Colonel Arcot Govindaraj Rangaraj was born on March 12, 1917. After graduating from Madras medical college, he joined the Indian Medical Service in 1941 as a Lieutenant. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered for the newly founded 50th Indian Parachute Brigade, joining the 152 (Indian) Parachute Battalion.

Rangaraj, together with Havildar Major Mathura Singh, took part in parachute course 3 which began at Delhi's Willingdon airport on December 8, 1941. In completing it, the pair became the first Indian soldiers to ever become parachute trained. Rangaraj quickly put his medical skills to good use by becoming the medical officer of the 152 Battalion. 

During the battle of Sangshak in March 1944, the 152 Battalion were forced into a desperate fight for survival in which their resupply was dropped wide, their guns ran out of ammunition, and the Brigade watering point was constantly under fire. Rangaraj and the other medics were at one point forced to use blood plasma to make plasters for the wounded, having no water left to spare. With casualties eventually reaching a total of 352 - over half of the battalion's strength - a withdrawal became inevitable. On the retreat to Imphal, Rangaraj was marching through the jungle with a couple of other ranks when they happened upon a party of startled Japanese soldiers. Fortunately, he was quicker to react and ended the encounter with a burst of fire from his submachine gun. They stumbled into Imphal filthy and tired a few days later. 

By July 1944, the tides had turned and the Japanese were in full retreat. Under command of G.L. Tarver of the Baluch regiment, the 152 Battalion now sought to enact further losses on the retreating invaders, capturing many. But the Japanese POWs, dishonoured by the shame of defeat, were now stunned by the civility of Rangaraj and the other allied medics. As the 152's Commanding Officer, Paul Hopkinson, described: "it surprised me that they still had the courage and spirit to go on fighting as they did. They all seem to have been told that if captured, they would certainly be shot. It was strange to see how astonished they looked when we gave them food and blankets and Captain Rangaraj attended to their wounds". 

Captain Rangaraj was also present during the drop of a composite Battalion at Elephant point on May 1, 1945. Whilst the 152nd were not part of the composite Battalion, Rangaraj joined as an experienced medical officer whose skills would prove invaluable. This became even more evident when Captain Merryfield, the composite Battalion's medical officer, was injured on the drop, leaving Rangaraj as the only doctor. 

Later in the day, around 3.30, a group of reserves were parachuted in over Elephant point with other medical personnel. Together with Rangaraj, they approached the main Battalion under the cover of heavy rain and with reduced visibility. The Battalion mistakenly opened fire, with Rangaraj there to witness the chaos: "It took a lot of shouting to indicate to them that we were friends and not foes! After five minutes of hell-let-loose, the firing subsided. Torches were switched on, to find Major Thornton, the anaesthetist, lying with his right trousers-leg soaked in blood. He was hit by a bullet in the thigh". Thereafter, Rangaraj and Major Dunlop, the surgeon, worked on the wounded in a cowshed with only a battery-powered lamp for illumination.

Later in 1945, Rangaraj was posted to the 60^th Parachute Field Ambulance. In August 1946, he took part in Operation Hatya, a flood relief operation in the Bay of Bengal. After being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Rangaraj would first lead 80^th Para Field Ambulance from January 1947, and then 60^th Parachute Field Ambulance in 1948. He commanded the 60th during the first Indo-Pakistani war, where it ran the Cariappa hospital despite catering to 27 Battalions amid severe shortages.

After India gained its independence from Britain, 50^th Parachute Brigade, and by extension Rangaraj’s 60^th Field Ambulance, joined the Indian Army. One of its first calls to action came on 31 July 1950, when the Indian parliament agreed to send a medical unit to assist UN Forces in South Korea. They chose 60^th Field Ambulance, which arrived in the country in November 1950. Upon arrival, they came under command of the 27^th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade. This British led unit also contained troops from New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Now fighting under an Indian flag, Rangaraj was reunited with the British forces he knew so well. 

Under Rangaraj’s command, the 300 men of the 60^th were said to have treated 20,000 wounds and conducted 2,300 field surgeries in just three years.  The unit also took part in Tomahawk, a joint airborne operation with US troops of 187 RCT at Munsani.  He returned home to India in February 1953, and was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

AG Rangaraj died on March 23, 2009, aged 92. In July 2020, he was honoured as the Korean War Hero for the Month by the South Korean government.

Sources:

RBL article on South Asian Heritage Month

Listed as a Captain (temporary) in the London Gazette of 19 September 1946.