25th Indian Infantry Division

Last updated
25th Indian Infantry Division
25 Infantry Division.png
Formation sign of the 25th Indian Infantry Division. [1]
Active19421946
1948present
Country British Raj Red Ensign.svg British India
Flag of India.svg  India
AllegianceFlag of India.svg  India
Branch British Raj Red Ensign.svg British Indian Army
Flag of Indian Army.svg  Indian Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Garrison/HQ Rajouri
Insignia
Identification
symbol
Ace of Spades

The 25th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II which fought in the Burma Campaign. It was re-raised within the post-independence Indian Army in 1948. [2]

Contents

History

A long line of Japanese officers wait to surrender their swords to the 25th Indian Division in Kuala Lumpur, 1945. Japanese Surrender in Malaya, 1945 IND4851.jpg
A long line of Japanese officers wait to surrender their swords to the 25th Indian Division in Kuala Lumpur, 1945.
The 25th Indian Division search Japanese prisoners soon after they have been disarmed in Kuala Lumpur. Japanese Surrender in Malaya, 1945 IND4848.jpg
The 25th Indian Division search Japanese prisoners soon after they have been disarmed in Kuala Lumpur.

Originally formed in Bangalore in South India on 1 August 1942 under Major-General Henry Davies the Division was disbanded at the end of World War II.

The division's original role as conceived by Army Commander General Sir W. J. Slim [3] was to meet any attempted Japanese invasion while at the same time training actively for jungle warfare. It first saw action, having become part of Indian XV Corps, at the onset of the third Arakan Campaign in March 1944 where it held and enlarged the Maungdaw Base and established superiority over the enemy.

In May 1944 command of the division was assumed by Major-General George Wood, previously commanding British 4th Infantry Brigade in India. In November 1944, supported by destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy, the division cleared the Mayu Range down to Foul Point and occupied Akyab Island. Following this, with 3 Commando Brigade under command, it made a series of successful seaborne attacks down the coast, supported by sloops of the Royal Indian Navy and winning four Victoria Crosses in the process. These actions included the decisive Battle of Kangaw and landings at Myebon and Ruywa to intercept the retreating Japanese.

In April 1945 the division was withdrawn to South India to prepare for 'Operation Zipper', the invasion of British Malaya, having been chosen for the assault landing (amphibious) role. Although hostilities then ceased, the operation proceeded as planned and 25th Division was the first formation to land in Malaya, occupying the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and then accepting the surrender of the Japanese Army. [4] The division was disbanded in Malaya in February and March 1946.

Post-independence

The division was re-raised within the post-independence Indian Army in 1948. [5] In October 1962 the division was under XV Corps in the Army's Western Command. Its headquarters were at Poonch, and it included the 80th, 93rd and 120th Infantry Brigades. [2]

Composition During World War II

51st Indian Infantry Brigade

Commanders:

53rd Indian Infantry Brigade

Commanders:

74th Indian Infantry Brigade

Commanders:

3rd Commando Brigade

Commanders:

Support Units

Assigned brigades

All these brigades were assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Infantry Division (India)</span> Infantry division of the Indian Army

The 4th Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, it took part in campaigns in East Africa, Syria, North Africa and Italy. Post independence, the division is part of the I Corps and headquartered at Prayagraj.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Infantry Division (India)</span> Infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II

The 5th Infantry Division is an infantry division of the Indian Army. It was raised during the second world war and 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 23rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II from 1941 to at least 1947. The brigade was formed in February 1941, at Loralai in India and in June 1941, assigned to the 14th Indian Infantry Division. In March 1942, the brigade was reassigned to the 23rd Indian Infantry Division, just before being renumbered 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade. As the 123rd the brigade served in the Burma Campaign with not only the 23rd but with the 14th again and the 5th Indian Infantry Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Infantry Division (India)</span> Military unit

The 8th Mountain Division is a division of the present-day Indian Army that specialises in mountain warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Infantry Division (India)</span> Infantry division of the British Indian Army during World War II

The 9th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. The division formed part of Indian III Corps in the Malaya Command during the Battle of Malaya. It was commanded by Major-General Arthur Edward Barstow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

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 6th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, created on 1 March 1941 in Secunderabad. On 11 September 1941 it was shipped to Iraq and later Iran. During 1942 and 1943 it was part of the Tenth Army. The division remained in the Middle East where it was disbanded on 15 October 1944 in Basra, Iraq. During World War II its commanders included Major-General James Noel Thomson, Major-General Arthur Holworthy, and Major-General B.H. Chappel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Indian Infantry Division</span> Military unit

The 7th Infantry Division is a war-formed infantry division, part of the British Indian Army that saw service in the Burma Campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10th Indian Infantry Division</span> Infantry Division of the Indian army during World War II

The 10 RAPID Division was a war formed infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. In four years, the division travelled over 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from Tehran to Trieste, fought three small wars, and fought two great campaigns: the Anglo-Iraqi War, the Invasion of Syria–Lebanon, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, the North African Campaign, and the Italian Campaign.

The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consisted mainly of small garrison forces in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Taiping, Seremban and Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">14th Indian Infantry Division</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">23rd Indian Infantry Division</span> Military unit

The 23rd Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Burma Campaign. It was then reformed as a division of the independent Indian Army in 1959.

The 9th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. Before the war the 9th (Jhansi) Infantry Brigade was a peacetime formation in Meerut district. This brigade was redesignated the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade and a new 9th Brigade was then formed all in September 1939. The new brigade was assigned to the 5th Indian Infantry Division in June 1940 to January 1944. It then spent February attached to the 7th Indian Infantry Division before returning to the 5th Division. The brigade spent two other short periods away from the 5th Division it was attached to the 17th Indian Infantry Division between March and April 1945 and was with the 19th Indian Infantry Division in April 1945, and returned to the 5th for the rest of the war.

The 51st Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service in the Indian Army during the Second World War. It took part in the Arakan Campaign and in the immediate post-war period reoccupied Malaya.

The 53rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry formation of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in March 1942, in India. In April 1942, it was assigned to the 20th Indian Infantry Division but was soon after in August 1942 transferred to the 25th Indian Infantry Division, staying with the 25th until the end of the war.

The 268th Indian Infantry Brigade is an infantry formation of the Indian Army, previously of the British Indian Army.

The 25th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in February 1941 at Ahmednagar in India and assigned to the 10th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade was attached to the 8th Indian Infantry Division in August 1941, and took part in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. Returning to the 10th Indian Division in August 1941, they arrived in the desert just in time for the Battle of Gazala and continued to fight in the Western Desert Campaign and later in the Italian Campaign. While in Italy the brigade was attached to the British 46th Infantry Division from 7 to 11 December 1944.

.

The Order of battle, Keren 1941 shows Italian army forces that participated in the Battle of Keren from February to March 1941 and British troops in Sudan on 20 January 1941, which participated in military operations against Eritrea during the East African Campaign 1940–1941.

References

  1. Cole p. 82
  2. 1 2 Wirsing, Robert G. (1998). India, Pakistan and the Kashmir Dispute: On Regional Conflict and Its Resolution. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 352. ISBN   9780312175627.
  3. The Arakan Campaign of the Twenty-Fifth Indian Division (March 1944-March 1945) p.8, Government Printing Works, Kuala Lumpur, December 1945
  4. Alan Jeffreys, Duncan Anderson, 'The British Army in the Far East 1941-45,' Osprey Publishing, 2005, ISBN   1841767905, 51.
  5. Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhe, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN   978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011, 49.
  6. "25 Division units". Order of Battle. Retrieved 2009-10-22.[ permanent dead link ]

Sources