131-673: The Hong Kong Regiment was a British Indian Army regiment seconded to the British Army intended to form part of the garrison of British Hong Kong between 1891 and 1902. It was disbanded in 1902 following a request from the India Office owing to the cost of the regiment. The Hong Kong Regiment was created as a result of an 1886 recommendation for an extra battalion to join the Hong Kong Military Service Corps in garrisoning Hong Kong. The regiment
262-759: A Chief of the General Staff, India . All the senior command and staff positions in the Indian Army alternated between senior officers of the British and Indian Armies. In 1914, the Commander–in–Chief was General Sir Beauchamp Duff of the Indian Army, and the Chief of the General Staff was Lieutenant General Sir Percy Lake of the British Army. Each Indian battalion was staffed by 13 officers from
393-832: A division in Burma and a brigade in Aden . To assist command and control of the new divisions, two field armies were formed—the Northern Army and the Southern Army. The Northern Army had five divisions and three brigades and was responsible for the North West Frontier to Bengal while the Southern Army, which had four divisions in India and two formations outside the subcontinent, was responsible for Baluchistan to southern India. The regiments and battalions of
524-484: A cavalry regiment, a pioneer battalion and artillery provided by the British Royal Field Artillery . Each division had about 13,000 men on strength, somewhat weaker than a British division in part due to the smaller infantry battalions and smaller artillery forces. The Indian Army was also weakened when 500 British officers on home leave, enough to officer 38 Indian battalions, were posted to
655-777: A collective description of the Presidency armies, which collectively comprised the Bengal Army , the Madras Army and the Bombay Army , of the Presidencies of British India , particularly after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . In 1879, the Presidency armies were integrated into a system of four Commands with a central Commander-in-Chief. On 1 April 1895, the Presidency armies were dissolved and unified into
786-578: A large-scale reform should be implemented to improve the Indian Army. Calcutta had been ravaged by large communal riots, but the British Indian Army was able to restore order. Nehru demanded with urgency, that the Indian Army should safeguard India's new democracy . Nehru was a nationalist and opposed India's "divide and rule" policy. As a result of the Partition of India in 1947, the formations, units, assets, and indigenous personnel of
917-444: A part of their careers. In 1922, after wartime experience had shown that the maintenance of 130 separate single-battalion infantry regiments was unwieldy, a number of large (four to five battalion) regiments were created, and numerous cavalry regiments amalgamated. The List of regiments of the Indian Army (1922) shows the reduced number of larger regiments. Until 1932 most Indian Army officers, both British and Indian, were trained at
1048-528: A significant French presence. In 1903, Lord Kitchener became the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army . He instituted large-scale reforms, the greatest of which was the merger of the three armies of the Presidencies into a unified force. He formed higher level formations, eight army divisions, and brigaded Indian and British units. He left his command in 1909. Following Kitchener's reforms,
1179-678: A single Indian Army, also divided into four Commands, and the term "Indian Army" was officially used by 1903. The Commands were later replaced by two "Armies" in 1908—the Northern and Southern Army—but the Command system was restored in 1920. About 1.5 million Indian soldiers served during the First World War; the Indian Expeditionary Forces were deployed to France , Belgium, east Africa, Iraq, Egypt , and
1310-638: A string of early successes, the campaign was delivered a setback at the Battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915 due to logistical constraints. Following this engagement, the Poona Division withdrew back to Kut , where Townshend made the decision to hold the city and the Siege of Kut began. Between January and March 1916, Townshend launched several attacks in an attempt to lift the siege. In sequence,
1441-522: A total of 16,000 troops passed through Force G, and that it suffered about 1623 fatal casualties, listed in his book by name. One Indian Army battalion that was part of the Garrison of Tianjin in China, the 36th Sikhs took part in the Siege of Qingdao . Qingdao was a German controlled port in China. The British Government and the other Allied European powers were concerned about Japanese intentions in
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#17327806671081572-552: A total of 47,746 Indians had been reported dead or missing; 65,126 were wounded. Also serving in the First World War were so-called " Imperial Service Troops ", provided by the semi-autonomous Princely States . About 21,000 were raised in the First World War, mainly consisting of Sikhs of Punjab and Rajputs from Rajputana (such as the Bikaner Camel Corps and the Hyderabad , Mysore and Jodhpur Lancers of
1703-687: A total of about 55,000 Indians taken prisoner in Malaya and Singapore in February 1942, about 30,000 joined the INA, which fought Allied forces in the Burma Campaign. Others became guards at Japanese POW camps. The recruitment was the brainchild of Major Fujiwara Iwaichi who mentions in his memoirs that Captain Mohan Singh Deb , who surrendered after the Battle of Jitra became the founder of
1834-616: The 1st Bengal Lancers , among other Indian units, all served during the Rebellion. Numerous Indian soldiers earned the China War Medal 1900 with the "Relief of Pekin" clasp for contributing to the relief of Peking and the International Legations from 10 June to 14 August 1900. The Kitchener reforms began in 1903 when Lord Kitchener of Khartoum , newly appointed Commander-in-Chief , India, completed
1965-594: The 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade sent to Egypt in October 1914. The designation was retained for all subsequent forces sent there. Two Indian cavalry divisions ( 4th Cavalry Division and 5th Cavalry Division ) transferred from France in 1918, for service in Palestine . They were joined by the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade , a unit formed by three regiments of Lancers from the princely states of Mysore , Hyderabad , and Jodhpur . The 3rd (Lahore) Division and
2096-606: The 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade to the 11th Indian Division . The 9th (Secunderabad) Division lost the 9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division and the 27th (Bangalore) Brigade which was sent to British East Africa . The other pre war units the Burma Division, remained in Burma throughout the war on internal security duties, likewise the Aden brigade remained in Aden. In 1901 oil had been discovered in commercial quantities at Masjid-e-Suleiman at
2227-531: The 27th (Bangalore) Brigade , commanded by Brigadier General Richard Wapshare, from the 9th (Secunderabad) Division , and an Imperial Service Infantry Brigade , commanded by Brigadier General Michael Tighe , together with a pioneer battalion, a mountain artillery battery and engineers. It was shipped across the Indian Ocean to invade German East Africa . The force under the command of Major General Arthur Aitken landed at Tanga on 2–3 November 1914. In
