III Corps | |
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Active | 1915–1919 1941–1942 1985–present |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Mountain 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 |
Indian Army Corps (1915 - Present) | ||||
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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.
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.
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]
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.
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.
Jane's estimates that it consists of: [8]
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Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lieutenant General | Joginder Singh Bakshi | 5 March 1985 | 30 March 1986 | Jat Regiment | [22] |
Raj Mohan Vohra | 31 March 1986 | 20 September 1987 | 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) | [22] | |
Vijay Madan | 21 September 1987 | 6 May 1989 | 4th Gorkha Rifles | [22] | |
Bipin Chandra Joshi | 7 May 1989 | 17 May 1990 | 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) | [22] | |
B S Nalwa | 18 May 1990 | 13 May 1991 | Regiment of Artillery | [22] | |
H K Kapoor | 14 May 1991 | 15 December 1992 | Corps of Engineers | [22] | |
N S Malik | 16 December 1992 | 29 October 1994 | 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) | [22] | |
Krishna Mohan Seth | 30 October 1994 | 22 October 1995 | Regiment of Artillery | [22] | |
S S Grewal | 23 October 1995 | 9 September 1997 | Jammu and Kashmir Rifles | [23] | |
Rustom Kaikhusro Nanavatty | 10 September 1997 | 19 June 2000 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | [24] | |
T S Shergill | 20 June 2000 | 4 October 2001 | 9th Deccan Horse | [25] | |
V K Jetley | 5 October 2001 | 2 January 2003 | Dogra Regiment | [22] [26] | |
Rajinder Singh | 3 January 2003 | 31 December 2003 | Regiment of Artillery | [22] [27] | |
Daljeet Singh | 1 January 2004 | 22 September 2005 | 8th Light Cavalry | [28] | |
Zameer Uddin Shah | September 2005 | September 2006 | Regiment of Artillery | [29] | |
Manbir Singh Dadwal | September 2006 | 30 July 2008 | Dogra Regiment | [29] [30] | |
Rakesh Kumar Loomba | 31 July 2008 | August 2009 | 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) | [31] | |
Nand Kishore Singh | August 2009 | March 2011 | 3rd Gorkha Rifles | [32] | |
Dalbir Singh Suhag | March 2011 | 19 June 2012 | 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) | [33] | |
Arun Kumar Sahni | 20 June 2012 | August 2013 | Regiment of Artillery | [34] | |
Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan | August 2013 | 31 August 2014 | Madras Regiment | [35] | |
Bipin Rawat | 1 September 2014 | 22 November 2015 | 11th Gorkha Rifles | [36] | |
Abhay Krishna | 23 November 2015 | 31 December 2016 | Rajputana Rifles | [37] | |
Anil Chauhan | 1 January 2017 | 8 January 2018 | 11th Gorkha Rifles | [38] | |
Gopal R | 9 January 2018 | 10 January 2019 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | [39] | |
Rajeev Sirohi | 10 January 2019 | 10 January 2020 | The Grenadiers | [39] | |
Rana Pratap Kalita | 11 January 2020 | 10 February 2021 | Kumaon Regiment | [40] | |
Johnson P Mathew | 10 February 2021 | 1 March 2022 | Punjab Regiment | [41] | |
Ram Chander Tewari | 1 March 2022 | 6 March 2023 | Kumaon Regiment | [42] | |
Harjeet Singh Sahi | 6 March 2023 | 10 Aug 2024 | Rajput Regiment | [43] | |
Abhijit S Pendharkar | 10 Aug 2024 | Incumbent | Assam Regiment | [44] [45] |
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