Page 98 - Leadership in the Indian Army

The Pakistanis provided the food and beer, while the Indians brought fresh
apples. When they met, the UN officials were surprised at the warmth and
absence of ill feeling between the officers of the two countries, who had

been fighting each other just a few days ago. Thimayya knew most of the
Pakistani officers and there was a lot of back-slapping and good-natured
banter. Within half-an-hour, they had finished their official business and sat
down to share a sumptuous lunch.
Thimayya remained in Srinagar till November 1949. He had moved his
HQ from Baramulla to Srinagar, where his wife had joined him. There was
considerable socialising, thanks to the presence of the UN officials, and the

Thimayyas rarely had to spend an evening alone. They also made full use of
the opportunity to visit the famous resorts of Kashmir and enjoy the natural
beauty of the landscape, for which the region is justly famous. In November
1949, he received orders transferring him as Commandant of the National
Defence Academy, then located at Dehradun. Before reporting to his new
assignment, he accompanied General Cariappa, who was the C-in-C, to

England, to attend the Commonwealth Conference of Chiefs of the Imperial
General Staff. During the trip, Thimayya visited Sandhurst, from where he
had passed out 23 years earlier. He also attended a reunion of the Kumaon
Regiment, where he was touched to see that the British officers still retained
a strong attachment to the regiment. However, he was surprised at the
ignorance of some of them, who wondered whether the officers’ mess still
existed, and whether the uniform had been changed to a dhoti and kurta.

After a short stint at the National Defence Academy, in September 1951
he moved to Delhi as Quarter Master General (QMG). One of his first acts
as QMG was to abolish the contractor system, which had existed in the
army for centuries. The contractors, some of whom were rich and
influential, tried their best to thwart him, but Thimayya stuck to his guns.
He thus got rid of the ubiquitous contractor, who had fleeced the soldiers

for years, and the units could employ their own tailors, barbers, etc.
One of Thimayya’s most endearing qualities was his sense of humour. In
February 1952, a tactical exercise was held at Lucknow. After the exercise,
Thimayya, accompanied by Lieutenant General Shrinagesh and Major
Generals S.P.P. Thorat, Sardanand Singh and M.S. Chopra, left for Delhi in
a twin-engined Devon aircraft of the Indian Air Force. One of the engines
caught fire and the aircraft had to crashland a few miles from Lucknow.

Miraculously, no one was injured. The party walked to the road-head about