54th Infantry Division (India)

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54th Infantry Division
Founded01 October 1966;58 years ago (01 October 1966)
CountryFlag of India.svg India
BranchFlag of Indian Army.svg  Indian Army
Type Infantry
Role Amphibious warfare
Size Division
Part of XXI Corps
Garrison/HQ Secunderabad
Nickname(s)Bison Division
Bash On Regardless Division
Motto(s)Bash On Regardless
Mascot(s) The Gaur (The Indian Bison)
Engagements Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Operation Pawan
Operation Blue Star
Kargil War
Operation Parakram
Commanders
Current
commander
Major General Akhilesh Kumar SM [1]
Notable
commanders
Lt Gen WAG Pinto
Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah
Lt Gen Cherish Mathson
Lt Gen Anil Chait
Lt Gen Manjinder Singh

The 54th Infantry Division is an Infantry division of the Indian Army. The Division was raised as an Infantry Division, but was converted into a Reorganised Amphibious Formation (RAMFOR) in 2011. It is currently the only division of the Indian Army which carries out Amphibious warfare. [2] The division is headquartered at Secunderabad in Telangana and is a part of XXI Corps. The Division is commanded by an Officer of the rank of Major General titled General Officer Commanding (GOC).

Contents

Bison Division celebrating its 56th Raising Day, 1 October 2021. Bison Division of Sudarshan Chakra Corps is celebrating its 56th Raising Day.jpg
Bison Division celebrating its 56th Raising Day, 1 October 2021.

History

The 54th Infantry Division was raised at Secunderabad on 1 October 1966. Major General SS Maitra, AVSM was the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Division. At the time of its raising, the division had three Infantry Brigades and one Artillery Brigade. 47 Infantry Brigade was raised by Brigadier B D Man Singh at Golconda Fort, 91 Infantry Brigade by Brigadier K P Lahiri, VrC at Bolarum and the 54 Artillery Brigade was raised by Brigadier N V Subramaniam at Bowenpally. [3]

Order of battle (ORBAT) during raising

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

In the event of a war, the 54th Infantry Division was to be part of I Corps, then the only Strike Corps of the Indian Army. The division was commanded by Major General WAG Pinto, the 3rd General Officer Commanding (GOC). [4] The division moved from its peacetime location in Secunderabad to its operational location in the Punjab and was ready by mid-September 1971.

ORBAT

The ORBAT of the division during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was: [5]

The tasks allotted to the Division were:

The Pakistani forces opposite the Division consisted of elements of the 8th Infantry Division. The 24 Infantry Brigade with four battalions (11 Baloch which held the Supwal ditch, 40 Punjab which was deployed east of the Karir Nadi, 24 Punjab which was defending the Basantar Nala), a brigade in Zafarwal area and Reconnaissance elements of 21 Baloch. Apart from these infantry units, Pakistani armour consisted of the 8 Armoured Brigade which had 13th Lancers, 31 Cavalry and 27 Cavalry under it, equipped with M47 Patton and M48 Patton tanks. [9]

The Division crossed the border as planned at 2000 hrs on 6 December and captured the border outposts at Chamnakhurd, Danadout, Galar Tanda, Chak Jangu, Dhandhar, Mukhwal and Buru Chakby 0230 hrs 7 December. [10]

Battle of Basantar

GOC 54 Inf Div Maj Gen WAG Pinto about the Division's performance during the war

"At 2000 hrs that night, the ceasefire was honoured by both sides and became effective. The guns were silent and an eerie calm pervaded over the bitterly cold night. It was a strange feeling, the sudden peace and quiet after the unending din and noise of the past fourteen days. Most of us were taken aback and felt lost. But, we couldn't waste time on this. We still had our hands full and soon got busy in dominating and securing every inch of the 388 square kilometers, which we had captured and over which the National Flag as well as the Divisional Flag proudly flew."

[11]

The Battle of Basantar was among the most vital battles in the war. It was one of the greatest tank battles fought by the Indian Army. [12] The Division had the 47 Infantry Brigade, 91 Infantry Brigade and the 74 Infantry Brigade, Poona Horse, one squadron of Hodson's Horse and 75 Medium Regiment. The date for the Basantar crossing was fixed for night 14/15 December, but was postponed by 24 hours by Gen Pinto. [13] The Battle of Basantar was a decisive Indian victory.

