GHQ India

Last updated

GHQ India
GHQ India.svg
Formation sign of General Headquarters, India during the Second World War
Active1903 to 1947
Country British India
Part of War Office
Viceroy of India
Garrison/HQ New Delhi

General Headquarters, India was the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, India, who commanded the British military forces in India, including the British Indian Army, after the Kitchener Reforms of 1903. It succeeded Headquarters, India which was the term in use initially after the three Presidency armies had been amalgamated into one force. The Commander-in-Chief answered to the civilian Viceroy of India.

Contents

Confusingly, in the official Volume II: India's Most Dangerous Hour, Major-General Stanley Kirby et al., 1958, the term "India Command" was repeatedly used. [1] "India Command" was not defined, but Stanley Kirby et al. appeared to be referring to the British Indian Army in India; the British Army in India; and GHQ India, the three together, as a whole. A more correct term for these three entities together would have been the Army in India.

Early history

GHQ India succeeded Headquarters, India which was the term in use initially after the three Presidency armies had been amalgamated into one force in 1895. "The C-in-C India’s HQ was known as the General Headquarters (GHQ India) and acted as the superior HQ for all services to fulfil their requirements." [2]

The Commander-in-Chief's chief of staff was the Chief of the General Staff. It was based in Calcutta and Simla (the winter capital of the Raj) until the seat of power moved to New Delhi in 1911. [3] In addition to India, as the [British] Indian Army garrisoned the waystation Aden Settlement (later Aden Colony) the Commander-in-Chief was also responsible for troops in Aden. Later Indian troops were also sent to Iraq and Persia). [4]

The 1906 Birthday Honours and 1922 Birthday Honours list officers on the staff of Headquarters, India; by the 1942 New Year Honours the listing had become General Headquarters, India (Colonel, Acting Major-General Rob Lockhart). [5]

For significant periods before the creation of South East Asia Command (SEAC) in 1943, the C-in-C India was also responsible for Ceylon and Burma. The Commander-in-Chief, India, [2] had some 2,000 officers and 2.5 million troops under his command in 1945. [6] GHQ India was redesignated Army HQ in 1947 when India was partitioned. [2]

Second World War

Following a review by the British Chiefs of Staff in late 1939, operational control of troops in Iraq passed in early 1940 to Middle East Command although the provision of troops and their maintenance remained for the most part GHQ India's responsibility. [7] In March 1941, in the period before the Anglo-Iraqi War, the C-in-C Middle East General Archibald Wavell, who was preoccupied with existing problems in his theatre, gained approval for Iraq to come under India's operational control again [8] but once hostilities commenced in May Wavell was obliged by London reluctantly to reassume responsibility. [9] In June 1941, after cessation of hostilities, control reverted once more to GHQ India. [10] India finally relinquished responsibility for Persia and Iraq in August 1942 when a separate Persia and Iraq Command was created. [11]

After the dissolution of ABDACOM in February 1942 the C-in-C India also became responsible for Ceylon. During this period, some Chinese and American units also came under C-in-C India. [12] These responsibilities remained unchanged until the creation of South East Asia Command (SEAC) in August 1943. With the creation of SEAC there were three geographic theatres and a further operational command. The China Theatre was under the command of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. SEAC was an Anglo-American command under a Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Mountbatten, who was responsible for operations in Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Sumatra. General Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief, India, was responsible for the development of India as a base, for internal security in India, and the defence of India's North West Frontier. His responsibility included the training, equipping, maintenance and movement of operational forces assigned to SEAC. [13] The American operational theater, China Burma India (CBI), operated in all three geographic areas. It was not subordinate to SEAC. [13]

On 24 November 1944, G.H.Q.(I) passed on to the Headquarters Allied Land Forces South East Asia "..proposals made by the Burma Government-in-exile for the evaluation of the men released in 1942, either returnees or deserters." [14] "The Burma Government proposed to raise administrative units to screen personnel who had remained in Burma, and operational units for internal security duties. ..Within General Headquarters, India, the department responsible for the administration of Burma Army units in India and Burma, known as Burma Section, also asked for the immediate raising of a second administrative unit." A.G. (BURSEC) was an integral part of GHQ India until it was established with Headquarters Twelfth Army. [15]

Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck served as the last C-in-C, India from 1943. He was reappointed on 15 August 1947, and became Supreme Commander of India and Pakistan. He oversaw the division of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force between the two new countries. In the process, GHQ Pakistan was established to serve the newly independent Pakistan, at Rawalpindi. Auchinleck served in this capacity until November 1948, when the role of Supreme Commander was abolished. [16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Kirby, Stanley (1958). "Volume II: India's Most Dangerous Hour". HMSO.
  2. 1 2 3 Dogar 1999.
  3. ↑ "Britain's Small Wars". Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Jackson 2006, p. 148.
  5. ↑ "No. 35399". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1942. p. 6.
  6. ↑ "India Army GHQ". Hansard. 29 November 1945.
  7. ↑ Playfair et al. 2004a, pp. 63 & 66.
  8. ↑ Playfair et al. 2004b, p. 178.
  9. ↑ Playfair et al. 2004b, pp. 184 & 185.
  10. ↑ Playfair et al. 2004b, p. 250.
  11. ↑ Playfair et al. 2004c, pp. 375 & 376.
  12. ↑ Patti 1980, p. 11.
  13. 1 2 Romanus & Sunderland 1953, p. 364.
  14. ↑ "War Office 203/4030 via New Burma Army, 1945-1949". www.rothwell.force9.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  15. ↑ "The New Burma Army, 1945–1949". The Burma Campaign. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  16. ↑ Warner 1982, p. 289.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Auchinleck</span> British Field Marshal (1884–1981)

Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck,, , was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, he rose to become commander-in-chief of the Indian Army by early 1941 during the Second World War. In July 1941 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Middle East Theatre, but after initial successes, the war in North Africa turned against the British-led forces under his command, and he was relieved of the post in August 1942 during the North African campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell</span> British field marshal (1883–1950)

Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres. In the Second World War, he served initially as Commander-in-Chief Middle East, in which role he led British forces to victory over the Italian Army in Eritrea-Abyssinia, western Egypt and eastern Libya during Operation Compass in December 1940, only to be defeated by Erwin Rommel's Panzer Army Africa in the Western Desert in April 1941. He served as Commander-in-Chief, India, from July 1941 until June 1943 and then served as Viceroy of India until his retirement in February 1947.

The 11th Army Group was the main British Army force in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. Although a nominally British formation, it also included large numbers of troops and formations from the British Indian Army and from British African colonies, and also Nationalist Chinese and United States units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South East Asia Command</span> WWII commanding body of Allied forces in Southeast Asia

South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Army Group Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

1st Army Group Royal Artillery was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign and throughout the Italian Campaign. It reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1950s to command air defence units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South-East Asian theatre of World War II</span> Campaigns of the Pacific War in Southeast Asia

The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II consisted of the campaigns of the Pacific War in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Indochina, Burma, India, Malaya and Singapore between 1941 and 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China Burma India theater</span> U.S. military designation during WWII for U.S. forces in East, Southeast, and South Asia

China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces in the CBI was officially the responsibility of the Supreme Commanders for South East Asia or China. In practice, U.S. forces were usually overseen by General Joseph Stilwell, the Deputy Allied Commander in China; the term "CBI" was significant in logistical, material and personnel matters; it was and is commonly used within the US for these theaters.

The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded by Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom Force

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle East Command</span> British Army command defending the Middle East

Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.

This is a timeline of the North African campaign.

Air Chief Marshal Sir William Gore Sutherland Mitchell, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the first RAF officer to hold the post of Black Rod.

The Liverpool Welsh, under various guises, was a unit of Britain's Volunteer Force and Territorial Army (TA) associated with the King's Liverpool Regiment. It served as a tank regiment in the Western Desert and Italian Campaigns in the Second World War, as a security force during the Greek Civil War, and as a heavy anti-aircraft artillery regiment postwar.

Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persia and Iraq Command</span> WW2 British Army organization

The Persia and Iraq Command was a command of the British Army established during the Second World War in September 1942 in Baghdad. Its primary role was to secure from land and air attack the oilfields and oil installations in Persia and Iraq. Its further role was to ensure the transport of supplies from Persian Gulf ports through Iraq and Persia to the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burma campaign (1942–1943)</span>

The Burma campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II took place over four years from 1942 to 1945. During the first year of the campaign, the Imperial Japanese Army with aid from Burmese insurgents had driven British forces and Chinese forces out of Burma, and occupied most of the country. From May to December 1942, most active campaigning ceased as the monsoon rains made tactical movement almost impossible in the forested and mountainous border between India and Burma, and both the Allies and Japanese faced severe logistical constraints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighth Army (United Kingdom)</span> Army of the British Army during World War II, engaged in the North Africa Campaign

The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created the better to control the growing Allied forces based in Egypt and to direct their efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Whiteley (British Army officer)</span>

General Sir John Francis Martin Whiteley, was a senior British Army officer who became Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (DCIGS). A career soldier, Whiteley was commissioned into the Royal Engineers from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1915 during the First World War. During the war he served in Salonika and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Army Group Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

2nd Army Group Royal Artillery was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign and throughout the Italian Campaign. It reformed in the Territorial Army in the 1950s to command air defence units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">91st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery</span> Military unit

The 91st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1940, it transferred to the Royal Artillery in late 1941. It served with 4th Infantry Division in Tunisia and Italy until it was disbanded at the end of 1944.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.