164-1037: The Indian Army , also called the British Indian Army, 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
328-697: 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
492-829: 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
656-487: A "Viceroy's Commission", distinct from the King's or Queen's Commission that British officers serving with a Gurkha regiment held. Any Gurkha holding a commission was technically subordinate to any British officer, regardless of rank. Viceroy Commissioned Officers (VCOs) up to 1947 and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) from 1947: Warrant officers Non-commissioned officers Private soldiers Notes Bravest of
820-483: 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
984-498: A feature that later became known as "Gurkha Bluff". At Sari Bair they were the only troops in the whole campaign to reach and hold the crest line and look down on the straits, which was the ultimate objective. The 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Gurkha Rifles (2nd/3rd Gurkha Rifles) fought in the conquest of Baghdad . Following the end of the war, the Gurkhas were returned to India, and during the inter-war years were largely kept away from
1148-507: 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
1312-444: 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
1476-528: 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,
1640-636: 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,
1804-521: 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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#17327755113801968-962: A total of 20 pre-war battalions. Following the Dunkirk evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in 1940, the Nepalese government offered to increase recruitment to enlarge the number of Gurkha battalions in British service to 35. This would eventually rise to 43 battalions. In order to achieve the increased number of battalions, third and fourth battalions were raised for all ten regiments, with fifth battalions also being raised for 1 GR, 2 GR and 9 GR. This expansion required ten training centers to be established for basic training and regimental records across India. In addition, five training battalions (14 GR, 29 GR, 38 GR, 56 GR and 710 GR) were raised, while other units (25 GR and 26 GR) were raised as garrison battalions for keeping
2132-617: 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
2296-687: 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
2460-477: Is a well trained, dedicated and disciplined body whose principal role is as riot police and counter-terrorism force. In times of crisis it can be deployed as a reaction force. During the turbulent years before and after independence, the GC acquitted itself well on several occasions during outbreaks of civil disorder. The Gurkhas displayed the courage, self-restraint and professionalism for which they are famous and earned
2624-616: 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
2788-592: 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
2952-604: 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
3116-529: 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
3280-537: 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,
3444-734: 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
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#17327755113803608-736: 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
3772-655: 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
3936-399: 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
4100-527: 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
4264-470: 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
4428-688: 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
4592-591: 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
4756-540: The Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816) . The name may be traced to the medieval Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath who has a historic shrine in Gorkha District . The word itself derived from Go-Raksha ( Nepali : गोरक्षा i.e., 'Protector (रक्षा) of cows (गो')), raksha becoming rakha (रखा). Rakhawala means 'protector' and is derived from raksha as well. There are Gurkha military units in
4920-747: 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
5084-918: 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
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5248-800: 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 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
5412-538: The Gurkha Reserve Unit in Brunei , for UN peacekeeping forces and in war zones around the world. Gurkhas are closely associated with the khukuri , a forward-curving knife, and have a reputation for fearless military prowess. Former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once stated that: "If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha." Historically,
5576-854: 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
5740-573: 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
5904-402: 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,
6068-628: 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
6232-415: The Indian Rebellion of 1857 , Gurkhas fought on the British side and became part of the British Indian Army on its formation. The 8th (Sirmoor) Local Battalion made a notable contribution during the conflict, and 25 Indian Order of Merit awards were made to men from that regiment during the Siege of Delhi. Three days after the rebellion began, the Sirmoor Battalion was ordered to move to Meerut, where
6396-400: 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
6560-413: The Nepalese , British and Indian armies enlisted in Nepal, United Kingdom, India and Singapore. Although they meet many of the criteria of Article 47 of Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions regarding mercenaries , they are exempt under clauses 47(e) and (f) , similar to the French Foreign Legion . During the 1814–16 Anglo-Nepalese War between the Gorkha Kingdom and the East India Company ,
6724-399: 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
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6888-495: 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
7052-460: 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
7216-412: 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
7380-400: 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
7544-429: 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
