Indian Army
New Indian Army recruits
Active	1895–1947
Country	India
Allegiance	British Empire
Type	Army
Size	2.5 million men
Headquarters	GHQ India (Delhi)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell Claude Auchinleck

The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army,^[1] began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.^[2] By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in August 1945.^[2][3] Serving in divisions of infantry, armour and a fledgling airborne force, they fought on three continents in Africa, Europe and Asia.^[2]

The army fought in Ethiopia against the Italian Army, in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria against both the Italian and German armies, and, after the Italian surrender, against the German Army in Italy. However, the bulk of the Indian Army was committed to fighting the Japanese Army, first during the British defeat in Malaya and the retreat from Burma to the Indian border; later, after resting and refitting for the victorious advance back into Burma, as part of the largest British Empire army ever formed. These campaigns cost the lives of over 87,000 Indian servicemen, while 34,354 were wounded, and 67,340 became prisoners of war.^[4][5] Their valour was recognised with the award of some 4,000 decorations, and 18 members of the Indian Army were awarded the Victoria Cross or the George Cross. Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942, asserted that the British "couldn't have come through both wars (World War I and II) if they hadn't had the Indian Army."^[6][7] British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also paid tribute to "The unsurpassed bravery of Indian soldiers and officers."^[6]

Background

In 1939, the Indian Army was an experienced British force, having fought in the Third Afghan War, two major campaigns in Waziristan, during 1919–1920 and 1936–1939, and in several smaller disputes on the North West Frontier since the First World War. There was no shortage of manpower to call upon, but the army did suffer from a shortage of skilled technical personnel. The conversion of the cavalry force into a mechanised tank force had only just begun and was hampered by the inability to supply adequate numbers of tanks and armoured vehicles.

In 1939, British officials had no plan for expansion and training of Indian forces, which comprised about 130,000 men (in addition, there were 44,000 men in British units in India in 1939). Their mission was internal security and defence against a possible Russian threat through Afghanistan. As the war progressed, the size and role of the Indian Army expanded dramatically, and troops were sent to battle fronts as soon as possible. The most serious problem was lack of equipment.^[8]

Organisation

The Indian Army of 1939 was different from the Indian Army during World War I (also a British force); it had been reformed in 1922, moving away from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments.^[9] Overall, the army was reduced to 21 cavalry regiments and 107 infantry battalions.^[10] The field army now consisted of four infantry divisions and five cavalry brigades.^[11] There was a covering force of 12 infantry brigades to protect the North West Frontier from incursions and one third of the infantry, 43 battalions, were allocated to internal security and to aid the civil power.^[11] In the 1930s, the Indian Army began a programme of modernisation—they now had their own artillery—the Indian Artillery Regiment—and the cavalry had started to mechanise.^[12] By 1936, the Indian Army had committed to supplying in wartime a brigade each for Singapore, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, Burma and two for Egypt.^[13] But, by 1939, further reductions had reduced the Indian Army to 18 cavalry regiments and 96 infantry battalions, in total 194,373 men including 34,155 non-combatants.^[14] They could also call upon 15,000 men from the Frontier Irregular Force, 22,000 men from the Auxiliary Force (India), consisting of European and Anglo-Indian volunteers, 19,000 from the Indian Territorial Force, and 53,000 from the Indian State forces.^[14]

There were twenty two regular regiments of cavalry, which supplied tank and armoured car units. (Seven more were raised during the war.) There were twenty regular Indian regiments of infantry (including the Burma Rifles) and ten Gurkha regiments. Before the war, all the Indian regiments had at least two battalions, and most had more. The Gurkha regiments had two battalions each. During the war, the Gurkha regiments raised a further two battalions each, while the Indian regiments raised up to fifteen each. Two further regiments (the Assam Regiment and the Burma Regiment) were created during the war.

