Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam

Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam
Born	July 1, 1913(1913-07-01) Madras Presidency, India
Died	March 13, 2000(2000-03-13) (aged 86) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	military officer

General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam, PV, DSO, MBE (Tamil: பரமசிவ பிரபாகர் குமாரமங்கலம்) (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.

Early life and education

P.P. Kumaramangalam was born to the Former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency Dr. P. Subbarayan in the zamindari 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, ^[1] and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1935.^[2]

Military life

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.^[3] He was taken Prisoner of War (PoW) in Italy in 1942. He escaped; however he was captured again and imprisoned, this time in Germany, where he was transferred to Stalag Luft III a high security camp for PoWs. At the end of the war in 1945, he returned to India. In 1946, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire.^[4] He became a Brigadier in 1948.

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 15 January 1965 he became Vice Chief of the Army Staff. General Kumaramangalam took over as the Chief of the Army Staff on 8 June 1966, the first Indian gunner officer and a paratrooper 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 until his retirement on 7 June 1969. He received the Padma Vibushan in 1970.

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.

Family

His brother was the renowned politician Mohan Kumaramangalam.

Death

He died following a heart attack on 13 March 2000.

See also

Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army

1. ^ http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33974/pages/5733
2. ^ http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34173/pages/4012
3. ^ http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35665/pages/3543
4. ^ http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37536/supplements/1949

Preceded by Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri

Chief of Army Staff 1966 – 1969

Succeeded by Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw

Persondata
Name	Kumaramangalam, P P
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 July 1913
Place of birth	Madras Presidency, India
Date of death	13 March 2000
Place of death	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India