The 47 Infantry Brigade was christened Basantar Brigade after the war. [14]

In what is an Indian Army record, the 54th Infantry Division won as many as 196 gallantry medals in just 14 days of fierce fighting. These include 2 Param Vir Chakras, 9 Mahavir Chakras [15] and 4 Vir Chakra. The GOC, Major General WAG Pinto was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

The Division remained in Pakistan until the Simla Agreement, after which it moved back to Secunderabad in March 1973. A war trophy - a disabled Pakistani M47 Patton Tank was gifted by the Division to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and had it installed on the Tank Bund Road, Hyderabad. [16]

Awards and honours

Key
Indicates posthumous honour
AwardRankNameUnitReferences
Param Vir Chakra Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal 17 Poona Horse [17]
Param Vir Chakra Major Hoshiar Singh Dahiya 3 Grenadiers [18]
Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel Hanut Singh 17 Poona Horse [19]
Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel V P Airy 3 Grenadiers [20]
Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel V P Ghai † 16 Madras [21]
Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel Raj Mohan Vohra 4 Horse [22]
Mahavir Chakra Major Amarjit Singh Bal 17 Poona Horse [23]
Mahavir Chakra Major D V Singh 8 Grenadiers [24]
Mahavir Chakra Major Vijay Rattan Choudhry 9 Engineer Regiment [25]
Mahavir Chakra Havildar Thomas Philipose 16 Madras [26]
Vir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel B T Pandit 9 Engineer Regiment [27]
Vir Chakra Captain Satish Chander Sehgal † 75 Medium Regiment [28]
Vir Chakra Captain Ravinder Nath Gupta † 9 Engineer Regiment [29]
Vir Chakra Naib Subedar Dorai Swamy 9 Engineer Regiment [30]

Operation Pawan

The Division, led by Major General Harkirat Singh, was the first formation to be inducted into Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). The Division was grouped with a Mechanised Infantry battalion, a Squadron of Armour and an Air Operation Flight. [3]

ORBAT

The Division was in Sri Lanka for over two and a half years and was de-inducted on 20 March 1990.

Awards and honours

During Operation Pawan, the Division earned a total of 471 awards including 1 Param Vir Chakra, 3 Mahavir Chakras, 4 Uttam Yudh Seva Medals and 32 Vir Chakras. [3] [32]

AwardRankNameUnitReferences
Param Vir Chakra Major Ramaswamy Parameshwaran 8 Mahar [33]
Mahavir Chakra Brigadier Manjit Singh 41 Infantry Brigade [34] [35]
Mahavir Chakra Colonel Inder Bal Singh Bawa 4/5 Gorkha Rifles [36] [37]
Mahavir Chakra Major Puttichanda Somaiah Ganapathi 8 Mahar [38] [39]

Other Operations

General Officers Commanding

S.No.NameAssumed officeLeft office
1 Major General S S Maitra AVSM 19661969
2 Major General K.A.S. Raja PVSM 19691971
3 Major General WAG Pinto PVSM 19711974
4 Major General K S Bajwa19741976
5 Major General M L Tuli19761977
6 Major General A K Handoo19771979
7 Major General D S C Rai19791981
8 Major General G K Sen19811983
9 Major General Shamsher Singh SM 19831985
10 Major General V K Singh19851987
11 Major General Harkirat Singh 19871988
12 Major General S C Sardeshpande UYSM , AVSM 19881989
13 Major General R N Bhalia VSM 19891990
14 Major General M M Lakhera AVSM , VSM 19901992
15 Major General B N Kapur19921994
16 Major General S P S Kanwar AVSM , VSM 19941996
17 Major General Mahesh Vij19961998
18 Major General Basant Singh YSM 19982000
19 Major General S Pattabhiraman SM , VSM 20002001
20 Major General Zameer Uddin Shah VSM 20012003
21 Major General K S Siva Kumar VSM 20032004
22 Major General S P S Dhillon VSM 20042005
23 Major General S P Rai VSM 20052006
24 Major General Anil Chait AVSM , VSM 20062008
25 Major General Rajesh Singh20082009
26 Major General R C Chadha20092011
27 Major General Amit Sharma20112012
28 Major General Cherish Mathson SM , VSM 20122013
29 Major General R K Jagga20142015
30 Major General R S Mann VSM 20152016
31 Major General Satish N Wasade20162017
32 Major General B D Rai YSM 20172018
33 Major General Manjinder Singh 20182020
34 Major General Alok Joshi20202021
35 Major General PP Singh20212022
36 Major General R K Suresh SC &bar , SM 20222024
37 Major General Akhilesh Kumar SM 2024Incumbent

