Eastern Command | |
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![]() Insignia of the Eastern Command | |
Active | 1920–present |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Command |
Headquarters | Fort William, Kolkata, West Bengal |
Engagements | World War II Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 2020 China–India skirmishes |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Lt Gen Ram Chander Tiwari UYSM AVSM SM |
Notable commanders | Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa Gen Rajendrasinhji Jadeja Gen K S Thimayya Gen P. P. Kumaramangalan Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Lt Gen S. P. P. Thorat Gen A. S. Vaidya Gen V. N. Sharma Gen V. K. Singh Gen Bikram Singh Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag Gen M. M. Naravane Gen Anil Chauhan Gen Manoj Pande |
The Eastern Command is one of the six operational commands of the Indian Army. It is headquartered in Fort William in the city of Kolkata in the state of West Bengal. The Eastern Command was formed on 1 November 1920. [1] The Command is commanded by a three-star rank officer with the title General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C).
Lieutenant General Ram Chander Tiwari is the current GOC-in-C of Eastern Command. [2]
The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras became the Indian Army. [3] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general. [3]
Between 1904 and 1908, the Bengal Command became the Eastern Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies – Northern Army and Southern Army – as recommended by the then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army, Lord Kitchener. This system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again: Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command. [3]
On 1 November 1920, the Eastern Command was formed, with its summer headquarters in Nainital and winter headquarters in Lucknow. General Sir Havelock Hudson, became its first Commander. [4]
In 1942, the command had the following formations under it:
On 21 April 1942, the command was re-designated as Eastern Army. [5] Its headquarters moved to Barrackpore to fight the World War II. The Chindits were raised and launched into operations in 1943, by the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade, a unit of the Eastern Command. [6]
In October 1943, the Fourteenth Army was formed and was given responsibility of the area east of the Meghna River. With this, the Eastern Army retained responsibility of the area west of the river. [7]
After the war, on 23 March 1947, the Command HQ moved to Ranchi. The HQ was later moved to Lucknow in 1955. However on 1 May 1963, post the Sino-Indian War; the Central Command was re-raised and Lucknow was made its HQ, while Kolkata was made HQ Eastern Command. [8]
The Command had the overall responsibility of the eastern theatre of the 13-day war. The command had the two existing infantry corps – IV Corps and XXXIII Corps and raised another – II Corps. Apart from this, the 101 Communication Zone was re-organised as a Division-sized combat formation. Lieutenant General J S Arora, as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command, commanded all Indian and Bangladesh Forces in the eastern theatre. The Order of Battle of the Eastern Command during the war was:
II Corps (HQ - Krishnanagar) (GOC - Lieutenant General T N Raina)
IV Corps (HQ - Agartala) GOC - Lieutenant General Sagat Singh
XXXIII Corps (HQ - Siliguri) (GOC - Lieutenant General M L Thapan)
101st Communication Zone (HQ: Guwahati) (GOC - Major General Gurbax Singh Gill)
On 16 December 1971, the Eastern Command of the Pakistan Armed Forces surrendered at Dhaka. East Pakistan ceased to exist and Bangladesh was born. Lt Gen J S Arora accepted the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, signed by Lt Gen A. A. K. Niazi at Dacca Racecourse. Approximately 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were taken prisoner by the Indian Army, which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan. [12] [13]
The Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) [14] covers the following states of India:
The Eastern Command has been assigned operational units under: III Corps, IV Corps, XVII Corps, XXXIII Corps and the 23rd Infantry Division. [15] [16]
Structure of Eastern Command | |||||
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Corps | Corps HQ | GOC of Corps (Corps Commander) | Assigned Units | Unit HQ | |
![]() | III Corps (Spear Corps) | Rangapahar, Nagaland | Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar [17] | 2 Mountain Division | Dinjan, Assam |
56 Mountain Division | Likabali, Arunachal Pradesh | ||||
