On 22 February 1942, upon his graduation from the Royal Military College, Sharma was commissioned into the 9th Battalion,
19th Hyderabad Regiment, of the
British Indian Army (later to become the
Indian Army's 4th Battalion,
Kumaon Regiment). During
World War II, he saw action against the
Japanese in
Burma during the
Arakan Campaign. At that time he served under the command of
Colonel K. S. Thimmayya, who would later rise to the rank of general and become
Chief of the Army Staff from 1957 to 1961. Sharma was
mentioned in despatches for his actions during the fighting of the Arakan Campaign. Throughout his military career, Sharma was influenced by his uncle Captain K. D. Vasudeva's gallantry in action. 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. Coincidentally,
Savitri Khanolkar, the mother-in-law of Sharma's brother, was the designer of the Param Vir Chakra. The official citation reads: ==Legacy==