7th (Meerut) Division

Last updated

7th (Meerut) Indian Division
Indian soldiers of the 7th Meerut Division man trenches in Mesopotamia, 1917.jpg
Soldiers of the 7th (Meerut) Division man trenches in Mesopotamia, 1917.
Active1829 - 1920
CountryBritish Raj Red Ensign.svg  India
Allegiance British Crown
BranchEnsign of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.svg  British Indian Army
Type Infantry
SizeDivision
Part of Bengal Army/Northern Command
Garrison/HQ Meerut
Engagements Western Front [1]

Mesopotamian Campaign
Palestine Campaign

Commanders
Notable
commanders
Maj-Gen Claud Jacob (1915)
Maj-Gen Sir George Younghusband (1915-16)
Maj-Gen Sir Vere Fane (1918)

The 7th (Meerut) Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army and before 1895, the Bengal Army, that saw active service during World War I.

Contents

Pre-1857

The Meerut Division first appeared in the Indian Army List in 1829, under the command of Sir Jasper Nicolls, KCB. [2] At this period Divisions were primarily administrative organisations controlling the brigades and stations in their area, rather than field formations, but they did provide field forces when required. There were generally one Indian cavalry and two Indian infantry regiments stationed at Meerut itself, in addition to British troops: in 1829 these were the 4th Bengal Light Cavalry, 29th and 32nd Bengal Native Infantry. [2]

Indian Rebellion of 1857

In May 1857, on the eve of the 'Indian Rebellion of 1857' (or 'First War of Independence'), the troops at Meerut comprised the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) and a battalion of the 60th (King's Royal Rifle Corps), the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, and 11th and 20th Bengal Native Infantry under the command of Maj-Gen W.H. Hewitt. [3] [4] The outbreak of the rebellion at Meerut was one of the first and most serious of the whole conflict.

Post-1857

The division was reconstituted when peace returned. Over succeeding decades, the stations controlled by Meerut Division varied, and the forces under command were regularly rotated. For example: [5]

Composition, January 1888

General Officer Commanding (GOC): Maj-Gen Sir G.R. Greave, KCB, KCMG

Divisional HQ: Meerut

Fatehgarh:

Agra Brigade:

Muttra:

Dehra Dun:

Delhi:

Landour:

Roorki:

Chakrata:

Pre–World War I

Under the reforms introduced by Lord Roberts as Commander-in-Chief (CinC) India, the Divisions were renamed 1st Class Districts in 1890. In the next round of reforms inaugurated by Lord Kitchener as CinC, they became numbered divisions with their territorial affiliation as a subsidiary title. The title 7th (Meerut) Division first appeared in the Army List between 30 September and 31 December 1904, as part of Western (later Northern) Command. On the eve of World War I, the division had its HQ at Mussoorie, and had the Meerut Cavalry Brigade and the Bareilly (HQ Ranikhet), Dehra Dun and Garhwal (HQ Lansdowne) Infantry Brigades under command. [6]

World War I

Western Front

In 1914 the 7th (Meerut) Division was part of Indian Expeditionary Force A sent to reinforce the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) fighting in France. The bulk constituted an infantry division as part of Indian Corps, while the Meerut Cavalry Brigade was detached to form part of 2nd Indian Cavalry Division in the Indian Cavalry Corps. While in France the division was known as the Meerut Division, and its brigades by their names, to avoid confusion with the 7th British Division. Despatch from India was delayed by the activities of the German raiders Emden and Konigsberg operating in the Indian Ocean, and by the slow speed of the transport vessels. The division landed at Marseilles 12–14 October 1914 but there were further delays while the troops were re-armed with the latest pattern rifle and the supply train could be improvised, using tradesmen's vans procured locally. [7] The division finally got into action at the Battles of La Bassee, 1st Messines and Armentieres in October and November 1914.

Order of Battle, October 1914

GOC: Lt Gen C.A. Anderson, CB
GSO1: Col C.W. Jacob

Dehra Dun Brigade GOC: Brig-Gen C.E. Johnson

Garhwal Brigade GOC: Maj-Gen H.D’U. Keary, CB, DSO

Bareilly Brigade GOC: Maj-Gen F. Macbean, CVO, CB

Divisional Mounted Troops

Divisional Artillery

Engineers

Signals Service

  • Meerut Signal Company

Divisional Pioneers

Supply & Transport:

  • Meerut Divisional train

Medical Units:

  • 19th & 20th British Field Ambulances
  • 128th, 129th and 130th Indian Field Ambulances

After winter operations (in which the Indian soldiers suffered badly) the division next took part in the Battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos in 1915. [1]

Order of Battle, May 1915

The division's composition at this time was: [8] GOC: Lieut-Gen Sir Charles Anderson, KCB

Dehra Dun Brigade
GOC: Brig-Gen C.W. Jacob

Garwhal Brigade
GOC: Brig-Gen C.G. Blackader

Bareilly Brigade
GOC: Brig-Gen W.M. Southey

Divisional Troops
As before, with the addition of 30th Battery of XLIII (Howitzer Brigade) RFA.

