Indore defence school and a batchmate of Cariappa. After completing school, Thimayya was sent to the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, a necessary stepping stone for a commission in the Indian Army.
Following his graduation from RIMC, “Timmy”, as he was affectionately known, was one of only six Indian cadets selected for further training at the Royal Military College, Sandurst.
