J. F. R. Jacob

Jacob graduated from the Officers' Training School (OTS) in Mhow in 1942, and received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant on 7 June.[1] He was initially posted to northern Iraq in anticipation of a possible German attempt to seize the oil fields of Kirkuk, and was promoted war-substantive lieutenant on 7 December.[5][6][1]

In 1943, Jacob was transferred to an artillery brigade that was dispatched to Tunisia to reinforce the British Army against Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. The brigade arrived after the Axis surrender. From 1943 to the end of the war, Jacob's unit fought in the Burma Campaign against the Empire of Japan.[7] In the wake of Japan's defeat, he was assigned to Sumatra.[8]

On 27 October 1945, Jacob was granted a permanent commission in the rank of lieutenant.[9] After World War II, he attended and graduated from artillery schools in England and the United States, specialising in advanced artillery and missiles.[7] He returned to India following its partition, and joined the Indian Army.

In May 1951, Jacob was selected to attend the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the staff course started in October of the same year.[10] As the first commanding officer, he raised 3 Field Regiment on 14 May 1956.[11] On 20 May 1964, he was given command of an artillery brigade, with the acting rank of brigadier.[12] During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, he commanded an Infantry Division, which later became the 12th Infantry Division, in the state of Rajasthan.[8] During this period, Jacob composed an Indian Army manual on desert warfare.[13]

Jacob was promoted to substantive brigadier on 17 January 1966,[14] and took command of an infantry brigade on 30 September.[15] On 2 October 1967, he was promoted to the acting rank of major general and was given command of an infantry division,[16][5] with promotion to the substantive rank on 10 June 1968.[17] On 29 April 1969, he was appointed the chief of staff (COS) of the Eastern Command, by General Sam Manekshaw (later Field Marshal).[18][8] As the COS, Jacob's immediate superior was Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, the General officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) Eastern Command.[6] Jacob was soon tasked with dealing with the mounting insurgency in Northeast India.[19]

A. A. K. Niazi signing the instrument of surrender under the gaze of J. S. Aurora. Standing immediately behind (L-R) Nilkanta Krishnan, Hari Chand Dewan, Sagat Singh, Jacob (with. Krishnamurthy peeping over his shoulder). Newscaster, Surajit Sen of All India Radio, is seen holding a microphone on the right

Jacob gained prominence during his stint as the chief of staff of the Eastern Command; the command helped to defeat the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.[20] Jacob was awarded a commendation of merit for his role.[21]

In March 1971, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight to stem the Bengali nationalist movement in East Pakistan.[22] The action led to over 10 million refugees entering India, fuelling tensions between India and Pakistan.[23] By the monsoon season Jacob—as chief of staff—was tasked with drawing the contingency plans in case of a conflict. After consulting with his superior officers, Jacob developed a plan for engaging Pakistan in a "war of movement" in the difficult and swampy terrain of East Pakistan.[5]

An initial plan, given to the Eastern Command by Manekshaw, involved an incursion into East Pakistan and the capture of the provinces of Chittagong and Khulna.[24] Senior Indian Army officers were reluctant to execute an aggressive invasion for fears of early ceasefire demands by the United Nations and a looming threat posed by China.[13] That, together with the difficulty of navigating the marshy terrain of East Pakistan through three wide rivers, led the commanders to initially believe that the capture of all of East Pakistan was not possible. Jacob disagreed; his "war of movement" plan aimed to take control of all of East Pakistan. Jacob felt that the capital Dhaka was the geopolitical centre of the region, and that any successful campaign had to involve the eventual capture of Dhaka.[13] Realising that the Pakistani Army's commander of its eastern command, A. A. K. Niazi, was going to fortify the towns and "defend them in strength", his plan was to bypass intermediary towns altogether, neutralise Pakistan's command and communication infrastructure, and use secondary routes to reach Dhaka.[5] Jacob's plan was eventually approved by the Eastern Command.[13]

The strategy eventually led to the capture of Dhaka. The Pakistani forces were selectively bypassed, their communication centres were captured and secured, and their command and control capabilities were destroyed.[13] His campaign was planned for execution in three weeks, but was executed in under a fortnight.

Jacob understood that a protracted war would not be in India's best interests. On 16 December, during a lull in the battle, Jacob sought permission to visit Niazi to seek his surrender. He flew to Dhaka and obtained an unconditional surrender from Niazi,[13] who later accused Jacob of blackmailing him into the surrender by threatening to order the annihilation of Pakistani troops in the east by bombing.[25] Gen. Jacob made Niazi surrender in a public surrender at the Dhaka racecourse in front of the people of Dhaka, as well as provide a guard of honour.[26][27]

The war was a significant victory for India, with nearly ninety thousand Pakistani soldiers surrendering to the Indian Army despite only three thousand Indian soldiers in the immediate area of Dhaka.[7]

A study of the campaign by Pakistan's National Defence College concluded that "the credit really goes to Jacob's meticulous preparations in the Indian eastern command and to the implementation by his corps commanders."[5][25] According to the website Bharat Rakshak, Jacob had repeatedly asserted that the Bangladesh war was only successful because of his own efforts rather than those of Field Marshal Manekshaw or the GOC-in-C of Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Aurora.[28]

For his role in the war, Jacob was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) for distinguished service of the most exceptional order. The citation for the PVSM reads as follows:[29]

CITATION

MAJOR GENERAL JACK FREDERICK RALPH JACOB (IC-470)

COS, HQ Eastern Command

In the operations in the Eastern Theatre, leading to the liberation of BANGLADESH, the contribution of Major General JACK FREDERICK RALPH JACOB, has been pivotal and most valuable as Chief of Staff, Eastern Command he worked for long hours over an extended period without loss of efficiency and displayed a firm grip and outstanding organising ability. He was responsible for detailed planning and execution of administrative and logistic support and his handling of these difficult problems during operations was highly imaginative, thorough and efficient. He has displayed devotion to duty, unstinted loyalty and outstanding ability and has rendered distinguished service of the most exceptional order.

On 17 June 1972, Jacob was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant general and was appointed as the General Officer Commanding of XVI Corps (newly created),[30] with promotion to substantive lieutenant-general on 5 August 1973.[31] His final appointment was as GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, which he held from 1974 until 31 July 1978, when he retired from the Army following 36 years of service and having reached the mandatory retirement age.[32][21]