By the Battle of Loos in September 1915, Maj-Gen Claud Jacob had replaced Anderson as GOC of 7th (Meerut) Division, and the exhausted 6th Jats and 41st Dogras had been replaced by the 93rd Burma Infantry and 33rd Punjabis (from Egypt), while 30th Battery, XLII (How) Bde had been replaced by 61st Battery, VIII (How) Bde, RFA. [9] [10]

Mesopotamia

On 13 August 1915, General Sir John Nixon, commanding Indian Expeditionary Force D in Mesopotamia, requested one of the Indian infantry divisions in France as reinforcements for his advance on Baghdad. Coincidentally, on the same day, the Secretary of State for India, Austen Chamberlain, told the Viceroy of India that he was anxious for the Indian infantry to be withdrawn from France before they had to endure another winter. The system for supplying drafts had broken down and the Indian battalions were becoming very weak after the heavy casualties they had suffered. Although the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, objected to the Indian withdrawal from the Western Front, orders were issued on 31 October for the two divisions of Indian Corps (3rd (Lahore) and 7th (Meerut) Division) to embark at Marseilles for Mesopotamia. They were to leave behind their attached Territorial Force battalions. [11] The two divisions were relieved in the front line on 6 November and were due at Basra on 1 December, but their departure from Marseilles was delayed until after 25 December because of fear of submarine attack. [12] 7th (Meerut) Division finally arrived in Mesopotamia in Spring 1917 and joined Tigris Corps, too late to relieve the 6th (Poona) Division at Kut-al-Amara. [13]

The division participated in the battles at the Sheikh Sa'ad, Wadi, Hanna, Dujailia, and the Sannaiyat. After the fall of Kut, as part of the reorganization of the British and Indian forces in the region, the division spent much of the summer and fall refitting. The Meerut and Lahore Divisions would eventually become part of the I Indian Army Corps, part of the newly formed Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, participating in the capture of Baghdad in March 1917.

Palestine

The Meerut Division at Nahr al-Kalb (Dog river) in Lebanon, October 1918 IWMQ12418DogRiver.jpeg
The Meerut Division at Nahr al-Kalb (Dog river) in Lebanon, October 1918

After the fall of Baghdad, the Palestine Campaign was given priority over Mesopotamia, and in December 1917 Sir Edmund Allenby, commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), was informed that after he had captured Jerusalem he would be reinforced by the 7th (Meerut) Division from Mesopotamia. The division moved from Mesopotamia to Egypt in December, [14] and then on 1 April 1918 it relieved the 52nd (Lowland) Division, which was on its way to the Western Front. [15] The two divisions exchanged their artillery units, those that had been serving with 7th (Meerut) Division going to the Western Front, and the Territorial Force brigades of 52nd (Lowland) Divisional Artillery served with 7th (Meerut) Division until the end of the war. [16] [17] [18]

The EEF undertook few operations during the hot weather of Summer 1918, but the Meerut Division captured 'North Sister' and 'South Sister' Hills on 8 June, and raided 'Piffer Ridge' on 27 June. It subsequently took part in Allenby's advance through Palestine, including the Battle of Megiddo as part of Lieutenant-General Bulfin's XXI British Corps operating on the right flank. [19]

Order of Battle September 1918

In September 1918, the division had the following composition: [16] [20] [21]

GOC: Maj-Gen Sir Vere Fane

19th (Dehra Dun) Brigade:
GOC: Brig-Gen G.A. Weir

21st (Bareilly) Brigade:
GOC: Brig-Gen A.G. Kemball

28th Brigade (Frontier Force):
GOC: Brig-Gen C.H. Davies

Divisional Artillery:

Divisional Engineers:

Divisional Pioneers:

General Officers Commanding

The following officers commanded the division during World War I: [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">32nd Division (United Kingdom)</span> Infantry division of the British Army during the First World War

The 32nd Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was raised in 1914, during the First World War. The division was raised from volunteers for Lord Kitchener's New Armies, made up of infantry 'Pals battalions' and artillery brigades raised by public subscription or private patronage. The division was taken over by the War Office in September 1915. It served in France and Belgium in the trenches of the Western Front for the duration of the war. It saw action at the Battle of the Somme, the Pursuit to the Hindenburg Line, the Defence of Nieuport, the German spring offensive, and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive beginning at the Battle of Amiens. After the Armistice it marched into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)</span> Infantry regiment of the British Army, 1881–1968

The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Army, the only regiment of rifles amongst the Scottish regiments of infantry. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 26th Cameronian Regiment and the 90th Perthshire Light Infantry. In 1968, when reductions were required, the regiment chose to be disbanded rather than amalgamated with another regiment, one of only two infantry regiments in the British Army to do so, with the other being the York and Lancaster Regiment. It can trace its roots to that of the Cameronians, later the 26th of Foot, who were raised in 1689. The 1881 amalgamation coincided with the Cameronian's selection to become the new Scottish Rifles.

