Hira Lal Atal

Hira Lal Atal was the first Cadet Captain [Page 23, Where Gallantry is Tradition: Saga of Rashtriya Indian Military College, By Bikram Singh, Sidharth Mishra, Contributor Rashtriya Indian Military College, Published 1997, Allied Publishers, ISBN 8170236495] , or Head Boy, of the famous Rashtriya Indian Military College, which was at that time known as the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun. The year was 1922 and the RIMC had just been established in an attempt to nurture native Indians to help them take command of the British Indian Army. He was at the Rawlinson Section, which later came to be known as Pratap Section after 1947.

He went on to achieve the rank of Major General and was the first native Adjutant General of the Indian Union. [Page 51, Where Gallantry is Tradition: Saga of Rashtriya Indian Military College, By Bikram Singh, Sidharth Mishra, Contributor Rashtriya Indian Military College, Published 1997, Allied Publishers, ISBN 8170236495] He was entrusted with the responsibility of designing the Indian equivalent of the Victoria Cross by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. General Atal knew Savitri Khanolkar, who was a friend's wife, and he also knew about her deep knowledge and interest in ancient Indian philosophy. He asked her to help and thus was created the Param Vir Chakra.

His brother K.L. Atal, who went on to win the Mahavir Chakra [Page 57, Where Gallantry is Tradition: Saga of Rashtriya Indian Military College, By Bikram Singh, Sidharth Mishra, Contributor Rashtriya Indian Military College, Published 1997, Allied Publishers, ISBN 8170236495] , was a Rimcollian as well.

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