Ajit Rudra

Major General Ajit Anil "Jik" Rudra (1896 – 3 November 1993) was an Indian military officer who served as General Officer Commanding, Southern Command of the Indian Army.

Early life and education

Born in Delhi to the famous educationist S. K. Rudra and Priyobala Singh, he was educated at St. Stephen's College, Delhi and at Trinity College, Kandy. He thereafter went on to attend University of Cambridge.

Military career

With the out break of World War I, Rudra enlisted in the British Army leaving Cambridge to join the University and Public School Brigade and took part in the Battle of Mons. Having not been qualified for a commission he joined the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and took part in the Battle of the Somme having been one of the 80 odd survivors of the charge of the 500 Fusiliers. He went on to become a sergeant and was wounded. In 1918, he was selected for OTC at Inns of court but was not able to complete it as the war ended. having been declined a commission he requested to be discharged from the Army. The war office instead sent him to the India.

After World War I concluded in 1918, Indian politicians at that time raised a demand to grant Indians the King's Commission. After strict screening, Rudra was selected for the first batch that underwent rigorous pre-commission training. In 1919, he joined the first batch of KCIOs (King's Commissioned Indian Officers) at The Daly College at Indore, his batch mates included Kodandera Madappa Cariappa later Field Marshal of the Indian Army. Rudra was commissioned into the 28th Punjabis as a Temporary Second Lieutenant in the British Indian Army. He took part in the Third Afghan War and served in the North-West Frontier, Baluchistan, Waziristan and Peshawar. During world war 2, he took part in the Arakan Campaign 1942–43.

In 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Rudra was transferred to the General Staff at GHQ India by General Claude Auchinleck. In 1948, when India gained its independence, Brigadier Rudra was serving as the Military Secretary at GHQ and was instrumental in the formation of the post independence Indian Army. He was appointed General Officer Commanding, Southern Command and retired in 1959.

He died in 1993 at the age of 97 after prolonged illness.