The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army following India's independence. Originally raised in 1817 as part of the army of the British East India Company, the regiment has been known by a number of names throughout its history. Initially the unit did not recruit from the Gurkhas, although after being transferred to the British Indian Army following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, it became a purely Gurkha regiment, in due course with its regimental headquarters at Abbottabad in the North West Frontier Province of British India. After 1947 the regiment was one of only four Gurkha regiments to be transferred to the British Army and this continued up until 1994, when it was amalgamated with other Gurkha regiments to form the Royal Gurkha Rifles. Over the course of its 177-year history, the regiment was awarded 25 battle honours, although prior to World War I it had only been awarded one and no battle honours were awarded to it after World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garhwal Rifles</span> Indian army infantry regiment

The Garhwal Rifles, formerly known as the Royal Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became part of the British Indian Army, and after the Independence of India, it was incorporated into the Indian Army.

The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consisted mainly of small garrison forces in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Taiping, Seremban and Singapore.

The 10th Indian Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army during World War I. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914 with three infantry brigades of Indian Expeditionary Force F. After taking part in the Actions on the Suez Canal, the division was dispersed as its brigades were posted away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd (Lahore) Division</span> Military unit

The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army and before 1895, the Bengal Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops of the Ottoman Empire.

The 6th (Poona) Division was a division of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1903, following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army.

The Indian Army had no standby force ready in 1971 with the specific task of attacking East Pakistan, one of the many reasons why India did not immediately intervene after Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight in March 1971. Indian Army's Eastern Command was tasked with defending the northern and eastern borders and fighting the insurgencies in Nagaland, Mizoram and Naxalites in West Bengal at that time.

The 16th Indian Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during the First World War. It was formed in December 1916, during the First World War. It was the only war formed division of the British Indian Army that was not sent overseas, instead it was sent to guard the North West Frontier. The division took over the responsibilities of the 3rd Lahore Divisional Area when it was disbanded in May 1917.

The Burma Corps ('Burcorps') was an Army Corps of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in Prome, Burma, on 19 March 1942, took part in the retreat through Burma, and was disbanded on arrival in India in May 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">58th (2/1st London) Division</span> Military unit

The 58th Division was an infantry division created in 1915 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during the First World War. It was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 56th Division. After training in Britain, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in 1917. It saw action at the battles of Arras and Passchedaele in 1917 and the German spring offensive in 1918. It then took part in the Battle of Amiens and the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive of the war. The division was recreated during the Second World War, as an imaginary deception formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence of Festubert</span>

The Defence of Festubert was an engagement on the Western Front early in the First World War when Indian and British battalions of the 7th (Meerut) Division of the Indian Army defended the village of Festubert against a German attack from 23 to 24 November 1914. It was one of the first actions in the war in which an attack was made against a prepared defensive position. The British and Indian regiments that took part were awarded the battle honour Festubert 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">59th (2nd North Midland) Division</span> Former British Army infantry division

The 59th Division was an infantry division of the British Army during World War I. It was formed in late 1914/early 1915 as a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 46th Division. After training in the United Kingdom and saw service in the Easter Rising in April 1916, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in early 1917. It saw action at Ypres and Cambrai, and was almost destroyed during the German Army's Spring Offensive in March 1918. The reconstituted division took part in the final advances of the war.

221st Mixed Brigade was a Scottish Home Service formation of the British Army that served under various titles throughout World War I.

71st Division was a short-lived infantry division of the British Army during the First World War. It served in the Home Defence forces and never went overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of battle for the Gallipoli campaign</span>

This is an order of battle listing the Allied and Ottoman forces involved in the Gallipoli campaign during 1915.

The 2nd Home Counties Division was a 2nd Line Territorial Force division of the British Army in World War I. The division was formed as a duplicate of the 44th Division in November 1914. As the name suggests, the division recruited in the Home Counties, particularly Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force divisions, it was numbered as 67th Division. Between September 1917 and the end of the year, the division was extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 67th Division.

The 28th Indian Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service with the Indian Army during the First World War. Formed in October 1914, it defended the Suez Canal in early 1915, ended the Ottoman threat to Aden in July 1915, took part in the Mesopotamian Campaign in 1916 and 1917, before finishing the war in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. It remained in Palestine until it was broken up in 1920.

The Structure of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force over the course of the First World War is shown below.

References

  1. 1 2 Baker, Chris (2010). "The British Corps of 1914-1918". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 East India Register and Directory 1829.
  3. East India Register and Army List 1857 Volume II.
  4. David.
  5. India List, January 1888
  6. Monthly Army List August 1914.
  7. Edmonds, 1914, Vol II, p. 92, Note 1.
  8. Edmonds 1914, Vol II, Appendix I
  9. Edmonds & Wynne, 1915 Vol II, Appendix 3.
  10. Edmonds & Wynne 1915, Vol II, Appendix 2
  11. Edmonds & Wynne, 1915, Vol II, pp. 402–3.
  12. Moberly, Vol II.
  13. Baker, Chris (2010). "The British campaign in Mesopotamia 1914-1918". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  14. Moberly
  15. Falls, Part I.
  16. 1 2 3 Perry, pp. 83–97.
  17. Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 109–15.
  18. Falls, pp. 412–3.
  19. Falls, Part II.
  20. Bullock, Appendix.
  21. Falls, Appendix C.
  22. Backe, Pt 2b, pp. 25–32.
  23. Edwards, p. 87.

Bibliography