How Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw became Sam Bahadur

A copper box decorated with the crest of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment, pre-1947.

In the desperate days of 1942 in Burma, the Indian Army was fighting with its back to the wall against the Japanese. During the battle for Pagoda Hill, near the Sittang bridgehead, a young Captain of the 4th battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, was shot and badly wounded in the stomach. But not before capturing the hill and being recommended for the Military Cross. His name was Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw. Bullets from his lungs, liver and kidneys were removed. Most of his intestines were also removed. But he still had enough guts to return to the front and in 1945 supervised the disarmament of 10,000 Japanese POWs.