The Indian Army started World War II underprepared and short of modern weapons and equipment.^[5] It had not expected to be involved in any hostilities and had been advised after the outbreak of war in Europe, by the British government, that it was unlikely to be required at all.^[5] So, it was with some surprise when the 4th Infantry and 5th Infantry divisions were requested to serve in the North African and East African Campaigns and four mule companies to join the British Expeditionary Force in France.^[5]

1940

In May 1940, agreement was reached between the British and Indian governments over the formation of another five infantry and one armoured divisions, which became the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th infantry and the 31st Indian Armoured Divisions.^[15] These new divisions were primarily intended to be used in the defence of Malaya (9th Division) and Iraq (6th, 8th and 10th Infantry divisions).^[15] The 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, from the armoured division, was to go to Egypt; the formation of the rest of the armoured division was put on hold, because of the shortage of armoured vehicles.^[15]

1941

In March 1941, the Indian government revised the defence plan for India. Concerned with what the Japanese were planning and the requirement to replace the divisions sent overseas, seven new armoured regiments and 50 new infantry battalions were needed for five new infantry divisions that were formed: the 14th, 17th, 19th, 20th, 34th and the two armoured formations 32nd Indian Armoured Division and 50th Indian Tank Brigade.^[16]

1942

With the fall of Singapore in 1942, about 40,000 Indian soldiers were captured. They were given a choice; 30,000 joined the Indian National Army. Those who refused became POWs and were mostly shipped to New Guinea.^[17]

With the previously formed divisions mostly committed overseas in 1942, the army formed another four infantry divisions (23rd, 25th, 28th, 36th) and the 43rd Indian Armoured Division.^[18] However, events during 1942 and the Japanese conquests meant that the 28th Division was not formed and the units earmarked for it were used elsewhere. The 36th Division, uniquely, was created as an Indian Army formation, but was formed from British brigades that had reached India from the Madagascar campaign and from Britain. The final division formed in 1942 was the 26th Indian Infantry Division, which was hastily formed from the various units in training or stationed near Calcutta.^[18]

After the perceived poor performance in battles in Malaya and Burma in 1942, it was decided that the existing infantry divisions were over–mechanised. To counter this, the 17th and 39th divisions were selected to become light divisions, of only two brigades which would rely more on animal and four-wheel-drive transport.^[18]

By December 1942, agreement was reached that India should become the base for offensive operations. Support should be in place for 34 divisions, which would include two British, one West African, one East African and eleven Indian divisions, and what was left of the Burma Army.^[19]

1943

The plans for 1943 included the formation of another infantry division, an airborne division and a heavy armoured brigade. Only the 44th Indian Armoured Division was formed, by amalgamating the 32nd and 43rd Armoured divisions.^[18] There was a change to the establishment of infantry divisions, which received two extra infantry battalions as divisional troops.^[18]

A committee was set up in 1943 to report on the readiness of the army and suggest improvements. Its recommendations were:

1. The infantry should have first claims on cadet officers and educated recruits, the quality of officers and non commissioned officers (NCO) should be improved and there should be an increase in pay.
2. Basic training should be increased to nine months followed by two months' specialised jungle training.
3. The reinforcement system should be improved and drafts should include experienced NCO's
4. Infantry brigades should include a British, an Indian and a Gurkha battalion.^[20]

To assist in the jungle training of the infantry from July 1943, the 14th and 39th divisions were converted to training divisions.^[20] The 116th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of 39th Division, provided the specialised jungle conversion training. An infantry battalion would spend from four to six months with the brigade, before being sent to the front to replace a tired battalion in one of the fighting divisions.^[20] The brigades and units of the 14th Division provided jungle training for drafts of reinforcements for the Indian battalions already serving on the Burma front.^[21]

1944

The planned 44th Indian Airborne Division was finally formed from the 44th Armoured Division, leaving the 31st Armoured as the only armoured division in the army.^[18] The infantry division formation was changed again; it was now standardised as three infantry brigades plus three infantry battalions assigned as divisional troops.^[18]

The success of the 116th Brigade in training for jungle warfare was recognised. From May 1944, 116th Brigade trained units destined for the Fourteenth Army and 150th Brigade, which was converted from the Risalpur Training Brigade, trained units destined for the Southern Army.^[22] The 155th Indian Infantry Brigade was formed to provide training for units destined for the western theatres of war.^[20]

Infantry divisions

Infantry divisions consisted of three infantry brigades, of three infantry battalions. Usually, one battalion in each brigade was British and two were Indian or Gurkha. Four brigades were raised consisting entirely of Gurkha battalions. Later in the war, as British infantry reinforcements became more scarce, particularly in the South East Asian Theatre, British battalions in brigades fighting in Burma were replaced by Indian units.

