On This Day: 15th January

The British Indian Army was established on 1 April 1895. But, it was only on 15 January 1949, that the nation received its first-ever Indian chief. Thus, the Army Day is celebrated by the Indian Army every year on 15 January to commemorate the day when General (later Field Marshal) Kodandera M. Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of independent India when he took over the command of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Roy Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949.