Sunday, November 6 2005 19:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who has been suffering from acute pneumonia, is being shifted to the Army Hospital here from Wellington in Tamil Nadu.

The 91-year-old Manekshaw had been undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital in Wellington and was being brought to the Army Research and Referral Hospital, Army sources said here.

Born in Amritsar on April 3, 1914, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw served as the 8th Chief of the Army Staff between June 1969 and January 1973, capping nearly four decades of military service.

An astute war planner, Manekshaw led India to victory in the 1971 war against Pakistan, which ended with the surrender of over 90,000 Pakistani armed personnel.

He was among the first batch of cadets to pass out of the Indian Military Academy in October 1934 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Indian Army.

Decorated with the Military Cross for valour in Burma during World War II, Manekshaw was awarded the Padma Bhushan (1968) for handling the insurgency in Nagaland as the Group Officer Commanding in Chief of the Eastern Command.

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1972 after the 1971 war against Pakistan, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Manekshaw was conferred with the honorary rank of Field Marshal on January 1, 1973.

He retired from the Army a fortnight later.