be officers in the British Indian Army, the Indian boys had to be first given British public school education before sending them for pre-commission training. Finally, the PWRIMC was inaugurated in March 1922. The Prince Edward, The Prince of Wales, inaugurated the school on 13 March 1922, naming it the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (PWRIMC). The name was changed in 1947 to RIMC when India became independent. The prefix of Prince of Wales was dropped, and Royal Indian Military College became Rashtriya Indian Military College, and thus the PWRIMC became RIMC, retaining the essence of the original name and the spirit of the name. It was located on the premises of the Imperial Cadet Corps (also called Rajwada Camp), set amidst of lush-green countryside adjacent to the Garhi Village in Dehradun Cantonment. The purpose of the school was to provide boys with education and training for the Indians being sent to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, as part of the Empire's policy to make the officer cadre of the Indian Army more indigenous. RIMC was intended as a feeder institution to Royal Military Academy Sandhurst along the lines of an English Public School. The government order appointed a military Commandant of the rank of Lt Colonel, a civilian Headmaster, senior or junior British Masters and Indian Masters. The first commandant was Lt Col H.L. Haughton of the Sikh Regiment who took charge of the College on 22 February 1922. JGC Scott was appointed headmaster and the first group of British masters were JM Allen, CA Phillips and Kitter-master. The First Adjutant & Quarter Master was Risaldar (Honorary Captain) Sardar Khan of 20 Lancers. The first mess contractors were MS Hazir and Co and the mess staff consisted mostly of Goans. Later the mess was taken over by the Army Service Corps. Hira Lal Atal was the first Cadet Captain and later as Adjutant General of the Indian Army, He was responsible for designing India’s highest award for bravery in combat, the Param Vir Chakra, of which the first recipient was another Old Boy of the College Maj Somnath Sharma. Among the early cadets were K.S. Thimayya, Asghar Khan and others, who had illustrious military careers. An excellent account of the life in early days of RIMC can be found in book Thimayya of India by Humphrey Evans, while accounts of the Imperial Cadet Corps can be found