Gopal Gurunath Bewoor

Chief of Army Staff (India)
In office 16 Jan 1973 – 31 May 1975
Preceded by	Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
Succeeded by	General Tapishwar Narain Raina
Ambassador of India to Denmark
In office Feb 1976 – Feb 1978
Personal details
Born	(1916-08-11)11 August 1916 Seoni, British India
Died	24 October 1989(1989-10-24) (aged 73)
Spouse	Radhika Gokhale
Military career
Allegiance	British India  India
Service/branch	British Indian Army  Indian Army
Years of service	15 July 1937 - 31 May 1975
Rank	General
Service number	IC-129[1]
Unit	Dogra Regiment 10th Baluch Regiment Green Howards
Commands held	Southern Army XXXIII Corps 27 Infantry Division 80 Infantry Brigade Director General, NCC
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Padma Bhushan (1972)

In a long service spanning four decades, Gen. Bewoor saw action during

till 1979.

In 1972, he was honoured with Padma Bhushan the third highest Indian civilian award.^[4]

Family and education

Born at

. A part of the Kitchener section, Gopal was appointed Cadet Captain in 1934. He also won Lord Rawlinson's trophy during this time.

Commissioned into the Indian Army

Bewoor was commissioned a second

, and then he was appointed as the Under Secretary (Military) to the Viceroy's Coordination Council. He was the only Indian officer to have achieved this feat.

At Independence in 1947, Bewoor was the Secretary of the Army Partition Committee in 1947, which determined the allotment of weapons, equipment and regiments that were to remain in India or to be allotted to Pakistan. Since his parent regiment - the Baluch - went to Pakistan, he was transferred to the Dogra Regiment and promoted to acting lieutenant colonel in December 1947. With a view to imparting basic military training to school and college students, he was appointed as the Director of the NCC (National Cadet Corps) in April 1948 with the acting rank of full colonel, and was promoted substantive major on 30 August 1949.^[8]

Promoted to general rank

He was promoted to the acting rank of Brigadier in 1951, later assuming command of the 80th Infantry Brigade in Jammu & Kashmir. He was appointed as the Director, Personnel Services at Army HQ in August 1953, and was promoted to substantive colonel on 30 August 1956.^[9] The following year, on 4 June 1957, he was again promoted to acting brigadier and given command of an infantry brigade.^[10]

On 27 February 1959 at the age of 42 years and 6 months he was promoted to acting Major General as the first Chief of Staff at the Western Command HQ in

.

In June 1963, he was appointed as the Director of Military Training at Army HQ and remained there till November 1964. He was promoted as General Officer Commanding 33 Corps at Siliguri in November 1964 with the rank of lieutenant general. He moved to Army HQ in May 1967 as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS), to which he had been appointed on 27 April,[1] and held that appointment till June 1969. As DCOAS, he was awarded Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM) for his meritorious services. However, he has been later criticized for his role in changing the General Staff Qualitative Requirement (GSQR) for evaluation of anti-tank missiles which resulted in the purchase of the SS11B1 from France's Aerospatiale and the death of a competing indigenous DRDO Anti Tank Missile project.

In July 1969, he assumed the appointment of General Officer Commanding–in–Chief, Southern Command. During the

, the Indian military strategy was mainly defensive on the Western Front, while attacking in the Eastern Sector, culminating in the surrender of Dacca and the secession of East Pakistan into the newly formed Bangladesh. Bewoor's Southern Command was tasked with maintaining a front from Bikaner southwestwards to the Arabian Sea. This command was divided into four sectors: Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer and Kutch. The first two sectors were manned by holding Barmer and Kutch. In addition it was supported by an armoured regiment, two independent armoured squadrons, and one missile squadron. For his command of operations in the Rajasthan Sector, Bewoor was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.

As Chief of Army Staff

He succeeded the popular

, the liberator of Bangladesh, as Army Chief on 15 January 1973 and held that appointment for two years and four months till his retirement on 31 May 1975.

