Zorawar Chand Bakhshi
Recipient of Vir Chakra
Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand 'Zoru' Bakshi PVSM, MVC, VrC, VSM (21 October 1921 or 2 January 1921 – 24 May 2018) was a General Officer of the Indian Army, most widely known as one of the commanders of Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 (Operation Ablaze). He also has the distinction of being "India's most decorated General".
Family and early life
Bakshi was born to Bahadur Bakshi Lal Chand, a decorated soldier in the British Indian Army who held the OBI. He was born in Gulyana in the Rawalpindi District of the Punjab Province of British India. As with many other non-muslims of that region, his family had to shift to the newly-created Dominion of India after the Partition of India, being of Hindu faith. Prior to the partition, he graduated from Rawalpindi's Gordon College in 1942 after which he joined the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Doon.
Military career
World War II
Bakshi was commissioned into the Baloch Regiment of the British Indian Army in 1943. Later he also did a course at Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), UK. His first major battle was against the Japanese in Burma in World War II, where he earned a Mention in Despatches for overcoming a heavily fortified Japanese position. After the liberation of Burma, he participated in the operations to liberate Malaysia from Japanese control, earning a fast-track promotion to the rank of a Major for his role.
Post-Independence
Upon the Partition of India in 1947, Bakshi was transferred to the 5th Gorkha Rifles regiment of the Indian Army. In the Indo Pakistani War of 1947-1948, he was awarded a Vir Chakra for his bravery in July 1948.
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