The most memorable contribution of the southern Indian troops in the Kashmir War was the role played by the Madras Sappers in the victory of Zojila Pass. Another battalion of the Madras Regiment that had an eventful stint was the 4th Madras. Twenty one of them were killed and 96 wounded. Despite the loss of their commanding officer early on during the operations, the unit put up a sterling performance, earning one of their gritty NCOs, Naik Raju, a Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest gallantry award, and seven others Vir Chakras and 16 Mention in Dispatches. Menon’s battalion was one of the first to take the field. The Kashmir War of 1947-48 saw a large complement of troops – both infantry and engineers – from the south in the thick of action. Menon, from Palakkad, was killed during the Kashmir War of 1947-48 while commanding his battalion as a Lieutenant-Colonel. Noronha, who hailed from Thangassery near Kollam, had an illustrious post-War military career till he retired as Lieutenant-General. Menon of the 1st Battalion of the Madras Regiment, who led his company in an audacious amphibious assault on the Indonesian town of Sourabaya – it left 20 of his men dead and 52 wounded – was awarded the Military Cross. During this action, one of his JCOs, Jamedar Thomas, who displayed outstanding tenacity, was awarded the Military Cross. Later during the counter-offensive, he led an attack on an enemy stronghold on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, where he won the bar to his earlier award. With his battalion facing the Japanese onslaught in the Kabaw Valley, the notorious ‘Valley of Death’ on the Indo-Burma border, he held out with his company for 16 days at Sita Ridge. Noronha of the 4th Battalion of the Madras Regiment being decorated with the same award twice – MC with bar – for acts of conspicuous gallantry. Manekshaw, then-Captain of the 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment and later Chief of the Army Staff and Field Marshal, won a Military Cross, also saw a young officer, Captain R.S. Another JCO, Subedar Thangaraju, was decorated with an American Silver Star for a daring bridging operation conducted under fire in support of a U.S. During the Italian Campaign, another hero of the Sappers, Jemadar Perumal, won a Military Cross for capturing three German soldiers single-handedly: it is the third highest award for an act of gallantry while facing the enemy, equivalent to the Vir Chakra. Subedar Subramaniam’s was just one of many heroic feats during the Second World War by soldiers from the south. Narasiah, scholar-historian, in a recent article mentions having met the war hero’s son, Durailingam, who expressed his unhappiness over the Indian Army not making use of his ancestral home that he donated to honour his father’s memory. The authorities of Kancheepuram district built a memorial for him in Keelottivakkam village. The Madras Engineer Group (MEG) to which Subramaniam belonged, remembers him with a day named after him.

But in his own country and State he remains forgotten. The Sangro River Cremation Memorial in Italy erected in memory of the officers and men from India who fell fighting in Italy during the Second World War and were cremated there, and the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill in London that commemorates the Allied dead of that war, carry Subramaniam’s name. His act saved the lives of the entire group, including that of a young British officer. With seconds left for it to explode, Subramaniam hurled himself on top of it, smothering the explosion with his own body. One of the men stepped on a mine and triggered it. His 11 Field Park Company was engaged in mine-clearing operations on Februfor an attack on the mountain monastery of Cassino, the focal point of the German Gustav Line 100 miles south of Rome. Subramaniam of the Madras Sappers made the ultimate sacrifice to save his comrades’ lives during the Italian Campaign.

The George Cross is the highest British award for gallantry while not facing the enemy roughly the equivalent of India’s own Ashok Chakra.

>The Hindu, ), one was reminded of the gallantry of the first-ever Indian recipient of this medal. Reading of the George Cross that had been awarded posthumously to an Indian soldier in 1946 but that ended up in London after getting stolen, being returned to his widow living in Himachal Pradesh by the British High Commission (

Real war heroes