III Corps (India)

Last updated
III Corps
Spear corps.jpg
Active1915–1919
1941–1942
1985–present
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
BranchFlag of Indian Army.svg  Indian Army
TypeMountain troops
Size Corps
Part of Eastern Command
Garrison/HQ Dimapur
Nickname(s)Spear Corps
Commanders
Current
commander		 Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar
AVSM , YSM
Notable
commanders		 Lt Gen Ram Chander Tiwari
Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita
General Anil Chauhan
Lt Gen Abhay Krishna
General Bipin Rawat
General Dalbir Singh Suhag
Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah
General Bipin Chandra Joshi
Lt Gen Raj Mohan Vohra
Lt Gen Joginder Singh Bakshi

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.

Contents

A new III Corps was formed by the Indian Army during World War II for service in Southeast Asia. The corps fought in the Battle of Singapore where it surrendered in February 1942. [1]

It is headquartered in the state of Nagaland of India in the city of Dimapur, at Rangapahar Military Station.

History

First World War

Initially formed in December 1915, it took part in the Mesopotamian campaign under the command of Frederick Stanley Maude. In November 1916, it was split in two to form the I Corps and III Corps (also known as III (Tigris) Corps). [2]

Among its component divisions during World War I were the Cavalry Division, 3rd (Lahore) Division, 6th (Poona) Division, 7th (Meerut) Division, 12th Indian Division, 13th (Western) Division, 14th Indian Division, 17th Indian Division, and 18th Indian Division. [3]

From 1 January until 3 March 1917 the corps also commanded III (Tigris) Corps Cavalry Regiment, a composite unit comprising squadrons drawn from 1/1st Hertfordshire Yeomanry, 10th Lancers and 32nd Lancers. [3] [4] [5]

Second World War

The Indian III Corps was the primary ground formation that took part in the Malayan Campaign in 1942. It was commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Lewis "Piggy" Heath.

Indian III Corps was formed in mid-1941 as part of the Malaya Command when the increase in tension in the Far East necessitated the dispatch of large reinforcements to the area to deter Japan. On 7 December 1941 the Corps consisted of the Indian 9th Infantry Division, commanded by Major-General Arthur Edward Barstow, the Indian 11th Infantry Division, commanded by Major-General David Murray-Lyon, a lines of communication Area, and the Penang Fortress. [6] Due to the rapid expansion of the British Indian Army, many of the formations in the Indian divisions were ill-trained and lacked large enough cadres of experienced troops.

The British had plans – Operation Matador and Operation Krohcol – to move forward into the south of Siam to forestall Japanese advances. However, lack of forewarning, combined with caution over upsetting Japan needlessly with precipitate actions, prevented the plans from being implemented. This put the garrison on the defensive, a position from which it never recovered.

III Corps was pushed down the Malayan peninsula by Japanese units, who employed novel tactics. When confronted with an Allied strong point on a road, the Japanese troops would leave a screen in front of the position, and then send infiltrators round through the jungle to outflank the position. Having been surrounded, positions were usually relatively easy to take. III Corps and the rest of the Allied land forces were pushed back to Singapore itself by February 1942. There they endured a short siege before the island surrendered at the direction of Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival. Some of the prisoners taken from Indian III Corps subsequently joined the Indian National Army.

Post independence

After the independence of India, a new III Corps was raised by the Indian Army on 4 February 1985 and is spread over the North Eastern States of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya. At the time of its formation, it consisted of 8 and 57 Mountain Divisions, under its command, in addition to troops of Assam Rifles. The 8 Mountain Division was moved out to Kashmir in 1990. [7]

The corps is presently based at Dimapur in north east India, and consists of three divisions being responsible for eastern Arunachal Pradesh and the Myanmar border. It is tasked for use in any future Indian war against China.

Structure

Jane's estimates that it consists of: [8]

Commanders

RankNameAppointment DateLeft OfficeUnit of CommissionReferences
Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Bakshi 5 March 198530 March 1986 Jat Regiment [22]
Raj Mohan Vohra 31 March 198620 September 1987 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) [22]
Vijay Madan21 September 19876 May 1989 4th Gorkha Rifles [22]
Bipin Chandra Joshi 7 May 198917 May 1990 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) [22]
B S Nalwa18 May 199013 May 1991 Regiment of Artillery [22]
H K Kapoor14 May 199115 December 1992 Corps of Engineers [22]
N S Malik16 December 199229 October 1994 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) [22]
Krishna Mohan Seth 30 October 199422 October 1995 Regiment of Artillery [22]
S S Grewal23 October 19959 September 1997 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [23]
Rustom Kaikhusro Nanavatty10 September 199719 June 2000 8th Gorkha Rifles [24]
T S Shergill20 June 20004 October 2001 9th Deccan Horse [25]
V K Jetley5 October 20012 January 2003 Dogra Regiment [22] [26]
Rajinder Singh3 January 200331 December 2003 Regiment of Artillery [22] [27]
Daljeet Singh1 January 200422 September 2005 8th Light Cavalry [28]
Zameer Uddin Shah September 2005September 2006 Regiment of Artillery [29]
Manbir Singh DadwalSeptember 200630 July 2008 Dogra Regiment [29] [30]
Rakesh Kumar Loomba31 July 2008August 2009 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) [31]
Nand Kishore SinghAugust 2009March 2011 3rd Gorkha Rifles [32]
Dalbir Singh Suhag March 201119 June 2012 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) [33]
Arun Kumar Sahni20 June 2012August 2013 Regiment of Artillery [34]
Srinivasan Lakshmi NarasimhanAugust 201331 August 2014 Madras Regiment [35]
Bipin Rawat 1 September 201422 November 2015 11th Gorkha Rifles [36]
Abhay Krishna 23 November 201531 December 2016 Rajputana Rifles [37]
Anil Chauhan 1 January 20178 January 2018 11th Gorkha Rifles [38]
Gopal R 9 January 201810 January 2019 8th Gorkha Rifles [39]
Rajeev Sirohi10 January 201910 January 2020 The Grenadiers [39]
Rana Pratap Kalita 11 January 202010 February 2021 Kumaon Regiment [40]
Johnson P Mathew 10 February 20211 March 2022 Punjab Regiment [41]
Ram Chander Tewari 1 March 20226 March 2023 Kumaon Regiment [42]
Harjeet Singh Sahi6 March 202310 Aug 2024 Rajput Regiment [43]
Abhijit S Pendharkar10 Aug 2024Incumbent Assam Regiment [44] [45]

