Subedar Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History ''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was th ...

Subramanian, (18 December 1912 – 24 February 1944) was the first Indian to be awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has be ...

.World War Two – India 2
at www.wewerethere.mod.uk Subramanian served with Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners, a unit 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 ...

, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. On 24 February 1944, during the Allied campaign in Italy he won the George Cross at Mignano by throwing himself onto a mine about to detonate and thus successfully protecting others from the blast. His award was gazetted posthumously on 30 June 1944. He was also awarded the

Indian Distinguished Service Medal The Indian Distinguished Service Medal (IDSM) was a military decoration awarded by the British Empire to Indian citizens serving in the Indian armed forces and military police. When it was instituted in 1907 it was the second highest award avail ...

Footnotes

References

*Kempton, Chris, ''The Victoria Crosses and George Crosses of the Honourable East India Company and Indian Army'', Military Press, 2001, *Turner, John Frayn, ''Awards of the George Cross, 1940–2009'', Casemate Publishers, 2010. 1912 births 1944 deaths British Indian Army soldiers Indian Army personnel killed in World War II Indian recipients of the George Cross Recipients of the Indian Distinguished Service Medal Landmine victims Military personnel from Chennai {{India-mil-bio-stub