Subedar Shreedhara Das was born on 29th January 1934 to Sri Parameswara Panickar and Smt Karthiayani. He hailed from Manakkad village in Ernakulam district of Kerala. Subedar Shreedhara Das joined the Army at the age of 17 years and was inducted into the 18 Madras battalion of the Madras Regiment. During the war of 1971, Subedar Shreedhara Das’s unit, 18 Madras was deployed in the Nayachor/Umarkot sector on the western front.
| Service Number | JC 39418 |
| Place of Birth | Kerala |
| Rank | Subedar |
| Unit | 18 Madras |
| Regiment | Madras Regiment |
| Award | Vir Chakra |
| Date of Martyrdom | 17th December 1971 |
On the western front Subedar Shreedhara Das unit 18 Madras, was deployed in the Nayachor/Umarkot sector of Rajasthan. Though the war was officially over on 16 Dec 1971 when the Pakistani forces surrendered on the eastern border, the border skirmishes were continuing on the western border. By 16 Dec 1971, 18 Madras had reached positions at Hingora tar about 2 km from Umarkot. Subedar Shreedhara Das and his men had reached Hingora Tar after a forced march of almost three days through the trackless desert. The battalion did not have artillery or administrative cover and faced a shortage of food and ammunition too. On 17th December 1971, the enemy launched a massive attack, and Subedar Shreedhara Das as a platoon commander, without thinking of his safety, moved from trench to trench encouraging his men to repulse the attack. During the process, he got seriously wounded but he refused to be evacuated. On noticing that one of the LMGs crew had been killed, Subedar Shreedhara Das himself took over and attacked the incoming enemy soldiers. However, during the exchange of fire, Subedar Shreedhara Das got grievously wounded and later succumbed to his injuries.
Subedar Shreedhara Das was given the gallantry award, “Vir Chakra” posthumously.