2358-540: The 31st Indian Brigade joined the 10th Division in January 1916, but was disbanded a month later; and the 32nd (Imperial Service) Brigade was disbanded in January 1916. In April 1915, Indian Expeditionary Force G was sent to reinforce the Gallipoli Campaign. It consisted of the 29th Brigade, serving away from its parent 10th Indian Division . Consisting of three battalions of Gurkhas and one of Sikhs,
2489-734: The 3rd (Lahore) Division , the Kohat Brigade , the Bannu Brigade , and the Derajat Brigade ; Western Command , which consisted of the 4th (Quetta) Division , the 5th (Mhow) Division , the 6th (Poona) Division , and the Aden Brigade , located in Aden in the Arabian Peninsula; and Eastern Command , which consisted of the 7th (Meerut) Division and the 8th (Lucknow) Division . Army Headquarters retained
2620-739: The 3rd Madras Regiment for economic reasons, and the 20th Burma Rifles when Burma ceased to be governed by India. The end of World War I did not see the end of fighting for the Indian Army—they were involved in the Third Afghan War in 1919, and then the Waziristan Campaign in 1919–1920 and again in 1920–1924. Operations against the Afridis in 1930–1931, the Mohmands in 1933 and again in 1935 and finally just before
2751-655: The 44th . In matters of administration, weapons, training, and equipment, the Indian Army had considerable independence; for example, prior to the war the Indian Army adopted the Vickers–Berthier (VB) light machine gun instead of the Bren gun of the British Army, while continuing to manufacture and issue the older SMLE No. 1 Mk III rifle during the Second World War, instead of the Lee–Enfield No.4 Mk I issued to
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#17327806671082882-400: The 5th (Mhow) Division , the 8th (Lucknow) Division and the 9th (Secunderabad) Division . Over the course of the war these divisions lost brigades to other formations on active service; The 5th (Mhow) Division lost the 5th (Mhow) Cavalry Brigade to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division . The 8th (Lucknow) Division lost the 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade to the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and
3013-529: The 7th (Meerut) Division were transferred from Mesopotamia. At the same time 36 Indian army battalions were sent to reinforce the British 10th (Irish) , 53rd (Welsh) , 60th (2/2nd London) and 75th Divisions , which were reformed on Indian division lines with one British and three Indian battalions per brigade. Indian Expeditionary Force F consisted of the 10th Indian Division and the 11th Indian Division both of which were formed in Egypt in 1914, to defend
3144-470: The 9th (Secunderabad) Division and the Burma Division under its direct control. The numbered divisions were organised so that on mobilisation they could deploy a complete infantry division , a cavalry brigade, and a number of troops for internal security or local frontier defence. Permanent divisional commands were formed with an establishment of staff officers under a major general . After
3275-750: The 9th (Secunderabad) Division . By November 1918, the Indian Army rose in size to 573,000 men. Before the war, the Indian government had decided that India could afford to provide two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade in the event of a European war. Some 140,000 soldiers saw active service on the Western Front in France and Belgium – 90,000 in the front-line Indian Corps, and some 50,000 in auxiliary battalions. They felt that any more would jeopardise national security. More than four divisions were eventually sent as Indian Expeditionary Force A formed
3406-591: The Adjutant-General , dealing with training, discipline, and personnel, and the Quartermaster-General , dealing with supplies, accommodation, and communications. In 1906 a General Branch was established to deal with military policy, organisation and deployment, mobilisation and war plans, and intelligence and the conduct of operations. The Chiefs of the staff branches answered to the Chief of
3537-549: The Armistice of Mudros was signed. The Mesopotamian campaign was largely an Indian Army campaign as the only British formations involved were the 13th (Western) Division and British battalions assigned to Indian brigades. In the campaign, 11,012 were killed, 3,985 died of wounds, 12,678 died of disease, 13,492 were either missing or prisoners (including the 9,000 prisoners from Kut), and 51,836 were wounded. Indian Expeditionary Force E consisted of
3668-650: The Army of the Indian Empire , or Imperial Indian Army . The Indian Army should not be confused with the Army of India , which was the Indian Army plus the British Army in India (British units sent to India). With the partition of India and Pakistan on 15 August 1947, the army was reconstituted and divided between the two new Dominions , with the process overseen by Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck . Independent India would, however, retain "much of
3799-747: The Ashkhabad Committee , and known as the Malleson Mission . The Ashkhabad Committee was a revolutionary organisation led by Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries who were in an armed conflict with the Bolshevik Tashkent Soviet . Indian soldiers had not been eligible for the Victoria Cross until 1911, instead they received the Indian Order of Merit , an older decoration originally set up in
3930-861: The Battle of the Somme , the Battle of Bazentin , the Battle of Flers-Courcelette , the advance to the Hindenburg Line and finally the Battle of Cambrai . Of the 130,000 Indians who served in France and Belgium, almost 9,000 died. In 1914, the Governor of British East Africa requested assistance to deal with the German forces in German East Africa and the problem was handed to the India Office , which assembled two forces and shipped them to his aid. Indian Expeditionary Force B consisted of
4061-547: The British Indian Army, was the main military force of India until national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency Armies , it was responsible for the defence of both British India and the princely states , which could also have their own armies . As stated in the Imperial Gazetteer of India , the "British Government has undertaken to protect the dominions of
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4192-540: The British Raj and as a result were able to select which recruits they took on. This request was accepted, with the regiment's soldiers being transferred to the newly renamed 67th Punjabis . Their colours were laid up at St John's Cathedral , Hong Kong, though they were later lost during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong . British Indian Army The Indian Army during British rule , also referred to as
4323-524: The Gallipoli peninsula , among other regions. Eleven Indian soldiers won the Victoria Cross in the war. During the Second World War, some 2.5 million soldiers served , and the Indian Army was recognized as the largest volunteer army in history to that point. India itself also served as a major logistical base for Allied operations in World War II. The force is also sometimes referred to as
