Ramaswamy Rajaram
Air Marshal | |
|---|---|
| Commands held | Western Air Command Eastern Air Command No.1 Operational Group Tambaram Air Force Station 3 Wing No 1 Squadron |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan Distinguished Flying Cross |
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
.
Early life and education
Rajaram was born to B S Ramaswamy Iyer, a Superintending Engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD) in
Madras Law College in 1938. With the outbreak of World War II, civilian pilots were invited to join the Indian Air Force Volunteer Reverse.[citation needed
]
Military career
World War II
His former Squadron Commander, MIAF Arjan Singh, about Rajaram.
"Rajaram was a very calm and humane person, with an incisive brain and a tremendous sense of humour. Extremely loyal and devoted to the service, he had a knack of getting on with all kinds of people, whatever their status in life. He was my troubleshooter."
Rajaram was commissioned on 20 November 1939 and posted to the Coastal Defence Flight at
Madras. He was then posted to the No. 4 Flight at Karachi and then to the No. 1 Flying Training School at Ambala
.
By 1942, now Squadron Leader Arjan Singh, as the Flight commander. The squadron was inducted into the war and moved to Imphal.[2]
In December 1944, now Squadron Leader Rajaram took over command of the No. 1 Squadron IAF from Squadron Leader Arjan Singh. The squadron operated in the Burma campaign for the remainder of the war. In April 1945, Rajaram was awarded the
Wing Commander, Rajaram served at the Air Force Station Kohat (now PAF Base Kohat).[citation needed
]
Post-Independence
In 1950, he was promoted
Imperial Defence College in the United Kingdom in 1953.[5] In December 1955, he was posted as Director of Personnel in Air HQ. After a three-year stint, he was promoted to the rank of air commodore and appointed Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of the Operational Command. In 1960, he was promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal and took over as the senior directing staff at the National Defence College
.
After the
Sino-Indian War of 1962, the No. 1 Operational Group was formed at Tezpur in December 1962. Rajaram was appointed the first Air Officer Commanding (AOC). In June 1963, the formation moved to Shillong and was re-designated Eastern Air Command. The appointment of AOC was upgraded to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) and Rajaram took over as the first AOC-in-C of the command in Shillong. In Aug 1963, he moved to Air HQ, having been appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS). As the DCAS, he led the committee of inquiry into the 1963 Poonch Indian Air Force helicopter crash in which five senior officers of the Indian Armed Forces were killed.[6]
On 1 October 1964, Rajaram was appointed
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his leadership in the war.[8]
After the war, Rajaram was promoted
Air Marshal in January 1966, and took over as the first Commandant of the National Defence College from the Indian Air Force.[9] After a short stint as Commandant NDC, he assumed office of the Vice Chief of Air Staff
(VCAS) in December 1966.
Death and legacy
Rajaram was suffering from
Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh
was present when he died.
He was cremated with full military honours. His body was carried in a procession from the residence of the Vice Chief at No.6, King George's Avenue (now Rajaji Marg) to the Nigambodh Ghat. All IAF installations in Delhi were closed on the day as a mark of respect.[11] In 1973, the All India Lawn Tennis Association instituted the Air Marshal Rajaram All India Sub-Junior Tennis Trophy in his memory.[12]
References
- ISBN 978-9383649259.
- ISBN 978-9383649259.
- ^ "Supplement to the London gazette". thegazette.co.uk.
- ^ "Distinguished Flying Cross Awardee List, Indian Air Force - Database".
- ISBN 978-9383649259.
- ^ "LOK SABHA DEBATES - SIXTH SESSION (THIRD LOK SABHA)" (PDF). eparlib.nic.in. 27 November 1963.
- ^ "Service Record for Air Marshal Ramaswami Rajaram 1573 GD(P) at Bharat Rakshak.com". Bharat Rakshak.
- ^ "WebCite query result" (PDF). www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "AVM RAJARAM NEW COMMANDANT OF NDC" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 10 January 1966.
- ^ "VICE AIR CHIEF SERIOUSLY ILL" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 16 June 1969.
- ^ "AIR MARSHAL RAJARAM DEAD" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 18 June 1969.
- ^ "AIR MARSHAL RAJARAM TROPHY INSTITUTED" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 9 January 1973.