General K S Thimayya, a distinguished combat officer of the Indian Army, was the only Indian to command an Infantry brigade during World War II. He later served as the 6th Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961.
Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1954, General Thimayya now has a museum dedicated to celebrating his life and achievements, in Madikeri, Kodagu.
His residence ‘Sunny Side’ has been transformed into General Thimayya Memorial Museum and was dedicated to the nation by President Ram Nath Kovind on February 6.
“Kodagu has the honour of having enriched our armed forces with stalwarts like General Thimayya and Field Marshal Cariappa and am sure that this museum will inspire our youth to carry forward the legacy of General Thimayya,” wrote the President in the visitors’ book at the museum.
At the entrance, a statue of the General in Uniform welcomes the visitors to the museum, which showcases memorabilia, weaponry and relics from the General’s life.
The memorial exhibits the traditional set up the General grew up in and the years spent after his retirement. The General's house had two separate sections, one for the women of the household and the other for the men. In its traditional style, it also housed the atta (attic) though access has been restricted. Close to the bedroom is a long passageway that displays many of the relics.
War memorial
The war memorial attached to the museum houses a T55 Tank, MiG 21 aircraft (the battle tank and fighter jet were both used in the 1971 Indo-Pak war), and anchors from an Indian Naval Ship. This memorial intends to give the visitors an understanding of the kind of weapons that were in use in the bygone days.
The museum also gives us a glimpse of the General’s life through various photos, war diaries, anecdotes and intelligence summaries.
The 2.6-acre land on which the museum stands has been restored to its original glory under the guidance of the Field Marshal Cariappa and General Thimayya Forum and the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Nirmithi Kendra Kodagu.
The restoration work, which took over two years, was carried out using the construction techniques prevalent back then while preserving most of the original work.
The revamped museum gives us an insight of a young ‘Timmy’, as General Thimayya was fondly known — right from his childhood spent in Coorg, to his military education at the the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun and the famed Royal Military College at Sandhurst in Britain.
The museum also contains interesting tidbits from the Generals’ private life, such as the first time he met his wife, Nina, who received Kaisar-e-Hind Medal for her philanthropic contribution during the 1935 Quetta earthquake, and anecdotes of being a doting father to his daughter Mireille.
During an extraordinary career in an independent India, he rose through the ranks and finally took charge as Chief of the Army Staff on May 7, 1957. The ‘Soldiers’ General’ retired on May 7, 1961, completing 35 years of distinguished military service.
After retirement from the Indian Army, General Thimayya took to civilian life as the Deputy President of the Planters Association of South India, until he was requested by the UN Secretary-General to be the commander of the UN Forces in Cyprus to maintain peace between the warring factions of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.
He was appointed as Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus from July 1964 until his demise on December 17, 1965.
Today, this museum stands as a tribute to the brave soldier.