4454-854: The Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade ). These forces played a prominent role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . Elements of the Army operated around Mary, Turkmenistan in 1918–19. See Malleson mission and Entente intervention in the Russian Civil War . The army then took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War of 1919. In the aftermath of the First World War, the Indian Territorial Force and Auxiliary Force (India) were created in
4585-577: The Indian Cavalry Corps . Upon arrival in Marseilles on 30 September 1914, only six weeks after the declaration of war, they were moved to the Ypres Salient and took part in the Battle of La Bassée in October 1914. In March 1915, the 7th (Meerut) Division was chosen to lead the assault in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The Expeditionary Force was hampered by a lack of familiarity with new equipment, only being issued Lee–Enfield rifles on their arrival in France and they had almost no artillery, relying on support from their neighbouring corps when in
4716-402: The Indian Corps and the Indian Cavalry Corps that arrived on the Western Front in 1914. The high number of officer casualties the corps suffered early on had an effect on its later performance. British officers that understood the language, customs, and psychology of their men could not be quickly replaced, and the alien environment of the Western Front had some effect on the soldiers. However,
4847-628: The Indian III Corps , Indian IV Corps , Indian XV Corps , Indian XXI Corps (served with Tenth Army in the Middle East in 1942), Indian XXXIII Corps and Indian XXXIV Corps . Furthermore, the 2nd , 4th , 5th , 6th , 7th , 8th , 9th , 10th , 11th , 12th , 14th , 17th , 19th , 20th , 21st , 23rd , 25th , 26th , 34th , 36th (later converted to an all-British formation), and 39th Indian Divisions were formed, as well as other forces. Additionally there were at one time or another four armoured divisions formed (the 31st , 32nd , 43rd , and 44th ), and one airborne division, also designated
4978-400: The Mhairwara Battalion from Rajputana . The mountain batteries had already lost their numbers two years earlier. Under the 1903 reforms they were renumbered with twenty added to their original numbers. The army had very little artillery (only 12 batteries of mountain artillery ), and Royal Indian Artillery batteries were attached to the divisions. The Indian Army Corps of Engineers
5109-404: The Ottoman Empire . While some divisions were sent overseas others had to remain in India guarding the North West Frontier and on internal security and training duties. Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck , Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942 asserted that the British "couldn't have come through both World War I and II if they hadn't had the Indian Army." Herbert Kitchener
5240-498: The Royal Military College . The normal annual recruitment for the Indian army was 15,000 men, during the course of the war over 800,000 men volunteered for the army and more than 400,000 volunteered for non-combatant roles. In total almost 1.3 million men had volunteered for service by 1918. Over one million Indian troops served overseas during the war. In total, at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died in World War I. Child soldiers, some as young as 10 years old, were enlisted to fight in
5371-462: The Royal Navy . With their casualties mounting and under command of the battalion medical officer they were forced to withdraw to their starting positions. With the failure of the assault at Sari Bair the brigade was withdrawn to Egypt. Over the duration of the campaign the 29th Brigade had suffered 1,358 dead and 3,421 wounded. Peter Stanley's book Die in Battle, Do not Despair: the Indian on Gallipoli, 1915 (Helion & Co. Solihul, 2015) shows that
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5502-627: The Second Afghan War a Commission of Enquiry recommended the abolition of the presidency armies. The Ordnance , Supply and Transport , and Pay branches were by then unified. The Punjab Frontier Force was under the direct control of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab during peacetime until 1886, when it came under the Commander-in-Chief, India. The Hyderabad Contingent and other local corps remained under direct governmental control. Standing higher formations – divisions and brigades – were abandoned in 1889. No divisional staffs were maintained in peacetime, and troops were dispersed throughout
5633-415: The Sultan of Johor . Following immediate courts-martial a total of 47 mutineers were executed, while 64 were transported for life and another 73 imprisoned for varying terms. Later in 1915 the 5th Light Infantry saw service in the Kamerun campaign and was subsequently sent to East Africa and Aden. 500 men of the 19th Punjabis were deployed by General Wilfrid Malleson in Transcaspia in support of
5764-400: The Western Front , notably in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle , participated in the Battle of Gallipoli and Sinai and Palestine Campaign . Furthermore, it fought in the Siege of Kut of the Mesopotamian Campaign , and campaigned in East Africa , including the Battle of Tanga . Participants from the Indian subcontinent won 13,000 medals, including 12 Victoria Crosses. By the end of the war
5895-431: The Yorkshire Light Infantry , which had been ordered to France. The 5th Light Infantry consisted of roughly equal numbers of Punjabi Muslims and Pathans serving in separate companies. Their morale was constantly low, being affected by poor communication, slack discipline and a weak leadership. The regiment had been employed to guard the captured crew from the German ship, SMS Emden and reportedly attempts were made to fan
6026-411: The 1920s. The Indian Territorial Force was a part-time, paid, all-volunteer organisation within the army. Its units were primarily made up of European officers and Indian other ranks . The ITF was created by the Indian Territorial Force Act 1920 to replace the Indian section of the Indian Defence Force . It was an all-volunteer force modelled after the British Territorial Army . The European parallel to
6157-425: The 1st Bombay Grenadiers became the 101st Grenadiers . The Gurkha Regiments had developed into their own Line of rifle regiments since 1861. They were five of these until they were joined by the former 42nd, 43rd, & 44th Gurkha Regiments of the Bengal Army, who became the 6th, 7th, & 8th Gurkha Rifles. The numbers 42, 43, & 44 were allocated respectively to the Deoli and Erinpura Irregular Forces and
6288-401: The 2nd Bengal Lancers became the 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) . The new order began with the Bengal regiments, followed by the Punjab Frontier Force, then the regiments of Madras, the Hyderabad Contingent, and Bombay. Wherever possible a significant digit was retained in the new number. Thus the 1st Sikh Infantry became the 51st Sikhs , the 1st Madras Pioneers became the 61st Pioneers , and
6419-400: The 3rd and 7th Divisions arrived from the Western Front. In 1917, the British force, under Frederick Stanley Maude , which now included one cavalry and seven infantry divisions from the Indian Army, in the III Corps (India) advanced towards Baghdad which was captured in March. The advance continued in 1918, and after the Battle of Sharqat in October, the Turkish forces surrendered and
