Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Ajit Anil "Jik" Rudra OBE (20 October 1896 – 3 November 1993) was an Indian military officer who served as General Officer Commanding, Southern Command 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- ...

Early life and education

Born in Delhi to the famous educationist S. K. Rudra and Priyobala Singha, he was educated at

St. Stephen's College, Delhi St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, widely regarded as one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for arts and sciences in India. It was established in 1881 by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. The college ...

and at

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He thereafter went on to attend

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Marriage

Jik married Edith Lall on 16th November 1923 at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Cathedral.

Military career

With the out break of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Rudra enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

leaving Cambridge to join the University and Public School Brigade and took part in the

Battle of Mons A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Having not been qualified for a commission he joined the 2nd Battalion of the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

and took part in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

having been one of the 80 odd survivors of the charge of the 500 Fusiliers. He went on to become a sergeant and was wounded. In 1918, he was selected for OTC at Inns of court but was not able to complete it as the war ended. Having been declined a commission, he requested to be discharged from the Army. The war office instead sent him to India. After World War I concluded in 1918, the Indian politicians raised a demand to grant Indians the

King's Commission A commission is a formal document issued to appoint a named person to high office or as a Officer (armed forces)#Commission sources and training, commissioned officer in a territory's armed forces. A commission constitutes documentary authority ...

. After strict screening, Rudra was selected for the first batch that underwent rigorous pre-commission training. In 1919, he joined the first batch of the

King's Commissioned Indian Officer A King commissioned Indian officer (KCIO) was an Indian officer of the British Indian Army who held a full King's commission after training in the United Kingdom, either at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst for infantry officers, Woolwich for ...

s (KCIOs) at the Daly College in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is t ...

. His batchmates included

Kodandera M. Cariappa ' Field Marshal (India), Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa (28 January 1899 – 15 May 1993) was the first Indian Chief of the Army Staff (India), Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army. He led Indian forces on the Western Fron ...

, who later went on to become a

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 as ...

of the

. On 1 December 1919, Rudra was commissioned into the 28th Punjabis as a temporary second lieutenant in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

, and was posted in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

; seven months later, on 17 July 1920, he was appointed to a permanent commission as a second lieutenant, with seniority from the date of his temporary commission. Promoted to temporary lieutenant on 1 December 1920, he took part in the

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

and served in the North-West Frontier, Baluchistan, Waziristan and Peshawar, receiving promotion to the substantive rank of lieutenant on 17 July 1921. Rudra was promoted to captain on 17 October 1927; he was promoted to major on 27 March 1939. During

World War II 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he took part in the

Arakan Campaign 1942–43 The Arakan Campaign of 1942–43 was the first tentative Allied attack into Burma, following the Japanese conquest of Burma earlier in 1942, during the Second World War. The British Army and British Indian Army were not ready for offensive ac ...

. During this period, he was promoted to acting lieutenant-colonel on 15 June 1943 and to temporary lieutenant-colonel on 14 September 1943. In 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Rudra was transferred to the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

GHQ India GHQ may refer to: * Garhwa railway station, in Jharkhand, India * General Health Questionnaire * General headquarters, or, specifically: ** General Headquarters (Pakistan Army) ** Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (General Headquarters in ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Claude Auchinleck Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commande ...

, and was promoted to acting colonel on 3 April 1945. He was further promoted to temporary colonel on 3 October 1945 and to acting brigadier on 27 March 1946. In June 1946, Rudra was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(Military Division) in the British government's Birthday Honours List. The following month, on 17 July 1946, by then a temporary brigadier and Director of Morale, GHQ, he was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1948, the year after India gained its independence, Brigadier Rudra was serving as the Military Secretary at GHQ and was instrumental in the formation of the post independence

. He was subsequently promoted to acting major-general and given command of a division, with promotion to substantive major-general on 1 January 1950. During the Annexation of Hyderabad he led a field force that attacked from

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

. He was appointed General Officer Commanding, Southern Command and retired in 1959. He died in 1993 at the age of 97 after prolonged illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudra, Ajit Anil 1896 births 1993 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Indian military personnel of World War I Indian Army personnel of World War II Indian generals British Indian Army officers Royal Fusiliers soldiers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War

Early life and education

Marriage

Military career

Further reading

References