Brij Mohan Kaul
| Brij Mohan Kaul | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Bijji |
| Born | May 1, 1912 |
| Died | April 18, 1972 |
| Allegiance |
 British India India
|
| Service/branch | Indian Army |
| Years of service | 1933-1962 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant General
|
| Unit |
Rajputana Rifles Royal Indian Army Service Corps |
| Commands held | IV Corps, NEFA |
| Awards | Param Vishisht Seva Medal |
| Relations | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Other work | The Untold Story, Confrontation with Pakistan |
Brij Mohan Kaul was a Lieut General and the Chief of General Staff (CoGS) in the Indian Army. He resigned in the aftermath of the 1962 Sino-Indian War. He was responsible for raising and expanding Jammu and Kashmir militia which later entered Indian Army as Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, and was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1960.
He was born in 1912 on Buddha Jayanti to Jag Mohan and Gaura in Lahore. He had a sister (Dulhari), and a half-brother (Shyam) and a half-sister (Nanni). He married Dhanraj Kishori; they had two daughters Anuradha and Chitralekha.
After attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant on the Unattached List for the Indian Army on the 31 August 1933. He then spent the next year attached to a British Army regiment in India, the 1st battalion the East Surrey Regiment, starting 5 November 1933. After his years attachment accepted for the Indian Army and he was posted to the 5th Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles on 10 November 1934 with his date of commission as a Second Lieutenant antedated to 2 February 1933. He was promoted to Lieutenant 2 May 1935 but by mid-1936 he was attached away from the battalion to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, a posting that led to a permanent transfer on 18 February 1937.
At the outbreak of World War Two he was serving with the 26th Mechanical Transport Company. He was promoted Captain 2 February 1941, acting Major 7 November 1942 and local Lieutenant-Colonel 14 December 1942, War Substantive Major & temporary Lieutenant Colonel 19 February 1944 and Major 1 July 1946. He was promoted a Colonel in late 1947 and swiftly promoted to Brigadier in 1950.
In October–December 1946, he was the secretary to "Armed forces nationalisation committee" constituted by Viceroy. Coincidentally, it was led by N Gopalawami Ayengar, later defense minister, with members including future Chief of Army Staff General Thimayya, future Pakistan Army chief Muhammad Musa and future Indian MP H.N. Kunzru. The General Officer was well known in the Army and Political Circles to be a "personal favourite" of Jawaharlal Nehru since his junior officer days. He reportedly received a number of undue professional favours throughout his career due to this personal connection and he made full use of this opportunity with utter disregard to the Army organisation. He managed to keep himself away from hardship and learning the nuances of a military commander as a junior officer and later in service, managed to grab important Army senior command appointments due to his "pull". His involvement with Jawaharlal Nehru later turned out to be a major reason for shameful loss and massacre of Indian troops at the hands of the Chinese.
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