6550-461: The 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions. Serving alongside British cavalry divisions they were held behind the front line awaiting the hoped for breakthrough. At times during the war they served in the trenches as infantry, each cavalry brigade when dismounted formed a dismounted regiment. This meant that when the divisions went into the front line, they could only cover a brigade area. Before being themselves withdrawn to Egypt in March 1918, they took part in
6681-407: The British Army from the middle of the war. Particularly notable contributions of the Indian Army during that conflict were the: Over the course of the Second World War, about 87,000 Indian soldiers were killed. In this period, 31 Indians were awarded the Victoria Cross (See: Indians in ' List of Victoria Cross Recipients by Nationality' ). Out of the 252 Distinguished Service Orders awarded to
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#17327806671086812-474: The British Army in India and 17 officers from the Indian Army— expatriate British officers serving under colonial Indian administration. As the war intensified and officer casualties mounted, the ability to replace casualties with officers of British origin became extremely difficult and in many cases the officer allotment to battalions was reduced accordingly. Only in 1919 were the first Officer Cadets of Indian descent permitted to be selected for officer training at
6943-408: The British Army, funded by the British government in London . The three Presidency armies remained separate forces, each with its own Commander-in-Chief . Overall operational control was exercised by the Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army , who was formally the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies. From 1861, most of the officer manpower was pooled in the three Presidential Staff Corps. After
7074-416: The British Indian Army, at least 13 were awarded to native officers (See: South Asian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order ). The Germans and Japanese were relatively successful in recruiting combat forces from Indian prisoners of war . These forces were known as the Tiger Legion and the Indian National Army (INA). Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose led the 40,000-strong INA. From
7205-509: The British officers at the Tanglin barracks were killed and the mutineers then moved on the German prisoner of war camp where they killed thirteen camp guards and other military personnel. The Germans however refused to join them. The mutineers then roamed the streets of Singapore, killing European civilians that they encountered. The mutiny continued for nearly five days and was suppressed by local volunteer and British regular units plus naval detachments from allied warships, and with assistance from
7336-447: The Commandant of the School of Musketry said there was "little we could teach them". A report in The Daily Telegraph described it as a "Swagger Regiment", and the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces , Lord Roberts praised them highly during their first inspection, which was commonly repeated by the Governors of Hong Kong . In 1897 the regiment was deployed to suppress disturbances in the newly acquired New Territories . Khaki drill
7467-408: The Gallipoli campaign, and then disbanded in June 1917; and the 30th Indian Brigade was first assigned to the 12th Indian Division in April 1915, then transferred to the 6th (Poona) Division in September 1915 and was captured in the fall of Kut . The 11th Division was disbanded earlier in 1915, but its brigades did not survive much longer. The 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade was broken up in January 1916;
7598-522: The General Staff , whose post was held by a Lieutenant-General . To provide training for staff officers , the Indian Staff College was established in 1905, and permanently based at Quetta from 1907. With no intermediate chain of command , army headquarters was weighed down with minor administrative details. Divisional commanders were responsible not only for their active formations, but also for internal security and volunteer troops within their respective areas. On mobilisation, divisional staffs took
7729-488: The German military presence in the region at 200 men; however, there were 600 askaris in three companies plus the colonial volunteers, 86 young Germans on horseback. On 3 November 1914, some 1,500 Punjabis of the British force advanced up the slope at night near Longido were caught in the crossfire of a strong German defensive position as they advanced in the morning fog. The large force of Indian infantry effectively resisted counterattacks, however, during
7860-449: The INA. Some Indian Army personnel resisted recruitment and remained POWs. An unknown number captured in Malaya and Singapore were taken to Japanese-occupied areas of New Guinea as forced labour. Many of these men suffered severe hardships and brutality, similar to that experienced by other prisoners of Japan during the Second World War. About 6,000 of them survived until they were liberated by Australian or US forces, in 1943–45. During
7991-676: The ITF was the Auxiliary Force (India) . After the First World War the British started the process of Indianisation , by which Indians were promoted into higher officer ranks. In a 1923 census, the British Indian Army consisted of 64,669 British-born soldiers and officers, with 187,432 Indian-born soldiers in comparison. Indian cadets were sent to study in Great Britain at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , and were given full commissions as King's Commissioned Indian Officers . The KCIOs were equivalent in every way to British commissioned officers and had full authority over British troops (unlike VCOs). Some KCIOs were attached to British Army units for
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#17327806671088122-532: The Imperial Strategic Reserve. It was regularly called upon to deal with incursions and raids on the North West Frontier and to provide garrison forces for the British Empire in Egypt, Singapore and China. This field force was divided into two armies: the Northern Army, which stretched from the North-West Frontier to Bengal with five divisions and three brigades under command, and the Southern Army which ranged from Baluchistan to southern India and it in turn had four divisions under command and two formations outside
8253-403: The Indian Army were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan . As Brian Lapping wrote, "By comparison with the two great provinces [Bengal & Punjab], partition of the army and the civil service was easy, though by any other standard, it was difficult, wasteful, and destructive. ... The men were transferred in their units. Regiments of Sikh and Hindu soldiers from
8384-428: The Indian Army. The term Army of India was instituted to refer to the overall command structure which included both the British and Indian Army units. The new formation for the Army of India was set at nine divisions, each division with one cavalry and three infantry brigades and these nine divisions together with three independent infantry brigades would serve in India. The Indian Army was also responsible for supplying
