Major Somnath Sharma was the first Indian Army officer to be honoured with the Param Vir Chakra Award
He was awarded Param Vir Chakra posthumously on 21 June 1950
Interestingly, Savitri Khanolkar - mother-in-law of Sharma's brother - was the designer of the Param Vir Chakra award
He died on November 3, 1947 at Badgam village in the Kashmir Valley when an enemy mortar shell landed right in the middle of the ammunition that resulted in an explosion
The officer was personally filling magazines and issuing them to light machine gunners when he was martyred
His last message to the Brigade Headquarters a few moments before he was killed was, “the enemies are only 50 yards from us. We are heavily outnumbered.
"We are under devastating fire. I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to the last man and the last round,” he added
Service: Army Arm: Infantry Unit: 4 Kumaon Birth: January 31, 1923 Died: November 3, 1947 Operation: 1947 Indo-Pak Kashmir War