AFVOA Newletters of Year 2003

Page 153 of 170 Chengalpet on the 28 th of November in 1922. He is the brother of the late Air Vice Marshal FVA Scudder, AVSM, who passed away on 04 Sep 2002. Although he was gazetted as a commissioned officer on the 9 th of August 1942 his date of commission was re fixed to 9 th Mar 1943, as he had not yet attained 21 years of age on the earlier date. He served in the Burma Campaign (1942-1944), in the NWFP (1945-46), the J and K Ops (47-48), Naga Hills Operations (56-59), the Chinese War (1962), the Indo Pak War of 1971, as well as the Commandant of the 25 Battalion of the CRPF in Bangladesh (1972-73), when he was awarded the Indian Police Medal! His career was interesting, and the most memorable episodes were when he and his Jats, whilst in the Naga Hills, were ambushed, with the Nagas outnumbering the Jats 200: 30! Luck, guts, and Divine guidance (as he puts it) all combined to help the Jats overcome that ambush, losing only TWO men in the process. He retired in 1972 and was re-employed till 28 November 1977. After hanging up his uniform. Col Rajamanikkam worked till April 2003 in various capacities, with as many as 15 years as a hospital administrator in Hubli (78-86), at Chennai’s Rainy Hospital (87-90), and overseeing 82 hospitals of the CSI Synod (91-93), followed by a change of track as GM of the Towers Club (93-95), of the Blue Valley holiday resort in the Nilgiris (95-98), Marketing Advisor of Privilege Resorts (98-99), and finally as Admin Officer of the Kerala Catholic Society from 1999 till April 2003. 22. Mrs Kamla Rajamanikkam and Col Rajamanikkam reside in Anna Nagar, and may be contacted on tele: 2622 4171. Two of their three children survive, with Indrani, their daughter, a teacher, at Jamnagar with her Petroleum Executive husband, and Sushil, their second son, at present Manager Marketing of the Hotel Shan Royal Group at Chennai. Col Rajamanikkam feels very strongly that serving officers should respect retired officers. Also honoured 23. AVM Krishnaswamy then requested Col AS Rao to come up and accept the AFVOA memento as a token of our heartfelt gratitude to him and his staff for having taken the trouble of coming over and spending all of six hours helping the more elderly among the veterans with their ECHS forms. Col Rao spoke and expressed his happiness, mentioning that in a few days, he too would be one among us, the retired fraternity. 24. Thereafter, it was the turn of one of those whose nature it is to silently serve to be honoured by the AFVOA. AVM Krishnaswamy stressed that while the AFVOA had indeed commenced the 10 th year of its existence a very important factor in its success in meeting its objectives had been the benevolence and help of Col and Mrs SR Raju, the Warden and Asst Warden, respectively, of the Youth Hostel in Indira Nagar. The convenience, ambience and serenity of the location are such that one is reminded of the environs of a Service establishment. 25. The Air Mshl requested Mrs Raju to receive a bouquet, and Col Raju was presented with gifts for each of his staff (with characteristic humility, Col Raju declined any personal credit, stating that it was his staff that had contributed to the success of our meetings). The Patron on the ECHS 26. Lt Gen Sundara Rao, in his closing remarks to those present for the evening’s get- together, mentioned that he was most satisfied on this day of all days, as the AFVOA was squarely facing up to its stated aim of helping retired/ex Service officers. By helping the fraternity in every possible way towards becoming members of the ECHS, the AFVOA was being of genuine help. He commended the President, and other members of the AFVOA, who had worked/and were continuing to work to further these aims. He was thankful to Col AS