8515-440: The Native princes from invasion and even from rebellion within: its army is organized for the defence not merely of British India, but of all possessions under the suzerainty of the King-Emperor ." The Indian Army was an important part of the forces of the British Empire , in India and abroad, particularly during the First World War and the Second World War . The term Indian Army appears to have been first used informally, as
8646-521: The North East Frontier between India and Burma punitive actions were carried out against the Kachins tribes between December 1914 – February 1915, by the Burma Military Police supported by the 1/ 7th Gurkha Rifles and the 64th Pioneers . Between November 1917 – March 1919, operations were carried out against the Kuki tribes by auxiliary units of the Assam Rifles and the Burma Military Police (BMP). The other divisions remaining in India at first on internal security and then as training divisions were
8777-435: The North West Frontier. On 12 May 1918, the Bannu and Derajat brigades were designated as the Waziristan Field Force under the command General G W Baynon. The South Persia Brigade was formed in 1915 at the start of the Persian Campaign to protect the Anglo–Persian oil installations in south Persia and the Persian Gulf . The Indian Army formed and dispatched seven expeditionary forces overseas during World War I. On
8908-531: The Presidency armies, continued to provide armed support to the civil authorities, both in combating banditry and in case of riots and rebellion. One of the first external operations the new unified army faced was the 1899 to 1901 Boxer Rebellion in China. The 1st , 4th , and 14th Sikhs ; 3rd Madras Native Infantry , 4th Goorkas , 22nd and 30th Bombay Native Infantry , 24th Punjab Infantry , 1st Madras Pioneers , No. 2 Company Bombay Sappers , No. 3 Company Madras Sappers , No. 4 Company Bengal Sappers , and
9039-540: The Punjab (including the North-West Frontier and the Punjab Frontier Force). Each was under the command of a lieutenant general , who answered directly to the C-in-C, India. The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 by a notification of the Government of India through Army Department Order Number 981 dated 26 October 1894, unifying the three Presidency armies into a single Indian Army. The armies were amalgamated into four commands, Northern , Southern , Eastern , and Western . The Indian Army, like
9170-456: The Royal Military College, Sandhurst, after that date the Indian officers increasingly received their training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun which was established that year. At the outbreak of the Second World War , the Indian Army numbered 205,000 men and, as the war continued, this would rise to 2.5 million men to become the largest all–volunteer force in history. During this process, six corps would be raised; which consisted of
9301-422: The Suez canal. Other formations attached were the regular 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade from the 8th Lucknow Division without their British battalions and an Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade . The 10th Division was disbanded in 1916, and its brigades assigned to other formations. The 28th Indian Brigade was assigned to the 7th (Meerut) Division in 1915; the 29th Indian Brigade served as an independent brigade in
9432-599: The armies of the three Presidencies and provinces of British India . Writing in The Indian Army (1834), Sir John Malcolm , who had a lifetime's experience of Indian soldiering, wrote about the Bengal Presidency: "They consist largely of Rajpoots ( Rajput ), who are a distinguished race among the Khiteree ( Kshatriya ), or Brhamins ( Brahmin ) We may judge of the size of these men when we are told that
9563-437: The army's organisation should be the same in peace as in war, and maintaining internal security was for the army a secondary role, in support of the police . Lord Kitchener found the army scattered across the country in stations at brigade or regimental strength, and in effect, providing garrisons for most of the major cities. The reformed Indian Army was to be stationed in operational formations and concentrated in
9694-632: The attacks took place at the Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad , the Battle of the Wadi , the Battle of Hanna , and the Battle of Dujaila Redoubt . These attempts to break through the encirclement did not succeed and the cost was heavy with both sides suffering high casualties. In February food, and hopes were running out for Townshend in Kut-al-Amara. Disease spread rapidly and could not be contained or cured and Townshend surrendered in April 1916. In December 1916,
9825-651: The brigade was dispatched from Egypt and attached to the British 29th Division which had been decimated in the earlier battles. Held in reserve for the Second Battle of Krithia they played a major part in the Third Battle of Krithia . Advancing on the left the Brigade was quickly halted except along the Aegean shore where the 1/ 6th Gurkha Rifles managed to advance. The 14th Ferozepore Sikhs , advancing along
9956-431: The civil power and support the field army when required. The number of cavalry regiments was reduced from 39 to 21. The infantry regiments were converted into 20 large regiments with four or five battalions in each regiment plus a training battalion, always numbered the 10th, also included were ten Gurkha regiments. Nine single battalion regiments were disbanded by 1922. Two of the large regiments were later disbanded,
10087-580: The day the British attackers made no headway and suffered substantial casualties. By mid-morning, a German mounted patrol ambushed a supply column and roughly 100 mules carrying water for the troops were stampeded away by the Germans. The British officers, with their now widely scattered troops, waited until darkness and having determined their situation to be untenable, withdrew down the mountain and marched back to British East Africa having accomplished nothing. The largest Indian Army force to serve abroad
10218-474: The days of East India Company rule in India. The honour of being the first Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) in any conflict went to Khudadad Khan , 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis . On 31 October 1914, at Hollebeke , Belgium , during a German attack, the British officer in charge of the detachment having been wounded, and the other machinegun put out of action by a shell, Sepoy Khudadad, though wounded, remained working his machinegun until all
10349-690: The discontent amongst the sepoys. The regiment was under orders to embark for further garrison duty in Hong Kong, however rumours started that they were going to be sent to fight in the Middle East against fellow Muslims from the Ottoman Empire. On 16 February 1915, while preparations for departure were under way, the four companies of Punjabi Muslims mutinied while the Pathan sepoys of the remaining four companies scattered in confusion. Two of
10480-505: The divisional locations remained constant. To emphasise that there was now only one Indian Army, and that all units were to be trained and deployed without regard for their regional origins, the regiments were renumbered into single sequences of cavalry, artillery , infantry of the line , and Gurkha Rifles . Regimental designations were altered to remove all references to the former Presidential Armies. Where appropriate subsidiary titles recalling other identifying details were adopted. Thus