57 Mountain Division | Leimakhong, Manipur | ||||
![]() | IV Corps (Gajraj Corps) | Tezpur, Assam | Lt Gen Gambhir Singh [18] | 5 Mountain Division | Bomdila, Arunachal Pradesh |
21 Mountain Division | Rangia, Assam | ||||
71 Mountain Division | Missa Mari, Assam | ||||
XVII Corps (Brahmastra Corps) | Panagarh, West Bengal | Lt Gen Rajeev Puri | 59 Mountain Division | Panagarh, West Bengal | |
23 Infantry Division | Ranchi, Jharkhand | ||||
72 Mountain Division | Pathankot, Punjab | ||||
![]() | XXXIII Corps (Trishakti Corps) | Siliguri, West Bengal | Lt Gen Zubin A Minwalla [19] | 17 Mountain Division | Gangtok, Sikkim |
20 Mountain Division | Binnaguri, West Bengal | ||||
27 Mountain Division | Kalimpong, West Bengal |
Following is the list of precursors to the Eastern Command and their commanders: [20]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | General Sir Alfred Gaselee GCIE , KCB | October 1904 | June 1907 | 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot |
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | General Sir Havelock Hudson KCB , KCIE | November 1920 | February 1924 | Northamptonshire Regiment | |
2 | General Sir George de S. Barrow KCB , KCMG | February 1924 | April 1928 | Connaught Rangers | |
3 | General Sir John S. M. Shea GCB , KCMG , DSO | April 1928 | April 1932 | Royal Irish Regiment | |
4 | General Sir C. Norman MacMullen KCB , CMG , CIE , DSO | April 1932 | April 1936 | Unattached | |
5 | General Sir H. B. Douglas Baird KCB , CMG , CIE , DSO | April 1936 | April 1940 | Unattached | |
6 | Lieutenant General Sir Charles N. F. Broad KCB , DSO | April 1940 | July 1942 | Royal Field Artillery |
General Officer Commanding Eastern Army | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | Lieutenant General Noel M. S. Irwin CB , DSO** , MC | Jul 1942 | May 1943 | Essex Regiment | |
2 | General Sir George J. Giffard KCB , DSO | May 1943 | October 1943 | Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment |
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
1 | General Sir A. G. O. Mosley Mayne KCB , CBE , DSO | October 1943 | December 1944 | 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers | |
2 | General Sir Richard N. O'Connor KCB , DSO* , MC | January 1945 | October 1945 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) | |
3 | Lieutenant General Sir Arthur F. Smith KBE , CB , DSO | October 1945 | January 1946 | Coldstream Guards | |
4 | Lieutenant General Sir Francis I. S. Tuker KCIE , CB , DSO , OBE | January 1946 | November 1947 | Royal Sussex Regiment | |
Acting | Lieutenant General F. R. Roy Bucher CB , OBE , MC | August 1946 | August 1947 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) |
The III Corps is a formation of the Indian Army that was formed during World War I in Mesopotamia during its respective campaign. Prior to the reorganization of the British and Indian forces in Mesopotamia, it was designated as the Tigris Corps.
XV Corps, or 15 Corps, also known as Chinar Corps, is a Corps of the Indian Army which is presently located in Srinagar and responsible for military operations in the Kashmir Valley. It has participated in all military conflicts with Pakistan and China till date. Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai is its current Corps Commander since 14 June 2023 taking over from Lieutenant General Amardeep Singh Aujla.
XXXIII Corps, also called Trishakti Corps is a corps of the Indian Army. It draws some of its heritage from the British Indian XXXIII Corps which was formed in 1942, but disbanded in 1945. It was re-raised in 1960 at Shillong.
I Corps is a military field formation of the Indian Army. The Corps is headquartered at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. It was raised on 1 April 1965. It was still being raised when it was despatched to the front in 1965. Raised as the First Strike Corps of the Indian Army, it was launched into operations in the Sialkot sector. The Corps conducted a counteroffensive during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In the 1971 war against Pakistan, it took part in the Battle of Basantar.
Lieutenant General Sagat Singh, PVSM was a General Officer in the Indian Army, notable for his participation in the liberation of Goa and later in Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. He held many commands and staff appointments throughout his career.
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XXI Corps is a strike corps of the Indian Army and is headquartered at Bhopal.
X Corps is a corps of the Indian Army. It is based in Bathinda and is a part of South Western Command.
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Indian order of battle during the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes: