Gunner Arumugam P VrC

Gunner Armugam P hailed from Thathavalli village in the Tirupathur district of Tamil Nadu and was born on 21 July 1945. Son of Shri Muniswamy and Smt Mangaiammal, Gunner Armugam joined the Army on 21st July 1965 at the age of 20 years. He was recruited into 151 AD Regiment of the Corps of Army Air Defence, the arm responsible for the protection of Indian air space from enemy aircraft and missiles, especially below 5,000 feet. 

Indo-Pak War - 05 Dec 1971  

During Indo-Pak 1971 war,  Gunner Armugam’s unit 151 AD Regt was deployed in J&K. The unit was deployed on the Srinagar airfield along with Indian Air Force air defence elements to provide air defence against air strikes by enemy aircraft. On the 5th December 1971, Srinagar airfield was attacked by nine Pakistan Air Force F-86 jets to render the airfield unusable and cause damage to other IAF assets. Gunner Armugam and his comrades immediately got activated on getting the warning of the attack.

Gunner Armugam directed the fire of his gun accurately against the attack by enemy sabre jet aircraft and shot down one enemy aircraft. Some of the enemy aircraft out of the formation managed to drop their their weapon load causing bomb explosions. Gunner Armugam got hit by splinters and got injured. But undeterred, displaying commendable courage, he continued to fire his gun till he collapsed.  He eventually succumbed to his injuries and was martyred. Gunner Armugam, displayed gallantry, professional skill and devotion to duty of a very high order.

Gunner Armugam was given the gallantry award, “Vir Chakra”, for his exceptional courage, grit and supreme sacrifice during the war.  Gunner Armugam is survived by his wife Smt Muniyammal and daughter A Indira Gandhi (Doctor).

Citation for the Vir Chakra awarded to him reads:

On the 5th December 1971, while manning an Air Defence Gun deployed for the protection of Srinagar Air Field, Gunner Armugam directed the fire of his gun accurately against an attack by nine enemy sabre jet aircraft and shot down one enemy aircraft. Though seriously wounded, he continued to fire his gun till he succumbed to his injuries.

In this action, Gunner Armugam displayed gallantry and professional skill of a high order.