10611-621: The end of the siege, Japanese army casualties numbered 236 killed and 1,282 wounded; the British-Indians had 12 killed and 53 wounded. The German defenders suffered 199 dead and 504 wounded. The 1915 Singapore Mutiny involved up to half of the 850 sepoys comprising the 5th Light Infantry against the British in Singapore during the war, part of the 1915 Ghadar Conspiracy . The 5th Light Infantry had arrived in Singapore from Madras in October 1914. They had been sent to replace
10742-509: The estimated population of 315 million in the Indian subcontinent. Regimental battalions were not permanently allocated to particular divisions or brigades, but instead spent some years in one formation, and were then posted to another elsewhere. This rotating arrangement was intended both to provide all units with experience of active service on the Frontier, and to prevent them becoming 'localised' in static regimental stations. In contrast,
10873-555: The event of the Turkish Army coming out in support of the Germans, the Indian Army was to act to secure the oilfields. As a contingency, the Indian Expeditionary Force D (see below) under command of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Barrett sailed from Bombay on 16 October 1914 for Bahrain. They, together with Expeditionary Force A who had been hurriedly sent to Europe at the end of September. In addition to
11004-656: The face of internal opposition from factions keen to side with the Ottoman Sultan . Despite this, localised actions along the frontier still took place and included Operations in the Tochi (1914–15), Operations against the Mohmands, Bunerwals and Swatis (1915), Kalat Operations (1915–16), Mohmand Blockade (1916–17), Operations against the Mahsuds (1917) and Operations against the Marri and Khetran tribes (1918). On
11135-700: The feared unrest in India never happened, and while the Indian Corps was transferred to the Middle East in 1915 India provided many more divisions for active service during the course of the war. Indians' first engagement was on the Western Front within a month of the start of the war, at the First Battle of Ypres . In October/November 1914, the Baluchis of the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own ,
11266-552: The field, leaving no-one to maintain the local administration. Supporting services were insufficient, and many troops intended for the field force were not moved from their old stations into the areas of their new divisional command. These defects became clear during the First World War , and lead to further reorganisation. The Indian Army Act 1911 legislated the replacement of the Indian Articles of War 1869. It
11397-482: The first Indian contingent to be in contact with Germans at Hollebeke (and the only to inscribe 'Ypres 1914'), the sepoy Khudadad Khan maintaining the position until gravely wounded became the first Indian to win a Victoria Cross (Indians were eligible from 1911). In November, after a retreat, a scout section of the 1st Battalion 39th Garhwal Rifles under the leadership of Naik Darwan Singh Negi , then badly injured, reinvested lost trenches. For his gallantry he received
11528-407: The floor of Gully Ravine, were almost wiped out, losing 380 men out of 514 and 80% of their officers. The Brigade was next involved in the Battle of Gully Ravine and here the 2/ 10th Gurkha Rifles managed to advance half a mile. The Brigade next took part in the Battle of Sari Bair , under cover of a naval bombardment the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles assaulted and captured the hill, which was then shelled by
11659-508: The following Battle of Tanga , Aitken's 9,000 men were badly beaten by the 1,000 men under their German commander Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck . The force re-embarked on 5 November 1914, having suffered 4,240 casualties and the loss of several hundred rifles, 16 machine guns and 600,000 rounds of ammunition. Indian Expeditionary Force C was the second force assembled for service in British East Africa in 1914. This force
11790-409: The front line. They were not accustomed to the continental weather and were poorly equipped to resist the cold, leading to low morale which was further compounded by the reserve system, whereby reinforcements were drafted in from any regiment and had no affiliation to their new units. Officer casualties were even more of a handicap, as replacements were unfamiliar with the Indian Army and could not speak
11921-845: The head of the Persian Gulf . At the start of the war in 1914, the privately owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company which owned the concessions for these fields was about to be bought by the British Government, primarily to fuel the British Fleet. It soon became clear that the Ottoman Turkish Army was being mobilised and in August the Indian Government was instructed to prepare contingency plans to protect these strategic assets. The plans dictated that in
12052-464: The height below which no recruit is taken is five feet six inches. The great proportion of the Grenadiers are six feet and upwards." The meaning of the term Indian Army changed over time, initially as an informal collective term for the armies of the three presidencies –the Bengal Army , Madras Army and Bombay Army –between 1858 and 1894. In 1895, the Indian Army began its formal existence and
12183-423: The infantry brigades consisted of one British and three Indian battalions. Indian Army battalions were smaller than the British battalions, consisting of 30 officers and 723 other ranks as compared to the British 29 officers and 977 other ranks. Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. Additional troops attached to the headquarters of each division included
12314-455: The language. With morale low, many soldiers fled the scene of the battle and the infantry divisions were finally withdrawn to Mesopotamia in October 1915, when they were replaced by the new British divisions of Kitchener's Army. With the withdrawal of the infantry divisions, the only Indian Army units on the Western Front were the two cavalry divisions. In November 1916, the two Indian cavalry divisions were renumbered from 1st and 2nd to
12445-554: The later stages of the Second World War, from the fall of Singapore and the ending of ABDACOM in early 1942 until the formation of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) in August 1943, some American and Chinese units were placed under British military command. 12 September 1946 the minister for external affairs in India, Jawaharlal Nehru demanded in a letter to the Commander in Chief and Defence Secretary, that
12576-614: The new British divisions being formed for Kitchener's Army . In addition to the regular Indian Army, the armies of the Princely States and regiments of the Auxiliary Force (European volunteers) could also be called upon to assist in an emergency. The Princely States formed the Imperial Service Brigades and in 1914, had 22,613 men in 20 cavalry regiments and 14 infantry battalions. By the end of
12707-517: The new organization would be numbered in a single sequence and the old titles of the Bombay , Madras and the Bengal Armies would be discontinued. The new regiments and battalions, instead of remaining at their home base, could now all be called upon to serve anywhere in the country, and a tour of duty on the North West Frontier would be an established posting. One change that was not accepted