Soon after taking office Bewoor was told of one of the most significant developments in the history of Indian defence policy, of which the Indian Army and the Defence Ministry were previously in the dark, namely the Department of Atomic Energy's plans to detonate a nuclear device. The project codenamed Smiling Buddha had been underway from 1967 under the leadership of Raja Ramanna. The task of sinking the shaft for the test was assigned to the 61 Engineering Regiment stationed in Jodhpur. Ramanna first contacted the regiment commander, Lt. Col. Subherwal, in May 1973 to dig the shaft. In June 1973 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took General Bewoor into confidence and ordered him to support the project. After an initial setback - the finding of water at the first drill site - the location of the test was shifted to the village of Malki near Pokhran, Rajasthan. Bewoor was personally present at the test site and witnessed the actual nuclear explosion of 18 May 1974. He was the first to inform the Prime Minister's Office via a telephone call to D.P. Dhar.^[14] A. Parthasarthi however claims in 1974 he found a note written from the PM (without her characteristic green-ink initials) to Bewoor dated as early as 15 November 1972 asking for the Army's co-operation.^[15] This must be viewed with some skepticism, since Bewoor was not the COAS on the purported date of this note.

After retirement

He served as the Honorary Colonel of the Dogra Regiment up to 11 August 1979. After retirement, he served as the Indian Ambassador to Denmark, from February 1976 to March 1978. He served as a member of the Senate of the

, for two years from August 1979 onwards. He was also on the Board of Directors of Kirloskar Oil Engines & Vickers Sperry of Pune. Besides, he was often invited to give talks on leadership and military matters by various educational societies. He died on 24 October 1989.

The street in Koregaon Park, Pune where the general lived after retirement is named General Bewoor Path after him.

Family

General Bewoor was married to Radhika Gokhale on 12 March 1943. They had two sons and a daughter.

His son Group Captain Anant Bewoor (Retd), served in the

heavy-lift military transport aircraft. His younger son, Keshav Bewoor, is also an Air Force officer, and retired from service in the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

Arun Bewoor, former Managing Director, International Flavors and Fragrances is the son of his late brother Madhav Gurunath Bewoor.^[16]

Meenakshi Bakhle (wife of D.S. Bakhle, ICS) was General Bewoor's sister. She was a president of the Maharashtra State Women's Council.

1957 play तुझे आहे तुजपाशी ("Tujhe Ahe Tujapashi").

Awards and decorations

Padma Bhushan	Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Samar Seva Star	Paschimi Star
Raksha Medal	Special Service Medal	Sangram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal
Indian Independence Medal	25th Anniversary of Independence Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal
1939–1945 Star	Burma Star	War Medal 1939–1945	India Service Medal

Dates of rank

Insignia	Rank	Component	Date of rank
	Second Lieutenant	British Indian Army	15 July 1937[18]
	Lieutenant	British Indian Army	30 November 1938[18]
	Captain	British Indian Army	15 August 1940 (acting) 15 November 1940 (temporary) 16 August 1942 (war-substantive) 30 August 1944 (substantive)[18]
	Major	British Indian Army	15 November 1940 (acting) 16 August 1942 (temporary)[18]
	Captain	Indian Army	15 August 1947[note 1][19]
	Lieutenant-Colonel	Indian Army	December 1947 (acting)[note 1][19]
	Colonel	Indian Army	April 1948 (acting)[note 1][19]
	Major	Indian Army	30 August 1949[8][note 1][19]
	Major	Indian Army	26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[19][20]
	Lieutenant-Colonel	Indian Army	August 1953[21]
	Colonel	Indian Army	30 August 1956[9]
	Brigadier	Indian Army	1951 (acting) 4 June 1957 (acting)[10] 30 August 1959 (substantive)[12]
	Major General	Indian Army	27 February 1959 (acting)[11] 1962 (substantive)[22]
	Lieutenant-General	Indian Army	7 November 1964 (acting)[23] 1965 (substantive)
	General (COAS)	Indian Army	15 January 1973[24]

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Wilkinson, Steven I. (2015), Army and Nation, Harvard University Press,
  ISBN 9780674967007

External links

• Bharat-rakshak.com Biography.
• Regiments.org
• [1]

Military offices
Preceded by Sam Manekshaw	Chief of Army Staff 1973–1975	Succeeded by Tapishwar Narain Raina
Preceded by Moti Sagar	General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command 1969–1973	Succeeded by Sartaj Singh
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Not sure	Ambassador of India to the Denmark Feb 1976–Feb 1978	Succeeded by Not sure