In a division with a standard MT (Mechanical Transport) establishment, the divisional units were a reconnaissance unit provided by a mechanised cavalry regiment, and a heavy machine gun battalion armed with thirty-six Vickers machine guns. (Each Indian infantry regiment raised a machine gun battalion in addition to its infantry battalions.) The divisional artillery consisted of three field artillery regiments with twenty-four 25-pounder guns each, one anti-tank regiment with forty-eight anti-tank guns and one light anti-aircraft regiment with up to fifty-four light anti-aircraft guns. There were three engineer field companies and one engineer field park company, plus signals, medical and transport units.^[23]

There were variations on the infantry formation, depending on role. The light divisions (14th, 17th and 39th) as formed in 1942 had only two brigades and lacked much heavy equipment. Transport was provided by six mule and four Jeep companies. This type of division was later dropped. The Animal and Mechanised transport divisions (A & MT) (7th, 20th and 23rd and later the 5th) had a mixture of animal and vehicle transport, as the name suggests.^[24] In particular, one of the vehicle-drawn field artillery regiments was replaced by a mountain artillery regiment with twelve 3.7-inch howitzers, carried on mules. The anti-tank and light anti-aircraft regiments were replaced by a single regiment, with two batteries each of anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. The divisional reconnaissance unit was replaced by a lightly equipped infantry battalion. Another standard infantry battalion provided the HQ Defence unit.

On 27 May 1944, General George Giffard (the commander of 11th Army Group) ordered that all Indian divisions fighting in Burma should adopt the A & MT establishment.^[25] Late that year, however, Lieutenant General William Slim (commanding Fourteenth Army) converted two divisions (the 5th and 17th) to a mixed establishment of two motorised brigades and one airportable brigade, in anticipation of mechanised operations in the comparatively open terrain of central Burma.^[26] In April 1945, the 20th Division was also converted to a partially motorised establishment by acquiring the vehicles from a British division whose personnel were being withdrawn from Burma.^[27]

Armoured divisions

It was intended to form an armoured division in the plans for 1940, 1941 and 1942. However, the Indian armoured formations suffered from a lack of equipment. The shortage of tanks in 1940 was reflected in the organisation of 31st Armoured Division, which first had one armoured and two motor brigades. At the end of 1940, this was changed to two armoured and one motor brigade.^[28] When the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade was sent to Egypt, the British armoured division organisation of two armoured brigades and a Support group was adopted.

In June 1942, the division's establishment was fixed as one armoured and one infantry brigade. The surplus armoured brigades (50th, 254th, 255th and the 267th) became independent brigades and served in the Burma campaign.^[28] In March 1943, the shortage of technical staff forced another review of the armoured force and the 32nd and 43rd armoured divisions were amalgamated to become the 44th Indian Armoured Division.^[28] In March 1944, a further review reduced the armoured force to one division (the 31st Armoured Division serving in the Middle East) and three tank brigades (the 50th, 254th and 255th) serving in Burma.^[28]

Airborne troops

The 50th Independent Indian Parachute Brigade was formed on 29 October 1941, with the British 151st Parachute Battalion, 152nd Indian Parachute Battalion and 153rd Gurkha Parachute Battalion, a medium machine gun company and a medium mortar detachment. The 151st Battalion was later renumbered as the 156th Battalion and returned to Britain and another Gurkha battalion (154th) was formed, but had not joined the brigade when it was heavily involved in the Battle of Sangshak in March 1944.^[29][30]

