Air Marshal Kodandera Cariappa 'Nanda' Cariappa is a former

Air Officer An air officer is an air force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". While the term originated in the Royal Air Force, air officers are also to be found in many Commonwealth nations ...

in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. He is the son of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered a ...

K. M. Cariappa ' Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa (28 January 1899 – 15 May 1993) was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army. He led Indian forces on the Western Front during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He was appoin ...

, who was the first Commander-in-Chief of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

post-independence.

Military career

Air Marshal Cariappa was a squadron leader with No. 20 Squadron during the

Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was ...

. He was shot down while carrying out air attacks during the 1965 war with Pakistan and was taken prisoner.

President Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's h ...

, a former colleague of General Cariappa before the 1947 Partition, offered to release his son. But the General's terse reply was: "The POWs are all my sons, look after them well." After repatriation K C Cariappa went on to helicopters for a short while, commanding No.111 Helicopter Unit at

Hasimara Hasimara is a town in Alipurduar district of West Bengal state, India near the border with Bhutan. It is located at 26° 45' N latitude and 89° 21' E longitude at an altitude of 109 metres above sea level and has a population of about 40,000 (20 ...

during the

1971 War The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Dece ...

. He would later command No.8 Squadron in the mid 70s at

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. He wrote a biography on his father, Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa in 2007. He presently lives in his deceased father's house Roshanara in

Madikeri Madikeri is a hill station town in Madikeri taluk and headquarters of Kodagu district in Karnataka, India. Etymology Madikeri was known as ''Muddu Raja Keri'', which meant Mudduraja's town, was named after the prominent Haleri king Muddu ...

. He takes an active part in forest and wildlife conservation measures.

Bibliography

* ''Field Marshal KM Cariappa'', a biography

References

Living people Indian Air Force air marshals Indian Air Force officers Indian aviators Indian prisoners of war Pilots of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Kodava people People from Kodagu district Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Vayu Sena Medal Shot-down aviators 1938 births Prisoners of war held by Pakistan National Defence Academy (India) alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni Academic staff of the Defence Services Staff College Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies College of Defence Management alumni Academic staff of the College of Air Warfare {{India-mil-bio-stub