The British Indian Army during World War II began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men. By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in August 1945. Serving in divisions of infantry, armour and a fledgling airborne force, they fought on three continents in Africa, Europe and Asia.
The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in northeast India from March until July 1944. Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and invade India, but were driven back into Burma with heavy losses. Together with the simultaneous Battle of Kohima on the road by which the encircled Allied forces at Imphal were relieved, the battle was the turning point of the Burma campaign, part of the South-East Asian Theatre of the Second World War. The Japanese defeat at Kohima and Imphal was the largest up until that time, with many of the Japanese deaths resulting from starvation, disease and exhaustion suffered during their retreat.
The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles,, was originally a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was first formed in 1890, taking its lineage from a police unit and over the course of its existence it had a number of changes in designation and composition. It took part in a number of campaigns on the Indian frontiers during the 19th and early 20th centuries, before fighting in the First World War, the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the Second World War. Following India's independence in 1947, the regiment was one of four Gurkha regiments to be transferred to the British Army. In the 1960s it was active in the Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation. It was amalgamated with the other three British Gurkha regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1994.
The Parachute Regiment is an airborne and special forces regiment of the Indian Army. It was raised in 1945 as part of the British Indian Army but was disbanded after the World War II and was re-raised in 1952 as part of the Indian Army. Currently it comprises seven Special Forces, six airborne, two Territorial Army and one Rashtriya Rifles battalions. The present Colonel of the regiment of the Parachute Regiment is Lt Gen Paramjit Singh Sangha.
The 5th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II that fought in several theatres of war and was nicknamed the "Ball of Fire". It was one of the few Allied divisions to fight against three different armies - the Italian, German and Japanese armies.
The Order of battle of the Chindits, an Allied special force which carried out two deep penetration raids behind Japanese line during the Burma campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
The 19th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, and played a prominent part in the final part of the Burma Campaign.
The 17th Infantry Division is a formation of the Indian Army. During World War II, it had the distinction of being continually in combat during the three-year-long Burma Campaign.
The 20th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, formed in India, and took part in the Burma Campaign during World War II. In the immediate aftermath of the War, the bulk of the division was deployed to French Indochina to oversee the handover from Japanese to French rule. For nearly all is operational life the division was commanded by Major General Douglas Gracey
The 5th Infantry Brigade was a regular infantry brigade of the British Army that was in existence since before the First World War, except for a short break in the late 1970s. It was an Airborne Brigade from the early 1980s until amalgamating with 24th Airmobile Brigade, in 1999, to form 16 Air Assault Brigade.
The 7th Infantry Division is a war-formed infantry division, part of the Indian Army that saw service in the Burma Campaign.
The 14th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Arakan Campaign 1942–43, and was subsequently converted into a Training Division, providing drafts of replacements for units of the Fourteenth Army during the Burma Campaign.
The 26th Indian Infantry Division, was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Burma Campaign.
The 11th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It formed part of Indian III Corps in the Malaya Command during the Battle of Malaya.
The 44th Indian Airborne Division was an airborne forces division of the Indian Army during World War II, created in 1944. It provided a parachute battalion for one minor airborne operation, but the war ended before the complete formation could take part..
The 7th (Meerut) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army that saw active service during World War I.
The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops of the Ottoman Empire.
The Burma Corps ('Burcorps') was an Army Corps of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in Prome, Burma, on 19 March 1942, took part in the retreat through Burma, and was disbanded on arrival in India in May 1942.
The 100th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in April 1920 at Jhansi. The brigade was assigned to the 34th Indian Infantry Division until June 1943, when it was transferred to the 20th Indian Infantry Division until the end of the war. It was known for its participation in Battle of Imphal or known as "Imphal Campaign" where it fought along with other Indian Infantry regiments converged to form the 20th Indian Division and drove back the Japanese Army back to Burma inflicting heavy losses. This was a turning point in the Burma Campaign, part of South-East Asian theatre of World War II.
The 48th Infantry Brigade, was raised as the 48 Indian Infantry Brigade, in October 1941, at Secunderabad, India. After an initial tenure with 19th Indian Infantry Division, it was transferred to the 17th Indian Infantry Division. In World War II it participated in the Burma campaign and in April 1942 was attached to 1st Burma Division. After the war the brigade returned to India as an independent brigade, and was located at Dhond in August 1947. After India gained Independence in 1947, 48 Indian Infantry Brigade was re-designated as 48 Infantry Brigade. Since then 48 infantry brigade has seen action Goa in 1961, as part of 17 Infantry Division; in the 1962 War in Kameng Frontier Division, Arunachal Pradesh, as part of 4th Infantry Division; and in the 1971 war, as part of 7th Infantry Division. Since the 1970s, 48 Infantry Brigade has been located in Ferozpur, Punjab, as part of 7 Infantry Division.
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