7708-428: The endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali : गोर्खाली [ɡorkʰali] ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent , chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India . The Gurkha units are composed of Nepali and Indian Gorkha , Nepali-speaking Indian people, and are recruited for the Nepali Army (96,000), the Indian Army (42,000), the British Army (4,010), the Gurkha Contingent in Singapore ,
7872-441: 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 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
8036-411: 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
8200-425: 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
8364-401: 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
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#17327755113808528-418: The 36th Engineer Regiment. Since then, British Gurkhas have served in Borneo during the confrontation with Indonesia, in the Falklands War and on various peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone , East Timor , Bosnia and Kosovo . Major Gurkha Formations: As of August 2021, the Brigade of Gurkhas in the British Army has the following units: The Brigade of Gurkhas also has its own chefs posted among
8692-422: 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 the Armistice of Mudros
8856-459: 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
9020-407: 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
9184-474: 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
9348-416: 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
9512-640: The British garrison was barely holding on, and in doing so they had to march up to 48 kilometres a day. Later, during the four-month Siege of Delhi, they defended Hindu Rao 's house, losing 327 of 490 men. During this action they fought side by side with the 60th Rifles and a strong bond developed. Twelve regiments from the Nepalese Army also took part in the relief of Lucknow under the command of Shri Teen (3) Maharaja Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal and his older brother C-in-C Ranodip Singh Kunwar (Ranaudip Singh Bahadur Rana) (later to succeed Jung Bahadur and become Sri Teen Maharaja Ranodip Singh of Nepal). After
9676-509: 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
9840-411: 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 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
10004-428: 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 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
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#173277551138010168-406: 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;
10332-522: 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
10496-402: The German defences, and in the words of the Indian Corps commander, Lt. Gen. Sir James Willcocks , "found its Valhalla". During the unsuccessful Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, the Gurkhas were among the first to arrive and the last to leave. The 1st/6th Gurkhas, having landed at Cape Helles , led the assault during the first major operation to take a Turkish high point, and in doing so captured
10660-487: 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
10824-409: The Gorkhali soldiers impressed the British, who called them Gurkhas . The Anglo-Nepalese War was fought between the Gurkha Kingdom of Nepal and the British East India Company as a result of border disputes and ambitious expansionism of both belligerents. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. David Ochterlony and British political agent William Fraser were among
10988-448: The Gurkha regiments were renumbered from the 1st to the 10th and re-designated as the Gurkha Rifles. In this time the Brigade of Gurkhas, as the regiments came to be collectively known, was expanded to 20 battalions in the ten regiments. During World War I (1914–1918) more than 200,000 Gurkhas served in the British Army, suffering approximately 20,000 casualties and receiving almost 2,000 gallantry awards. The number of Gurkha battalions
11152-449: 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
11316-676: 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
11480-530: 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
11644-445: The Indian Army had a Gorkha contingent that numbered around 42,000 men in 46 battalions, spread across seven regiments. Although their deployment is still governed by the 1947 Tripartite Agreement, in the post-1947 conflicts India has fought in, Gorkhas have served in almost all of them, including the wars with Pakistan in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and also against China in 1962. They have also been used in peacekeeping operations around
11808-458: 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
11972-427: 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
12136-648: The Japanese in the jungles of Burma , northeast India and also Singapore . They did so with distinction, earning 2,734 bravery awards in the process and suffering around 32,000 casualties in all theatres. Gurkha ranks in the British Indian Army followed the same pattern as those used throughout the rest of the Indian Army at that time. As in the British Army itself, there were three distinct levels: private soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and commissioned officers. Gurkha commissioned officers in Gurkha regiments held
12300-899: 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
12464-740: 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
12628-531: 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
12792-849: 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
12956-727: 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
13120-828: The Sirmoor Battalion, later to become the 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles . An additional battalion—the Kumaon—was also raised, eventually becoming the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles . None of these units fought in the second campaign. Gurkhas served as troops under contract to the British East India Company in the Pindaree War of 1817, in Bharatpur in 1826, and the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars in 1846 and 1848. During
13284-471: 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
13448-536: The Tripartite Agreement was to ensure that Gurkhas serving under the Crown would be paid on the same scale as those serving in the new Indian Army. This was significantly lower than the standard British rates of pay. While the difference is made up through cost of living and location allowances during a Gurkha's actual period of service, the pension payable on his return to Nepal is much lower than would be