The headquarters of the 44th Indian Armoured Division was converted in April 1944, to 9th Indian Airborne Division, which was renamed the 44th Airborne Division a few weeks later.^[31] After a delay caused by the Japanese invasion of India, the division resumed forming in July. It absorbed the 50th Parachute Brigade, and later two brigades from the disbanding Chindit force^[32] The division now consisted of the 50th, 77th Parachute Brigades and 14th Airlanding Brigade, two field artillery regiments, two anti-aircraft regiments and a joint anti-aircraft and anti-tank regiment.^[33]

Artillery

The Royal Artillery still provided some of the artillery required for Indian Army formations, but the Indian Regiment of Artillery had been formed in 1935, initially consisting of four horse–drawn batteries.^[34] The regiment was expanded during the war and, by 1945, had formed 10 field artillery regiments, 13 mountain artillery regiments, 10 anti–tank artillery regiments. Three anti–aircraft brigades were formed from the four heavy anti–aircraft artillery regiments and five light anti–aircraft artillery regiments created.^[35] For the regiments service during the war, it was granted the title Royal Indian Artillery in 1945.^[34]

Engineers

The Indian Engineers were a part of every division in the army. The engineers corps started the war with two army troops companies, 11 Field Companies and one field park company. Expansion during the war took the totals of engineers to; five army troops companies, 67 Field companies, six independent field squadrons, 20 field park companies and two independent field park squadrons.^[36]

Women's Auxiliary Corps (India)

The Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) was formed in May 1942; recruits had to be a minimum age of 18 years and their duties were clerical or domestic. In December 1942, the minimum age was reduced to 17 years and 11,500 women had enlisted by the end of the war.^[28] Volunteers could enlist on Local service or General service terms. Those on General service could be sent to serve anywhere in India.^[37] Compared to over two million men, the corps of 11,500 women was small, but recruitment was always hampered by caste and communal inhibitions. Indian women at the time did not mix socially or at work with men and a large part of the corps was formed from the mixed-race Anglo–Indian community.^[38] The WAC(I) had an autonomous Air Wing, which served as the Indian counterpart of the WAAF: the women operated switchboards and similar duties at airfields and air headquarters (AHQ). In the earlier part of the war there was likewise a Naval Wing, but with the very localised environment of naval base and the very distinct ethos of the wartime naval services, British and Indian, this department was formally hived-off, in 1944, to become: the Women's Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS), with its own uniform, similar to WRNS.

Indian States Forces (ISF)

The armies of the Indian States or Princely states provided a further 250,000 men during the war.^[39] They contributed five cavalry regiments and 36 infantry battalions,^[40] and between them they had 16 infantry battalions plus signal, transport and pioneers companies away on active service.^[39] One of their men, Captain Mahmood Khan Durrani, was awarded the George Cross while in Japanese captivity.^[41]

Chindits

The Chindits (named after a mythical beast, statues of which guarded Burmese temples) were the brainchild of Brigadier Orde Wingate, who intended that long-range penetration raids behind enemy lines would become the main effort against the Japanese in Burma.^[42] In 1943, he mounted Operation Longcloth by the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade. In 1944, they staged a much larger operation which involved disbanding the 70th British Infantry Division, its three brigades together with three more brigades were grouped as Special Force and referred to for cover purposes as 3rd Indian Infantry Division. In practice, the four Indian Army battalions in Special Force were all from regiments of Gurkha Rifles. There was also a battalion of Burma Rifles, to provide reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. Chindits were in fact ordinary infantry units arbitrarily selected for the mission on the basis of their availability. There was no commando, airborne or other selection procedure,^[43] although there was some "weeding out" of less fit personnel during training for operations.

The Chindits were disbanded in February 1945.^[32] Several of the brigade headquarters and many of the veterans of the Chindit operations were reformed and merged into 44th Airborne Division, while the force headquarters and signals units formed the core of XXXIV Indian Corps.