As a young boy, he was spotted winning an athletics race that he had entered on the spur of the moment and was nurtured by the British for a role in the army.

They moved him out of the prison camp and enlisted him in the Imperial Japanese Army, where he received special training.

He was captured by the Allied forces and returned to India to stand trial for treason at the end of World War II.

Awan, who now held the rank of major, was involved in this, leading troops in heavy fighting at a pass near to Rajouri.

He controlled an area of around 500 square miles for a period of three months and, according to Lt General Mahmud Ahmed in his book War 1965, Munawar enjoyed full support from the local population of the valley.