12838-524: The north of the subcontinent . The Commander-in-Chief's plan called for nine fighting divisions grouped in two corps commands on the main axes through the North-West Frontier. Five divisions were to be grouped on the Lucknow – Peshawar – Khyber axis, and four divisions on the Bombay – Mhow – Quetta axis. However, the cost of abandoning some thirty-four stations and building new ones in
12969-524: The north-west frontier had to make their way through Muslim territory to get out of what was to be Pakistan." Also in 1947 a final agreement was signed regarding the Gurkha regiments in the British Indian Army. Four Gurkha regiments, recruited from both eastern and western Nepal , would join the British Army . The remaining six Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army joined the Dominion of India. During
13100-669: The organizing framework" of the army. The Indian Army has its origins in the years after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , often called the Indian Mutiny in British histories, when in 1858 the Crown took over direct rule of British India from the East India Company . Before 1858, the precursor units of the Indian Army were units controlled by the Company and were paid for by their profits. These operated alongside units of
13231-404: The other five men of the gun detachment had been killed. Other members of the Indian Army awarded the Victoria Cross during World War I were: In 1919, the Indian Army could call upon 491,000 men, but there was a shortage of experienced officers, most of the officers having been killed or wounded in the war. In 1921, the Indian government started a review of their military requirements with
13362-504: The outbreak of war, the Indian Army had 150,000 trained men and the Indian Government offered the services of two cavalry and two infantry divisions for service overseas. The force known as Indian Expeditionary Force A was under the command of General Sir James Willcocks . Force A was attached to the British Expeditionary Force and the four divisions were formed into two army corps : an infantry Indian Corps and
13493-604: The permanent divisions, the Indian Army also formed a number of independent brigades. As part of the Southern Army the Aden Brigade was stationed in the Aden Protectorate on the strategically important naval route from Europe to India, where there was limited fighting . The Bannu Brigade , the Derajat Brigade and the Kohat Brigade were all part of the Northern Army and they were deployed along
13624-423: The proposed corps areas was considered prohibitive, and that aspect of the plan had to be modified. Under the compromise adopted in 1905, the four existing commands were reduced to three, and together with Army Headquarters , arranged in ten standing divisions and four independent brigades. The commands comprised: Northern Command , which consisted of the 1st (Peshawar) Division , the 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division ,
13755-475: The protection of the North West Frontier and internal security their priority. By 1925, the Army in India had been reduced to 197,000 troops, 140,000 of them Indian. Battalions were now allocated one of three roles: The field army of four infantry divisions and five cavalry brigades; covering troops, 12 infantry brigades and supporting arms to act as a reserve force in case of invasion; and finally internal security troops, 43 infantry battalions to aid
13886-564: The railway to Uganda and to support the King's African Rifles in communications protection duties. After arriving in Mombasa , Force C was broken up and its units subsequently served separately. The one action they were involved in was the Battle of Kilimanjaro , in October 1914. Force C with 4,000 men gathered near the border of British and German East Africa, commanded by Brigadier General J. M. Stewart. Flawed intelligence reports estimated
14017-413: The rebellion. The officer commanding the Army of India was the Commander-in-Chief , India who reported to the civilian Governor-General of India . The title was used before the creation of a unified British Indian Army; the first reported holder was then-Major Stringer Lawrence in 1748. Lawrence went to India with no larger command than a "small undisciplined garrison of two or three hundred men" facing
14148-429: The reforms ended in 1909, the Indian Army was organised along British lines, although it was always behind in terms of equipment. An Indian Army division consisted of three brigades each of four battalions. Three of these battalions were of the Indian Army, and one British. The Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. One and a half million volunteers came forward from
14279-430: The region and decided to send a small symbolic British contingent from Tianjin in an effort to allay their fears. The 1,500-man contingent was commanded by Brigadier-General Nathaniel Walter Barnardiston and consisted of 1,000 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers who were later followed by 500 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs. The Japanese led force laid siege to the port between 31 October–7 November 1914. At
14410-551: The second VC. Nearly 700,000 troops then served in the Middle East, fighting against the Turks in the Mesopotamian campaign. There they were short of transportation for resupply and operated in extremely hot and dusty conditions. Led by Major General Sir Charles Townshend, they pushed on to capture Baghdad but they were repulsed by Ottoman forces. In the First World War the Indian Army saw extensive active service, including on
14541-555: The sub-continent, with internal security as their main function. In 1891 the three staff corps were merged into one Indian Staff Corps . Two years later the Madras and Bombay armies lost their posts of Commander-in-Chief. In 1895, the Presidency Armies were abolished and the Indian Army created thereby was grouped into four commands : Bengal, Madras (including Burma ), Bombay (including Sind , Quetta , and Aden ), and
14672-457: The subcontinent. The two armies contained 39 cavalry regiments, 138 infantry battalions (including 20 Gurkha ), a joint cavalry-infantry unit, the Corps of Guides , three sapper regiments and 12 mountain artillery batteries. The nine divisions formed by these reforms each consisted of one cavalry and three infantry brigades. The cavalry brigade had one British and two Indian regiments while
14803-510: The terminology used for the forces in India was altered. The Indian Army referred from that time to "the force recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers;" the British Army in India referred to the British Army units posted to India for a tour of duty, and which would then be posted to other parts of the Empire or back to the UK. The Army of India
14934-525: The title of the Indian Staff Corps was abolished, and thereafter officers were simply appointed to 'the Indian Army.' A General Staff was then created to deal with overall military policy, supervision of training in peacetime, conduct of operations in war, distribution of forces for internal security or external deployment , plans for future operations and collecting intelligence . Functions were divided along British lines into two branches;
