On 31 October, D Company of 4th Battalion of Kumaon Regiment, under the command of Sharma, was flown in to Srinagar. On 27 October 1947, a contingent of troops of the Indian Army was air-lifted into Srinagar in response to the invasion by Pakistan on 22 October into the Kashmir Valley. Vasudeva also served with the 8th Battalion, participating in the Malayan Campaign during which he died aiding hundreds of soldiers under his command to survive from the Japanese offensive. Throughout his military career, Sharma was influenced by his uncle Captain K. Sharma was mentioned in despatches for his actions during the fighting of the Arakan Campaign. Thimmayya, who would later rise to the rank of general and become Chief of the Army Staff from 1957 to 1961. At that time he served under the command of Colonel K.

During World War II, he saw action against the Japanese in Burma during the Arakan Campaign.

On 22 February 1942, upon his graduation from the Royal Military College, Sharma was commissioned into the 8th Battalion, 19th Hyderabad Regiment, of the British Indian Army (later to become the Indian Army's 4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment). During his childhood, Somnath was influenced by the teachings of Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, taught to him by his grandfather. He later studied at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Sharma completed his schooling at Sherwood College, Nainital, before enrolling at the Prince of Wales Royal Military College in Dehradun. Several of his siblings served in the military. His father, Amar Nath Sharma, was a military officer. Sharma was born into a Brahmin family on 31 January 1923 at Dadh, Kangra, Punjab (present day Himachal Pradesh).

Sunderkand full by somnath sharma