Kunhiraman Palat Candeth

Lieutenant General Kunhiraman Palat Candeth, PVSM (23 October 1916 – 19 May 2003) was a senior officer in the Indian Army who played a commanding role in the Liberation of Goa from Portuguese control in 1961, and briefly served as the Military Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu.

Lieutenant General
Kunhiraman Palat Candeth
PVSM
Military Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu
In office
19 December 1961 – 6 June 1962
Preceded byPost Established
Succeeded byT. Sivasankar (as Lieutenant Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu)
Personal details
Born23 September 1916
Ottapalam, Malabar district, India. (Presently in Palakkad, Kerala)
Died19 May 2003
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
RelationsSir C. Sankaran Nair (Maternal Grandfather)
Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (Paternal Grandfather)
Awards Padma Bhushan
Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Military service
Allegiance British India
 India
Branch/service British Indian Army
 Indian Army
Years of service1934–1973
Rank Lieutenant General
UnitRoyal Indian Artillery
Commands Western Army
8 Mountain Division
17 Infantry Division
Battles/warsWorld War II
Indo-Pakistan War of 1947
Operation Vijay
Indo-Pakistan War of 1965
Indo-Pakistan War of 1971

He later served as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff based in GHQ in New Delhi during the second war in 1965, and later effectively commanded the Western Command during the third war with Pakistan in 1971.

Early life

He was born in Ottapalam, Malabar District (now Kerala) in British India (now India) to MA Candeth, the son of the landlord and writer Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar. His maternal grandfather was Sir C. Sankaran Nair, who was the President of the Indian National Congress.[1][2]

Military career

Pre-independence

Commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1936, Candeth saw action in West Asia during the Second World War. Shortly before India's independence from colonial rule, he was deployed in the North West Frontier Province, bordering Afghanistan, to quell local tribal uprisings. The mountainous terrain gave Candeth the experience for his later operations against Nagaland separatists in the North East. He attended the Military Services Staff College at Quetta, capital of Baluchistan in 1945.

Kashmir 1947

After Independence, Candeth was commanding an artillery regiment that was deployed to Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan-backed tribesmen attacked and captured a third of the province before being forced back by the Indian Army. Thereafter, Candeth held a series of senior appointments, including that of Director General of Artillery at Army Headquarters in Delhi, to which he was appointed on 8 September 1959, with the acting rank of major-general (substantive colonel).[3]

North East

After relinquishing command as Goa's Military Governor in 1963, Candeth was appointed GOC, Nagaland on 23 August 1963.[4] He took command of the newly raised 8 Mountain Division in the North-East on 15 November 1963,[5] where he battled, although with little success, the highly organised Naga insurgents. The insurgency in the North East has not been quelled completely to this day. On 7 May 1965, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS) with the acting rank of lieutenant-general.[6] He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 17 January 1966,[7] and was appointed GOC-in-C, Western Command on 27 September 1969.[8]

Awards and later life

Lt. Gen. Kunhiraman Palat Candeth was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and also the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.[9] Retiring from the army on 21 October 1972,[10] he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 1990s and was appointed a member of the Party's Executive Committee.[11]

Dates of rank
InsigniaRankComponentDate of rank
Second LieutenantBritish Indian Army15 July 1937 (seniority 30 August 1936)[12]
LieutenantBritish Indian Army30 November 1938[13]
CaptainBritish Indian Army1940 (acting)[12]
1 January 1941 (temporary)[12]
30 August 1944 (substantive)[12]
CaptainIndian Army15 August 1947[note 1][14]
BrigadierIndian Army1948 (acting)[note 1][14]
MajorIndian Army30 August 1949[15][note 1][14]
MajorIndian Army26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[14][16]
Lieutenant-ColonelIndian Army1953
ColonelIndian Army30 August 1956[17]
BrigadierIndian Army30 August 1959[18]
Major GeneralIndian Army8 September 1959 (acting)[3]
Lieutenant-GeneralIndian Army7 May 1965 (acting)[6]
11 January 1966 (substantive)[7]

See also

Notes
  1. Upon independence in 1947, India became a Dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations. As a result, the rank insignia of the British Army, incorporating the Tudor Crown and four-pointed Bath Star ("pip"), was retained, as George VI remained Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. After 26 January 1950, when India became a republic, the President of India became Commander-in-Chief, and the Ashoka Lion replaced the crown, with a five-pointed star being substituted for the "pip."

References
  1. C. Sankaran Nair By Kumara Padmanabha Sivasankara Menon p.138
  2. BJP today, Volume 12. Page:20, Column:3
  3. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 24 October 1959. p. 260.
  4. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 5 October 1963. p. 339.
  5. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 January 1964. p. 9.
  6. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 2 April 1966. p. 211.
  7. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 2 April 1966. p. 211.
  8. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 1 November 1969. p. 1072.
  9. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  10. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 27 January 1973. p. 105.
  11. "'Liberator of Goa' Candeth dead". The Times of India. 19 May 2003. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  12. Indian Army List (Special Edition) August 1947. Government of India Press. 1947. p. 226.
  13. Indian Army List (April 1939). Government of India Press. 1939. pp. 221P.
  14. "New Designs of Crests and Badges in the Services" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2017.
  15. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 29 October 1949. p. 1520.
  16. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 11 February 1950. p. 227.
  17. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 20 April 1957. p. 97.
  18. "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 31 October 1959. p. 266.
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