New Delhi, June 26 (PTI): A soldier’s general, Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw crafted India’s greatest military victory in the 1971 war that created not only history but also a new nation.

Affectionately called Sam Bahadur, Manekshaw (94) was the architect of many a military triumph but his finest hour came when Pakistani forces were vanquished in 14 days flat. And Bangladesh was born.

Flamboyant, witty and sporting his trademark handlebar moustache, Manekshaw had the rare distinction of being honoured with the Military Cross on the battle front itself during the Second World War.

He was also the first Indian officer to command the Gorkhas after India got independence.

Manekshaw, who got a second life after the young captain survived near fatal wounds during the Second World War in Burma, is the first of only two Indian military officers to hold the highest rank of field marshal of the Indian Army (the other being Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa).

His distinguished military career spanned four decades from the British era and through five wars, including the Second World War.

Manekshaw always had his way with people, including the head of government.

Just before the Bangladesh operations in December 1971, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, asked Manekshaw, who was the army chief then: “General, are you ready (for the war)?”

Pat came the reply from the dapper officer: “I am always ready, sweetie.” Indira Gandhi was not unpleased, nor offended.

On another occasion, Indira Gandhi asked him whether he was planning to take over the country. Pointing to his long nose, the general replied: “I don’t use it to poke into others’ affairs.”

When Indira Gandhi asked him to go to Dhaka and accept the surrender of Pakistani forces, Manekshaw declined, magnanimously saying that the honour should go to his army commander in the east (Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora). Manekshaw said he would go only if it were to accept the surrender of the entire Pakistani army.

A shrewd tactician, Manekshaw meticulously planned the Indian attack on Pakistan on both fronts – the east and the west. While the Indian forces captured the then East Pakistan, the army made heavy inroads in the western sector, going up to Lahore.

He masterminded the rout of the Pakistan army in one of the quickest victories in recent military history to liberate Bangladesh.

Born on April 3, 1914, in Amritsar to Parsi parents who migrated to Punjab from the small town of Valsad on the Gujarat coast, Manekshaw rose to be the eighth chief of staff of the Indian Army in 1969.

In 1937, at a social gathering in Lahore, Manekshaw met Silloo Bode. They fell in love and were married on April 22, 1939.