Reference list

  1. ↑ Ramakrishna
  2. ↑ Listing of British Corps, accessed July 2010. Archived 16 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 Brig-Gen F.J. Moberly, History of the Great War: The Campaign in Mesopotamia, Vol III, London: HM Stationery Office, 1925/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1997, ISBN 978-089839289-0, Appendix XXXVI.
  4. ↑ Moberly, Vol III, p. 111.
  5. ↑ Lt-Col J.D. Sainsbury, The Hertfordshire Yeomanry: An Illustrated History' 1794–1920', Welwyn: Hertfordshire Yeomanry and Artillery Historical Trust/Hart Books, 1994, ISBN 0-948527-03-X, pp. 182–8.
  6. ↑ Orbat.com/Niehorster, III Indian Corps, 7 December 1941
  7. ↑ "3 Corps celebrates Raising Day". 2011-02-04. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  8. ↑ Jane's World Armies, Issue 19, 2006
  9. ↑ Pike, John. "2 Mountain Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  10. ↑ "Third battalion of Naga regiment be raised soon". 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  11. ↑ "Army steps in to help school". 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  12. ↑ Paranoia after Ulfa threat; Army steps up vigilance in upper Assam Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine , The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, Thursday, December 20, 2007
  13. ↑ "Indian Army to begin deploying light howitzers in eastern sector". 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  14. ↑ "Ambush raises questions about security lapses". The Times of India . 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  15. ↑ "Army's first mountain division for China in northeast kicks off !!". Chindits. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  16. ↑ "Why mountain strike corps along the India-China border is important". 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  17. ↑ Pike, John. "57 Mountain Division / Red Shield Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  18. ↑ Conboy, Elite Forces of India and Pakistan, p.8
  19. ↑ Globalsecurity.org, 17 July 2010
  20. ↑ John Pike. "57 Mountain Division / Red Shield Division". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  21. ↑ Bhaumik, Subir (10 December 2009). Troubled Periphery: The Crisis of India's North East By Subir Bhaumik. ISBN   9788132104797.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "New #DGMO Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (R) handing over charge of all imp 3 Corps in Dimapur to Lt Gen Gopal R." 2018-01-09. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  23. ↑ "LT GENERAL SS GREWAL RETIRES". 2002-04-30. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  24. ↑ "Reviewing Internal Armed Conflict in India-Forging a Joint Civil - Military Approach" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  25. ↑ "Army Top Brass Changed in N-E". 2000-06-11. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  26. ↑ "Lt Gen V K Jetley takes over as Master General Ordinance". 2003-01-31. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  27. ↑ "JS Verma visits Manipur". 2003-01-08. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  28. ↑ "Annual Report, 2005 – 2006" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  29. 1 2 "Lt Gen Manbir assumes charge as GOC 3 Corps". 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  30. ↑ "Army Commander visits Manipur". 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  31. ↑ "Lt. Gen. Loomba new Military Intelligence chief". The Hindu. 2009-08-31. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  32. ↑ "Defence Minister Visits North-East". 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  33. ↑ "Defence ministry seeks report on notice to Lt Gen Suhag". 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  34. ↑ "GOC 3 Corps extends Vijay Diwas greetings". 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  35. ↑ "Lieutenant General Lt Gen Bipin Rawat takes over command of Spear Corps". 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  36. ↑ "Nagaland governor asks security forces to be careful in view of Naga accord". 2015-08-28. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  37. ↑ "Lt Gen Abhay Krishna takes over as GOC Spear Corps". 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  38. ↑ "GOC 3 Corps Anil Chauhan Meets Arunachal Governor SV Shanmuganathan". 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  39. 1 2 "Lt. Gen Sirohi takes over as GOC 3 Corps". Nagaland Post. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  40. ↑ "lt-gen-rana-pratap-kalita-appointed-as-goc-3-corps-first-assamese-to-don-corps-commanders-mantle". 2020-02-10. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  41. ↑ Mathew, JP. "JP Mathew Spear Corps Commander". Archived from the original on 2021-06-12. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  42. ↑ "Lt Gen RC Tiwari takes over as General Officer Commanding of Spear Corps". 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  43. ↑ "Lt Gen Sahi next GOC of 3 Corps | Nagaland Post" . Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  44. ↑ "Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar took over command of the Spear corps from Lt Gen HS Sahi". X (formerly twitter). 2024-08-10.
  45. ↑ "Lt Gen Pendharkar takes charge as GOC 3 Corps". nagalandpost.com. Retrieved 2024-08-12.

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