Brigadier Mervyn Adrian Cardoza (1922 – 17 November 2010) was a one-star general in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. In 1965, Cardoza was awarded the Tamgha-e-Khidmat by President

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

for Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Background and family

He was first educated at

St Patrick's High School, Karachi St Patrick's High School is a Catholic primary and secondary school located in Saddar Town, Sindh, Karachi, Pakistan. Founded by the Jesuits in 1861, the school is the second-oldest school in Karachi.Ali, G. and Ali, M. St. Patrick’s: A journ ...

. Cardoza attended

St. George's College, Mussoorie St. George's College, Mussoorie, is an all-boys boarding and non-boarding school in Mussoorie, in the state of Uttarakhand, India, affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations board. The school, an all-boys resident ...

from where he graduated in 1944. He had three sons, Chris, Bruce and Geof. He had nine grandchildren.

Career

Following graduation, he joined the Army, and at the time of partition opted to serve in the Pakistan Army. He quickly moved up the ranks until retiring at the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. Cardoza, who was commanding 5 Armoured Brigade until 1970, left to take over the new post of Director Logistics in 1971. After retiring from the Army he migrated to Canada.

Death

Cardoza died in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on 17 November 2010. A funeral mass was celebrated on 20 November at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Toronto.''Toronto Star'' 18 November 2010

References

Pakistani Roman Catholics Pakistan Army brigadiers St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni 1921 births 2010 deaths Pakistani emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian Roman Catholics Military personnel from Karachi {{Pakistan-mil-bio-stub