Ian Cardozo

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Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
  •  • Battle of Sylhet
    • AwardsAti Vishisht Seva Medal
    Sena Medal[3]
    Spouse(s)Priscilla Cardozo
    Children3
    Other work


    Major General Ian Cardozo AVSM SM is a former Indian Army officer. He was the first war-disabled officer of the Indian Army to command a battalion and a brigade.[5] He is an amputee due to a war injury.[1]

    Early life

    Ian Cardozo was born to Vincent Cardozo and Diana (née de Souza) Cardozo in 1937 in

    Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India. He studied at St. Xavier's High School, Fort and St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[6]

    Military career

    Cardozo graduated from the

    5 Gorkha Rifles
    . He has also served with 4/
    Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[3]
    He is the first NDA cadet to receive both gold and silver medals. The gold medal is given to the cadet of the passing out course for best all round performance.

    The silver medal is given to the cadet who is first in order of merit. For the first time in the history of the National Defence Academy, the cadet who was awarded the gold medal was also first in order of merit. This has happened only one more time thereafter.(source :General himself and from his profile)

    Pakistani-Bangladesh War of 1971

    At the outbreak of the Pakistani-Bangladesh War of 1971, Cardozo was attending a course at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. His battalion, 4/5 Gorkha Rifles, was already deployed in the eastern theatre of operations. The battalion's second-in-command was killed in action and Cardozo was ordered to replace him. He arrived at his battalion in time to accompany them on the Indian Army's first heliborne operation during the battle of Sylhet.[7] He was popularly named Cartoos sahib by his Gorkha regiment as they found it difficult to pronounce his first name.[8] Cartoos means a cartridge in Hindi.

    After the fall of

    khukri to amputate his own leg. Afterwards, his unit captured a Pakistan Army surgeon, Maj. Mohammad Basheer, who operated on Cardozo.[7] However, the veracity of the account has been questioned by Brigadier (Retd) Rattan Kaul stating that Cardozo stepped on a mine set up by his own forces, hence was a battle accident casualty and was brought to battalion medical post and Captain DK Sengupta, Regimental Medical Officer was the one who cut the hanging ligament. Later, a Pakistani surgeon amputated his ankle in a Pakistani hospital in Sylhet. According to Rattan Kaul, there were several witnesses to the event. [9]
    Rattan Kaul's version was also produced at the instance of Press Council of India in newspaper, The Hindu on August 2, 2023.

    Later career

    After his amputation, Cardozo had a wooden leg. Despite this, he maintained his physical fitness levels and beat a number of able-bodied officers in battle physical fitness tests. He then put his case to the

    Chief of Army Staff at the time, Gen. Tapishwar Narain Raina, who then asked Cardozo to accompany him to Ladakh. After observing that Cardozo could still walk in the mountains through snow and ice, Gen. Raina allowed him to command a battalion. A similar situation occurred when he was to take command of a brigade.[7] He was promoted to Brigadier on 1 March 1984.[10]

    Military awards and decorations

    Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Sena Medal
    Wound Medal General Service Medal
    Samar Seva Medal
    Poorvi Star
    Raksha Medal
    		 Sangram Medal
    Sainya Seva Medal
    25th Anniversary of Independence Medal
    30 Years Long Service Medal
    20 Years Long Service Medal
    9 Years Long Service Medal

    Personal life

    Cardozo is married to Priscilla and has three sons.[5] He currently resides in New Delhi.[3]

    He served as the Chairman of Rehabilitation Council of India from 2005 to 2011.[11] He is also a marathon runner, and regularly takes part in the Mumbai marathon on his prosthetic limb.[12][13]

    Bibliography

    He authored several books on military history of India:-

    See also

    References

    1. ^ a b Singh, Aarti (12 August 2016). "10 Indian Soldiers Whose Courageous And Patriotic Stories Need To Be Retold". Polkacafe.com.
    2. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 22 November 1986. p. 1814.
    3. ^ a b c Pisharoty, Sangeeta Barooah (13 February 2003). "Unknown soldier... to you I bow". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2003.
    4. NCPEDP
      . Retrieved 17 May 2017.
    5. ^ a b Claude, Arpi (8 December 2011). "1971, A War Hero Remembers". Rediff.com.
    6. ISBN 9351940292
      .
    7. ^ a b c Arpi, Claude (8 December 2011). "'I cut my leg off and ordered: 'Go and bury it'". Rediff.com.
    8. ISBN 978-9386651693
      .
    9. ^ "Gorkha is Cardozo's fabricated war glory - Pioneer Edge | Uttarakhand News in English | Dehradun News Today| News Uttarakhand | Uttarakhand latest news". www.pioneeredge.in. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
    10. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 7 March 1987. p. 338.
    11. ^ "RCI – Annual Reports". Rehabilitation Council of India. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
    12. ^ Das, Sucharita (22 January 2018). "Running for causes". Deccan Chronicle.
    13. ^ Salvi, Pooja (22 January 2018). "Mumbai runs, with all its heart". The Asian Age.
    14. ^ Filmer, Antonia (30 July 2016). "'In the Army, work and play are synonymous'". The Sunday Guardian.
    15. ISBN 9780143454557
      . Retrieved 12 June 2021.

    External links

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ian_Cardozo&oldid=1207856708"