Lionel Protip Sen

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Lieutenant-General Lionel Protip "Bogey" Sen DSO (20 October 1910 – 17 September 1981) was a decorated Indian Army general. He served as the Chief of the General Staff during 1959–1961 and commanded the Eastern Command during 1961–1963. He was the general responsible for countering the Chinese invasion of NEFA during the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Sen is also the author of Slender was the Thread, a military history of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948.

Career

A King's Commissioned Indian Officer (KCIO), Sen attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the British Indian Army on 27 August 1931.[1] He was formally appointed to the Indian Army as an officer with the 10th Baluch Regiment on 26 October 1932 (seniority from 29 January 1931).[2] He was promoted lieutenant on 29 April 1933,[3] and to captain on 29 January 1939.[4]

During the Second World War, Sen fought in the Burma Campaign with the 16th Battalion of 10 Baluch. In early 1945, his battalion took a prominent role in the Battle of Hill 170, during which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).[5] The citation recommending Sen for the DSO (which was not published) noted:[6]

...In spite of the greatest difficulties Lt-Col Sen held firmly on to his precarious positions, and the final success of the whole operation was in no small measure due to his dashing assault and tenacious defence. Throughout, he has proved himself a gallant leader of a gallant Battalion and an inspiration to every officer and man under his command.

As the Baluch Regiment, Sen's parent regiment, was among those regiments allotted to Pakistan following Indian independence, Sen transferred to the 8th Gorkha Rifles. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, he was promoted to acting brigadier and commanded the 161st Indian Infantry Brigade, receiving a mention in dispatches.[7] On 16 March 1955, Sen was promoted acting major-general and appointed Director of Military Training (DMT).[8] He was appointed Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) on 8 May 1957,[9] and was further appointed Colonel-Commandant of the Army Physical Training Corps on 26 September.[10]

Sen was promoted to acting lieutenant-general on 1 August 1958,[11] and to the substantive rank on 29 January 1959.[12] On 8 May 1961, he was appointed GOC-in-C, Eastern Command,[13] in which capacity he served during the Sino-Indian War the following year. After the conflict, Sen was appointed GOC-in-C, Southern Command, on 10 May 1963.[14] He retired from this posting on 8 May 1965, after nearly 34 years of service.[15]

Sen died in 1981.[16]

Personal life

In 1939, he married Kalyani Gupta.[17] Their first daughter, Radha, was born in 1941,[18] and Mala in 1947.[19][20] The marriage ended in divorce in 1953.[19][20]

Awards and decorations

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Template:Ribbon devices Template:Ribbon devices Template:Ribbon devices Template:Ribbon devices
General Service Medal 1947 Indian Independence Medal
Distinguished Service Order 1939–1945 Star Burma Star War Medal 1939–1945

Dates of rank

Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
File:British Army OF-1a.svg Second Lieutenant British Indian Army 27 August 1931 (seniority from 29 January 1931)
File:British Army OF-1b.svg Lieutenant British Indian Army 29 April 1933[3]
File:British Army OF-2.svg Captain British Indian Army 29 January 1939[4]
File:British Army (1920-1953) OF-3.svg Major British Indian Army 25 August 1940 (acting)[21]
25 November 1940 (temporary)[21]
1 July 1946 (substantive)[22]
File:British Army (1920-1953) OF-4.svg Lieutenant-Colonel British Indian Army 22 November 1944 (acting)[21]
File:British Army (1920-1953) OF-3.svg Major Indian Army 15 August 1947[note 1][23]
File:British Army (1920-1953) OF-4.svg Lieutenant-Colonel Indian Army 1947 (temporary)[note 1][24]
File:British Army (1928-1953) OF-6.svg Brigadier Indian Army 1947 (acting)[note 1][24]
File:British Army (1920-1953) OF-5.svg Colonel Indian Army 1947 (temporary)
1 January 1950 (substantive, with seniority from 29 January 1949)[note 1][24]
File:Colonel of the Indian Army.svg Colonel Indian Army 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[23]
File:Brigadier of the Indian Army.svg Brigadier Indian Army 29 January 1952 (substantive)
File:Major General of the Indian Army.svg Major General Indian Army 16 March 1955 (acting)[8]
29 January 1956 (substantive)[25]
File:Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.svg Lieutenant-General Indian Army 1 August 1958 (acting)[11]
29 January 1959 (substantive)[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  2. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:London Gazette
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:London Gazette
  5. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  6. ↑ Recommendation for Award for Sen, Lionel Protip. Rank: Sub Captain, Temporary Major, Acting Lieutenant Colonel. The National Archives (UK). UK Government. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  7. ↑ Defence-Press Note. Press Information Bureau of India - Archive(9 April 1948). Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](30 April 1955).
  9. ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](25 May 1957).
  10. ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](9 November 1957).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](13 December 1958).
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](16 May 1959).
  13. ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](20 May 1961).
  14. ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](22 June 1963).
  15. ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](12 June 1965).
  16. ↑ Indian Army - List of Family Pensioners (AI, EC, RC, TC). Indian Army. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  17. ↑ Allied army chiefs in France. Civil & Military Gazette(2 November 1939).
  18. ↑ Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class. UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960(1949).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 The woman who tamed a bandit. www.telegraphindia.com(27 May 2011). Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Mala Sen: Writer and race equality activist. East End Women's Museum. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Indian Army List for October 1945 (Part I){{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Government of India Press(1945)
  22. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 New Designs of Crests and Badges in the Services. Press Information Bureau of India - Archive.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](24 June 1950).
  25. ↑ [{{{url}}} Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)](25 February 1956).

References

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