Ramaswami Rajaram | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Allegiance |  British India (1941–1947) India (from 1947) |
| Branch |  Royal Indian Air Force (1941-1947) Indian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1 Apr 1941 – 18 Jun 1969 |
| Rank |  Air Marshal |
| Commands | Western Air Command Eastern Air Command No.1 Operational Group Tambaram Air Force Station 3 Wing No 1 Squadron |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan Distinguished Flying Cross |
Air MarshalRamaswamy Rajaram,DFC (1917–1969) was a senior officer in theIndian Air Force. He died in harness while serving as theVice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) of the Indian Air Force. He was theAir Officer Commanding-in-ChiefWestern Air Command during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1965.
Rajaram was born to B S Ramaswamy Iyer, a Superintending Engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD) inMadurai in theMadras Presidency in 1917. He joined theMadras Flying Club and received his flying license in 1935. He attended thePresidency College, Chennai. He then joined theMadras Law College in 1938. With the outbreak ofWorld War II, civilian pilots were invited to join the Indian Air Force Volunteer Reverse.[citation needed]
"Rajaram was a very calm and humane person, with an incisive brain and a tremendous sense of humour. Extremely loyal and devoted to the service, he had a knack of getting on with all kinds of people, whatever their status in life. He was my troubleshooter."
Rajaram was commissioned on 20 November 1939 and posted to the Coastal Defence Flight atMadras. He was then posted to the No. 4 Flight atKarachi and then to the No. 1 Flying Training School atAmbala.By 1942, nowFlying Officer Rajaram underwent specialised training in fighter reconnaissance and converted to theHawker Hurricane aircraft. He served with theNo. 6 Squadron IAF commanded bySquadron LeaderMehar Singh and then with theNo. 1 Squadron IAF, commanded bySquadron LeaderArjan Singh, as theFlight commander. The squadron was inducted into the war and moved toImphal.[2]
In December 1944, now Squadron Leader Rajaram took over command of theNo. 1 Squadron IAF from Squadron Leader Arjan Singh. The squadron operated in theBurma campaign for the remainder of the war. In April 1945, Rajaram was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross.[3][4] Promoted toWing Commander, Rajaram served at the Air Force Station Kohat (nowPAF Base Kohat).[citation needed]
In 1950, he was promotedGroup Captain and took command ofTambaram Air Force Station. Rajaram attended theRAF Staff College, Andover and theImperial Defence College in theUnited Kingdom in 1953.[5] In December 1955, he was posted as Director of Personnel in Air HQ. After a three-year stint, he was promoted to the rank ofair commodore and appointed Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of the Operational Command. In 1960, he was promoted to the rank ofAir Vice Marshal and took over as the senior directing staff at theNational Defence College.
After theSino-Indian War of 1962, the No. 1 Operational Group was formed atTezpur in December 1962. Rajaram was appointed the first Air Officer Commanding (AOC). In June 1963, the formation moved to Shillong and was re-designatedEastern Air Command. The appointment of AOC was upgraded to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) and Rajaram took over as the first AOC-in-C of the command in Shillong. In Aug 1963, he moved to Air HQ, having been appointedDeputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS). As the DCAS, he led the committee of inquiry into the1963 Poonch Indian Air Force helicopter crash in which five senior officers of theIndian Armed Forces were killed.[6]
On 1 October 1964, Rajaram was appointedAir Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command.[7] He led theIndian Air Force's operations in the Western theatre during theIndo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was awarded thePadma Bhushan for his leadership in the war.[8]
After the war, Rajaram was promotedAir Marshal in January 1966, and took over as the firstCommandant of the National Defence College from the Indian Air Force.[9] After a short stint as Commandant NDC, he assumed office of theVice Chief of Air Staff (VCAS) in December 1966.
Rajaram was suffering fromLeukemia. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in New Delhi on 14 June 1969 and his condition worsened on 16 June.[10] He died on 18 June at 0855 hours. TheChief of the Air StaffAir Chief MarshalArjan Singh was present when he died. He was cremated with full military honours. His body was carried in a procession from the residence of the Vice Chief at No.6, King George's Avenue (now Rajaji Marg) to theNigambodh Ghat. All IAF installations inDelhi were closed on the day as a mark of respect.[11] In 1973, the All India Lawn Tennis Association instituted the Air Marshal Rajaram All India Sub-Junior Tennis Trophy in his memory.[12]
{{cite web}}:Cite uses generic title (help)| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Vice Chief of the Air Staff 1966–1969 | Succeeded by Shivdev Singh |
| Preceded by | Commandant of the National Defence College 1966–1966 | Succeeded by Lieutenant General M M Khanna |
| Preceded by | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1963–1964 | Succeeded by |
| Commanding OfficerNo. 1 Squadron IAF 1944–1945 | Succeeded by Edwin Nazirullah | |