Page 139 - Leadership in the Indian Army

young boy was mocking him and was visibly annoyed. This put paid to his
chances of joining the police. His father was disappointed, but not Usman.
He had always wanted to join the army, about which he had spoken to his

friends in school.
Indians had been joining the army as commissioned officers since 1920,
though the competition was very tough and preference was given to men of
aristocratic or upper class backgrounds. Usman decided to try his luck and
applied for Sandhurst. He was selected and sailed for England in July 1932.
In fact, this was the last course at Sandhurst to which Indians were
admitted, and subsequent batches had to join the Indian Military Academy

which had opened in Dehradun in the same year. Usman passed out from
Sandhurst on 1 February 1934, along with 10 other Indians, including Apji
Randhir Singh and R.N. Nehra. Incidentally, among 45 cadets who passed
out, Apji was first in order of merit, while Usman was 30th and Nehra 34th.
The first batch of ICOs had joined the Indian Military Academy (IMA) at
about the same time that Usman’s batch went to Sandhurst, and included

Sam Manekshaw, Smith Dun and Mohammed Musa, who rose to become
Army Chiefs in India, Burma and Pakistan. This batch of ICOs was
commissioned on 1 February 1935, with their seniority antedated by a year
to account for the difference in duration of training between the Royal
Military College and Indian Military Academy. However, to ensure that
they remained junior to the KCIOs, the ICOs were given seniority from 4
February 1934. Thus, Manekshaw’s batch was three days junior to

Usman’s.
As was customary after commissioning Usman was sent to a British
battalion for a year’s attachment. On 19 March 1935, he joined the 5th
Battalion (King George’s Own) 10th Baluch Regiment, also known as
Jacob’s Rifles. After a stint of regimental duties, he qualified on a wartime
staff course and did a staff tenure. Towards the end of World War II, he was

posted to 16/10 Baluch as second-in-command. The battalion was then in
the Arakan in Burma, and part of 51 Infantry Brigade under 25 Indian
Division. The CO, Lieutenant Colonel John Fairlay, was one of the few
Britishers who liked Indian officers and had a high opinion of their
capabilities. This was probably because he had served at the IMA,
Dehradun, as an instructor, and had seen them at close quarters. Z.C. ‘Zoru’
Bakshi, who later became a Lieutenant General and one of the most highly