Major Somnath Sharma, PVC, was an officer of the Indian Army, and the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration, which he was awarded posthumously.
19 Facts About Somnath Sharma
2.
Somnath Sharma served in Burma during the Arakan Campaign of World War II, for which he was mentioned in despatches.
3.
Somnath Sharma was born into a Dogra Brahmin family on 31 January 1923 at Dadh, Kangra, Punjab.
4.
Somnath Sharma completed his schooling at Sherwood College, Nainital, before enrolling at the Prince of Wales Royal Military College in Dehradun.
5.
Somnath Sharma later studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
6.
On 22 February 1942, upon his graduation from the Royal Military College, Somnath Sharma was commissioned into the 9th Battalion, 19th34Hyderabad Regiment, of the British Indian Army.
7.
Somnath Sharma was mentioned in despatches for his actions during the fighting of the Arakan Campaign.
8.
At 2:35pm, Somnath Sharma's company was fired upon from the local resident houses in Badgam but counter-fire was not ordered to avoid injuring or killing innocent civilians.
9.
Somnath Sharma realized the importance of holding onto his position as both the city of Srinagar and the airport would be vulnerable if lost.
10.
When heavy casualties adversely affected the company's firing power, Somnath Sharma took upon himself the task of distributing ammunition to his men, operating light machine guns.
11.
Major General Amarnath Somnath Sharma received India's first and highest war-time gallantry medal, Param Vir Chakra, on behalf of his brave son.
12.
Coincidentally, Savitri Khanolkar, the mother-in-law of Somnath Sharma's brother, was the designer of the Param Vir Chakra.
13.
On 3 November 1947, Major Somnath Sharma's company was ordered on a fighting patrol to Badgam in the Kashmir Valley.
14.
Fully realizing the gravity of the situation and the direct threat that would result to both the aerodrome and Srinagar via Hum Hom, Major Somnath Sharma urged his company to fight the enemy tenaciously.
15.
Somnath Sharma repeatedly exposed himself to the full fury of enemy fire and laid out cloth strips to guide our aircraft onto their targets in full view of the enemy.
16.
Major Somnath Sharma's company held on to this position and the remnants withdrew only when almost completely surrounded.
17.
Somnath Sharma's inspiring example resulted in the enemy being delayed for six hours, thus gaining time for our reinforcements to get into position at Hum Hom to stem the tide of the enemy advance.
18.
Somnath Sharma has set an example of courage and qualities seldom equalled in the history of the Indian Army.
19.
The crude oil tanker named MT Major Somnath Sharma, PVC was delivered to SCI on 11 June 1984.