13612-632: The above-mentioned units. Gurkhas were among the troops who retook the Falklands in 1982 and have served a number of tours of duty in the War in Afghanistan . Upon independence in 1947, six of the original ten Gurkha regiments remained with the Indian Army . These regiments were: Additionally, a further regiment, 11 Gorkha Rifles , was raised. In 1949 the spelling was changed from "Gurkha" to
13776-599: 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
13940-437: 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
14104-611: The army. They discouraged Brahminical influence in the military and considered the Hindu castes more susceptible to Brahminical values. As a result, they discouraged the inclusion of Thakuri and Khas groups in the Gorkha units and refused to recruit tribes other than Gurungs and Magars for Gorkha units. They also exerted diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana to ensure that at least 75% of new recruits were Gurungs and Magars . Between 1901 and 1906,
14268-630: 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,
14432-564: The battles of Loos , Givenchy , and Neuve Chapelle ; in Belgium at the battle of Ypres ; in Iraq , Persia , Suez Canal and Palestine against Turkish advance, Gallipoli and Salonika . One detachment served with Lawrence of Arabia . During the Battle of Loos (June–December 1915) a battalion of the 8th Gurkhas fought to the last man, hurling themselves time after time against the weight of
14596-615: The brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you. Under the Tripartite Agreement signed between the governments of the United Kingdom, India and Nepal after Indian independence and the partition of India , the original ten Gurkha regiments consisting of the 20 pre-war battalions were split between the British Army and the newly independent Indian Army . Six Gurkha regiments (12 battalions) were transferred to
14760-650: 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
14924-476: The case for his British counterparts. With the abolition of the Nepalese monarchy in 2008, the future recruitment of Gurkhas for British and Indian service was initially put into doubt. A spokesperson for the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (later the "Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)"), which was expected to play a major role in the new secular republic, stated that recruitment as mercenaries
15088-428: 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,
15252-578: 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
15416-473: 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
15580-688: 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
15744-505: 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
15908-620: 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
16072-509: 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,
16236-553: 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
16400-654: 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
16564-640: 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 ,
16728-552: 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
16892-482: 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
17056-484: The first to recognize the potential of Gurkha soldiers. During the war the British used defectors from the Gurkha army and employed them as irregular forces . Fraser's confidence in their loyalty was such that in April 1815 he proposed forming them into a battalion under Lt. Ross called the Nasiri Regiment. This regiment, which later became the 1st King George's Own Gurkha Rifles , saw action at Malaun Fort under
17220-407: 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
17384-506: 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
17548-408: 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
17712-407: The frontier. They kept the peace among the local populace and engaged with the lawless and often openly hostile Pathan tribesmen . During this time the North-West Frontier was the scene of considerable political and civil unrest and troops stationed at Razmak, Bannu, and Wanna saw extensive action. During World War II (1939–1945) there were ten Gurkha regiments, with two battalions each, making
17876-784: 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
18040-523: 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
18204-419: 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
18368-573: The internal strife and urban conflicts of the sub-continent, instead being employed largely on the frontiers and in the hills where fiercely independent tribesmen were a constant source of trouble. As such, between the World Wars the Gurkha regiments fought in the Third Afghan War in 1919. The regiments then participated in numerous campaigns on the North-West Frontier, mainly in Waziristan , where they were employed as garrison troops defending
18532-451: 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
18696-554: 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
18860-470: The leadership of Lt. Lawtie, who reported to Ochterlony that he "had the greatest reason to be satisfied with their exertions". About 5,000 men entered British service in 1815, most of whom were not just Gorkhalis, but Kumaonis, Garhwalis and other Himalayan hill men. These groups, eventually lumped together under the term Gurkha , became the backbone of British Indian forces. As well as Ochterlony's Gurkha battalions, Fraser and Lt. Frederick Young raised
19024-611: 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
19188-515: 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
19352-453: 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
19516-584: 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
19680-450: The original "Gorkha". All royal titles were dropped when India became a republic in 1950. Since partition, the Gurkha regiments that were transferred to the Indian Army have established themselves as a permanent and vital part of the newly independent Indian Army. Indeed, while Britain has reduced its Gurkha contingent, India has continued to recruit Gorkhas of Nepal into Gorkha regiments in large numbers, as well as Indian Gorkhas. In 2009
19844-402: 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
20008-615: The outbreak of World War II operations in Waziristan again in 1936–1939. The India Gate in New Delhi, built in 1931, commemorates the Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting in World War I. British Indian Army The Indian Army during British rule , also referred to as the British Indian Army, was the main military force of India until national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting
20172-422: 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
20336-549: The peace in India and defending rear areas. Large numbers of Gurkha men were also recruited for non-Gurkha units, and other specialized duties such as paratroops, signals, engineers and military police. A total of 250,280 Gurkhas served in 40 battalions, plus eight Nepalese Army battalions, parachute, training, garrison and porter units during the war, in almost all theatres. In addition to keeping peace in India, Gurkhas fought in Syria , North Africa , Italy , Greece and against
20500-412: 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
20664-525: The post-independence Indian Army, while four regiments (eight battalions) were transferred to the British Army. To the disappointment of many of their British officers, the majority of Gurkhas given a choice between British or Indian Army service opted for the latter. The reason appears to have been the pragmatic one that the Gurkha regiments of the Indian Army would continue to serve in their existing roles in familiar territory and under terms and conditions that were well established. The only substantial change
20828-423: 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 ,
20992-473: 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
21156-459: 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
21320-422: The rebellion the 60th Rifles pressed for the Sirmoor Battalion to become a rifle regiment. This honour was granted in 1858 when the battalion was renamed the Sirmoor Rifle Regiment and awarded a third colour. In 1863, Queen Victoria presented the regiment with the Queen's Truncheon , as a replacement for the colours that rifle regiments do not usually have. From the end of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 until
21484-413: 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
21648-429: 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
21812-427: 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
21976-438: 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
22140-414: The start of World War I , the Gurkha Regiments saw active service in Burma , Afghanistan , Northeast India and the North-West Frontier of India, Malta (the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78 ), Cyprus, Malaya, China (the Boxer Rebellion of 1900) and Tibet ( Younghusband's Expedition of 1905). After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the British authorities in India feared the inclusion of Hindu castes in
22304-435: 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
22468-403: 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
22632-400: 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 a collective description of the Presidency armies, which collectively comprised the Bengal Army , the Madras Army and
22796-409: 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
22960-456: The terms "Gurkha" and "Gorkhali" were synonymous with "Nepali", which originates from the hill principality Gorkha Kingdom , from which the Kingdom of Nepal expanded under Prithvi Narayan Shah , who was the last ruler of the Gorkha Kingdom and first monarch of the Kingdom of Nepal . In fact, the Gorkhas’ impressive conquests of the Kathmandu Valley supplied the British with an exaggerated view of Nepal’s strength, ultimately helping lead to
23124-437: 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 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
23288-457: 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;
23452-490: 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
23616-413: 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,
23780-403: 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
23944-414: 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
24108-400: The world. They have also served in Sri Lanka conducting operations against the Tamil Tigers . The Gurkha Contingent (GC) of the Singapore Police Force was formed on 9 April 1949 from selected ex-British Army Gurkhas. It is an integral part of the police force and was raised to replace a Sikh unit that had existed prior to the Japanese occupation during the Second World War . The GC
24272-530: 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
24436-413: Was degrading to the Nepalese people and would be banned. However, as of 2023, Gurkha recruitment for foreign service continues. Four Gurkha regiments were transferred to the British Army on 1 January 1948: They formed the Brigade of Gurkhas and were initially stationed in Malaya . There were also a number of additional Gurkha units including the 69th and 70th Gurkha Field Squadrons, both included in
24600-430: 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 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
24764-412: 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
24928-416: 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
25092-400: Was increased to 33, and Gurkha units were placed at the disposal of the British high command by the Gurkha government for service on all fronts. Many Gurkha volunteers served in non-combatant roles, serving in units such as the Army Bearer Corps and the labour battalions. A large number also served in combat in France, Turkey, Palestine, and Iraq. They served on the battlefields of France in
25256-433: 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
25420-400: 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,
25584-440: 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 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
25748-464: 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
25912-485: 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
26076-424: 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
26240-410: 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
26404-434: 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
26568-473: Was the substitution of Indian officers for British. By contrast, the four regiments selected for British service faced an uncertain future, initially in Malaya - a region where relatively few Gurkhas had previously served. The four regiments (or eight battalions) in British service were subsequently reduced to a single regiment of two battalions. The Indian units have been expanded beyond their pre-Independence establishment of 12 battalions. The principal aim of
26732-416: 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
26896-418: 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) Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas ( / ˈ ɡ ɜːr k ə , ˈ ɡ ʊər -/ ), with
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