See also

Citations

  1. "Maj Gen Akhilesh Kumar, SM assumed command of Bison Divison as 37th GOC from outgoing GOC Maj Gen RK Suresh, SC**, SM". 30 January 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  2. "Army converts one infantry division into RAMFOR". Moneycontrol. 20 October 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Curtain Raiser". Issuu. 28 September 2016.
  4. Pinto 2013, p. 74.
  5. Gill, JH (2003). An Atlas Of 1971 India Pakistan War - Creation of Bangladesh. National Defense University, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. p. 85.
  6. Singh, Jagjit (1994). Indian Gunners at War: The Western Front 1971. Spantech & Lancer. p. 131. ISBN   978-1897829554.
  7. Pinto 2013, p. 84.
  8. Rao 1991, p. 227.
  9. Pinto 2013, p. 85-86.
  10. Rao 1991, p. 228.
  11. Pinto 2013, p. 102.
  12. Pinto 2013, p. 103.
  13. Pinto 2013, p. 92.
  14. Farida, Syeda (14 December 2012). "Basantar Brigade pays tribute to war heroes". The Hindu.
  15. "Meet the Victor of Basantar- Lt General WAG Pinto". dnaindia.com.
  16. "War hero recalls the story behind tank on Tank Bund". The Times of India. TOI. 7 June 2011.
  17. "ARUN KHETARPAL | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  18. "HOSHIAR SINGH | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  19. "LT COL HANUT SINGH". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  20. "Mahavir Chakra (MVC) Awardee: Lt Gen Ved Prakash Airy, MVC". twdi.in.
  21. "VED PRAKASH GHAI | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  22. "RAJ MOHAN VOHRA | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  23. "Mahavir Chakra (MVC), Awardee: Brig Amarjit Singh Bal, MVC @ TWDI". twdi.in.
  24. "Mahavir Chakra (MVC), Awardee: Col Dharam Vir Singh, MVC (retd) @ TWDI". twdi.in.
  25. "Major Vijay Rattan Choudhry | Gallantry Awards". www.gallantryawards.gov.in.
  26. "THOMAS PHILIPOSE | Gallantry Awards". www.gallantryawards.gov.in.
  27. "Lt Col B T Pandit | Gallantry Awards". www.gallantryawards.gov.in.
  28. "Captain Satish Chander Sehgal | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  29. "Captain Ravinder Nath Gupta | Gallantry Awards". www.gallantryawards.gov.in.
  30. "Naib Subedar Doraiswamy | Gallantry Awards". www.gallantryawards.gov.in.
  31. Singh, Harkirat (2007). Intervention in Sri Lanka: The IPKF Experience. Manohar Publishers and Distributors. ISBN   978-8173047053.
  32. 1 2 "54 Infantry Division, Golden Jubilee brochure". 1 October 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  33. "RAMASWAMY PARAMESWARAN | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  34. "Mahavir Chakra (MVC), Awardee: Brig Manjit Singh, MVC (retd) @ TWDI". twdi.in.
  35. "MANJIT SINGH | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  36. "INDER BAL SINGH BAWA | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  37. "Mahavir Chakra (MVC), Awardee: Lt Col Inder Bal Singh Bawa, MVC @ TWDI". twdi.in.
  38. "PUTTICHANDA SOMAIAH GANAPATHI | Gallantry Awards". gallantryawards.gov.in.
  39. "Mahavir Chakra (MVC), Awardee: Lt Col Puttichanda Somaiah Ganapathi, MVC (retd) @ TWDI". twdi.in.

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References