15065-603: The transition period after partition, those Gurkha regiments that were in Pakistan, did their service, but were eventually moved back to India. The partition reduced the ethnic imbalance of the British Indian Army, which became the present-day Indian Army . But, the partition resulted in more ethnic imbalance in the Pakistani military, mainly because the new nation state of Pakistan was formed by joining West Punjab, NWFP, East Bengal, Baluchistan, and Sind. The new Pakistan Army
15196-626: The unification of the three former Presidency armies , and also the Punjab Frontier Force , the Hyderabad Contingent and other local forces, into one Indian Army. The principles underlying the reforms were that the defence of the North-West Frontier against foreign aggression was the army's primary role and that all units were to have training and experience in that role on that frontier. Furthermore,
15327-589: The war 26,000 men had served overseas on Imperial Service. The Auxiliary force could field another 40,000 men in 11 regiments of horse and 42 volunteer infantry battalions. Also available were the Frontier Militia and the Military Police which could field 34,000 men between them. The field force headquarters was located in Delhi and the senior officer (Commander-in-Chief, India) was assisted by
15458-416: The war. Before World War I, the Indian Army was deployed maintaining internal security and defending the North West Frontier against incursions from Afghanistan. These tasks did not end with the declaration of war. The divisions deployed along the frontier were the existing 1st (Peshawar) Division , the 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division , the 4th (Quetta) Division . The only war-formed division to serve in India
15589-588: Was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India in 1902 and after five years, his term of office was extended by a further two—during which he reformed the Indian Army. The reforms now directed that there would be only one Indian Army, the three armies of the Presidencies being merged into a unified force. At the same time, the regiments of the Princely states were made available to be called out to become Imperial Service Troops . The British Army also continued to supply units for service in India, in addition to those of
15720-581: Was formed by the Group of Madras , Bengal and Bombay Sappers in their respective presidencies. The Queen's Own Corps of Guides, Punjab Frontier Force, composed of cavalry squadrons and infantry companies , was renamed the Queen's Own Corps of Guides (Lumsden's) but stayed numberless. The new regimental numbering and namings were notified in India Army Order 181 , dated 2 October 1903. In 1903
15851-527: Was formed from the Indian Army's 29th Punjabis , together with half battalions from the Princely states of Jind , Bharatpur , Kapurthala and Rampur , a volunteer 15 pounder artillery battery, 22nd (Derajat) Mountain Battery (Frontier Force) , a volunteer maxim gun battery and a Field Ambulance. It was planned that the force was to be a defensive one (unlike force B) and be primarily used to guard
15982-729: Was involved in World War I as part of the British Empire . More than one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom more than 60,000 died during the war. In World War I the Indian Army fought against the German Empire on the Western Front . At the First Battle of Ypres , Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to be awarded a Victoria Cross . Indian divisions were also sent to Egypt , Gallipoli , German East Africa and nearly 700,000 served in Mesopotamia against
16113-632: Was mainly made up of soldiers from two of these provinces. The Bangladesh Army , which was created from the Pakistan Army on the independence of Bangladesh , retain many British Indian Army traditions. The armies of the East India Company were recruited primarily from forward caste Hindus and Muslims in the Bengal Presidency , which consisted of Bengal , Bihar and Uttar Pradesh , and Oudh . This later expanded into
16244-546: Was passed by the Governor General . It was under aspects of this law that the Army charged defendants during the Indian National Army Trials in 1945. It was replaced by the "Indian Army Act, 1950" after partition and independence. Prior to the outbreak of the First World War , the strength of the British Indian Army was 215,000. Either in 1914 or before, a ninth division had been formed,
16375-639: Was recruited by the British Indian Army from native Indians from Upper India and the regiment was seconded to the British Army. They first arrived in Hong Kong in 1892. Upon arrival, they received authorisation from their British officers to help with the funding and rebuilding of the Kowloon Mosque for the "Mohammedans of Upper India". The soldiers of the Hong Kong Regiment received high praise on their standards of drill and soldiering. The first recruits were apparently so good at firing that
16506-539: Was the 16th Indian Division formed in 1916, it was also stationed on the North West Frontier. All these divisions were still in place and took part in the Third Afghan War at the end of World War I. In supporting the war effort, India was left vulnerable to hostile action from Afghanistan. A Turco-German mission arrived in Kabul in October 1915, with obvious strategic purpose. Habibullah Khan abided by his treaty obligations and maintained Afghanistan's neutrality, in
16637-631: Was the "army of the government of India", including British and Indian ( sepoy ) units; this arrangement lasted until 1902. Many of these troops took part in the Indian Mutiny , with the aim of reinstating the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II at Delhi, partly as a result of insensitive treatment by their British officers. During this period, the Company Raj relied heavily upon the armies of Princely states to quell
16768-472: Was the Indian Expeditionary Force D in Mesopotamia , under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Nixon . The first unit sent in November 1914, was the 6th (Poona) Division and they were tasked with guarding British oil installations in and around Basra . As part of the Mesopotamian campaign they served under the command of Major General Barrett and then under Major General Townshend . After
16899-437: Was the formation of all-British or all-Indian brigades and the system of having one British regiment or battalion in each brigade remained. In 1914, the Indian Army was one of the two largest volunteer armies in the world; it had a total strength of 240,000 men while the British Army had a strength of 247,433 regular volunteers at the outbreak of the war. By November 1918, the Indian Army contained 548,311 men, being considered
17030-420: Was used to describe the combined forces of both the Indian Army and the British Army in India. By the early 1900s the three previous separate army staffs had been amalgamated into Headquarters, India ( see 1906 Birthday Honours ) which by 1922 had become GHQ India ( see 1922 New Year Honours ). (or equivalent) Indian Army during World War I The Indian Army , also called the British Indian Army,
17161-529: Was worn for ordinary duties (see photo above) but a scarlet and blue full dress uniform was authorised for cold-weather ceremonial. The regiment saw action during the Boxer Rebellion and was a main part of the relief of Peking . However in 1902, the India Office demanded that the regiment be disbanded owing to the cost of maintaining them, as the soldiers were better paid than other regiments of
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