88-653: The Corps of Guides was a regiment of the British Indian Army made up of British and Indian officers, plus Indian cavalry sowars and infantry sepoys , primarily intended for service on the North West Frontier . As originally raised in 1846, The Corps of Guides consisted of both infantry and cavalry. It evolved through the 20th century to become the Guides Cavalry and Guides Infantry . The Guides were transferred to Pakistan at Independence and became part of
176-627: A battle of such intensity that no fewer than 350 of the 600 became casualties within an hour of their arrival in Delhi. The Corps of Guides was part of the Frontier Force brigade and developed a reputation of being an elite unit. Typically, the Guides were often used in small detachments, usually supported by other Frontier Force troops. The designations of the Corps of Guides changed over time as follows: In 1911
264-618: A large-scale reform should be implemented to improve the Indian Army. Calcutta had been ravaged by large communal riots, but the British Indian Army was able to restore order. Nehru demanded with urgency, that the Indian Army should safeguard India's new democracy . Nehru was a nationalist and opposed India's "divide and rule" policy. As a result of the Partition of India in 1947, the formations, units, assets, and indigenous personnel of
352-444: A part of their careers. In 1922, after wartime experience had shown that the maintenance of 130 separate single-battalion infantry regiments was unwieldy, a number of large (four to five battalion) regiments were created, and numerous cavalry regiments amalgamated. The List of regiments of the Indian Army (1922) shows the reduced number of larger regiments. Until 1932 most Indian Army officers, both British and Indian, were trained at
440-426: A particular army, each with its own uniform and facings. As a general rule, cavalry uniforms tended to be more varied, and it was not uncommon for each mounted regiment to retain its own facing colours up to 1914. Artillery, engineers and support corps normally had a single branch colour, although exceptionally each regiment of Swedish artillery had its own facing colour until 1910. The United States regular army after
528-514: A significant French presence. In 1903, Lord Kitchener became the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army . He instituted large-scale reforms, the greatest of which was the merger of the three armies of the Presidencies into a unified force. He formed higher level formations, eight army divisions, and brigaded Indian and British units. He left his command in 1909. Following Kitchener's reforms,
616-421: A special distinction. The standard red jacket (" redcoat ") worn by British infantry soldiers from the mid-17th century made it difficult to distinguish between units engaged in battle. The use of colour assisted soldiers in rallying on a common point, and each regiment had a flag, or colour, in a specific shade so as to be easily distinguished. The lining of uniform jackets came to be made from material of
704-596: A total of 47,746 Indians had been reported dead or missing; 65,126 were wounded. Also serving in the First World War were so-called " Imperial Service Troops ", provided by the semi-autonomous Princely States . About 21,000 were raised in the First World War, mainly consisting of Sikhs of Punjab and Rajputs from Rajputana (such as the Bikaner Camel Corps and the Hyderabad , Mysore and Jodhpur Lancers of
792-709: A total of about 55,000 Indians taken prisoner in Malaya and Singapore in February 1942, about 30,000 joined the INA, which fought Allied forces in the Burma Campaign. Others became guards at Japanese POW camps. The recruitment was the brainchild of Major Fujiwara Iwaichi who mentions in his memoirs that Captain Mohan Singh Deb , who surrendered after the Battle of Jitra became the founder of
880-594: The 1st Bengal Lancers , among other Indian units, all served during the Rebellion. Numerous Indian soldiers earned the China War Medal 1900 with the "Relief of Pekin" clasp for contributing to the relief of Peking and the International Legations from 10 June to 14 August 1900. The Kitchener reforms began in 1903 when Lord Kitchener of Khartoum , newly appointed Commander-in-Chief , India, completed
968-746: The 3rd (Lahore) Division , the Kohat Brigade , the Bannu Brigade , and the Derajat Brigade ; Western Command , which consisted of the 4th (Quetta) Division , the 5th (Mhow) Division , the 6th (Poona) Division , and the Aden Brigade , located in Aden in the Arabian Peninsula; and Eastern Command , which consisted of the 7th (Meerut) Division and the 8th (Lucknow) Division . Army Headquarters retained
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#17330856070751056-698: The 44th . In matters of administration, weapons, training, and equipment, the Indian Army had considerable independence; for example, prior to the war the Indian Army adopted the Vickers–Berthier (VB) light machine gun instead of the Bren gun of the British Army, while continuing to manufacture and issue the older SMLE No. 1 Mk III rifle during the Second World War, instead of the Lee–Enfield No.4 Mk I issued to
1144-463: The 9th (Secunderabad) Division and the Burma Division under its direct control. The numbered divisions were organised so that on mobilisation they could deploy a complete infantry division , a cavalry brigade, and a number of troops for internal security or local frontier defence. Permanent divisional commands were formed with an establishment of staff officers under a major general . After
1232-735: The 9th (Secunderabad) Division . By November 1918, the Indian Army rose in size to 573,000 men. Before the war, the Indian government had decided that India could afford to provide two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade in the event of a European war. Some 140,000 soldiers saw active service on the Western Front in France and Belgium – 90,000 in the front-line Indian Corps, and some 50,000 in auxiliary battalions. They felt that any more would jeopardise national security. More than four divisions were eventually sent as Indian Expeditionary Force A formed
1320-570: The Adjutant-General , dealing with training, discipline, and personnel, and the Quartermaster-General , dealing with supplies, accommodation, and communications. In 1906 a General Branch was established to deal with military policy, organisation and deployment, mobilisation and war plans, and intelligence and the conduct of operations. The Chiefs of the staff branches answered to the Chief of
1408-610: The American Civil War adopted a universal dark and light blue uniform under which each regiment was distinguished only by numbers and other insignia, plus branch colors. The latter were yellow for Cavalry, red for Artillery and white (later light blue) for infantry. Combinations of colours such as scarlet piped with white for Engineers, orange piped with white for the Signal Corps and black piped with scarlet for Ordnance personnel gave wide scope for adding distinctive branch facings as
1496-769: The Bombay Army , of the Presidencies of British India , particularly after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . In 1879, the Presidency armies were integrated into a system of four Commands with a central Commander-in-Chief. On 1 April 1895, the Presidency armies were dissolved and unified into a single Indian Army, also divided into four Commands, and the term "Indian Army" was officially used by 1903. The Commands were later replaced by two "Armies" in 1908—the Northern and Southern Army—but
1584-644: The Frontier Force Rifles and The Pathan Regiment were amalgamated with the Frontier Force Regiment to form a new Frontier Force Regiment . The Guides battalion became the 2nd battalion of the new regiment. The Guides were the first unit in the Indian or British Armies to dress in " khaki " or drab uniforms, first introduced in 1848. The regiment wore a scarlet facing colour on the collars and cuffs of their khaki uniforms from their establishment. Accordingly both The 10th Guides Cavalry (FF) and
1672-805: The Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade ). These forces played a prominent role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . Elements of the Army operated around Mary, Turkmenistan in 1918–19. See Malleson mission and Entente intervention in the Russian Civil War . The army then took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War of 1919. In the aftermath of the First World War, the Indian Territorial Force and Auxiliary Force (India) were created in
1760-574: The Indian Corps and the Indian Cavalry Corps that arrived on the Western Front in 1914. The high number of officer casualties the corps suffered early on had an effect on its later performance. British officers that understood the language, customs, and psychology of their men could not be quickly replaced, and the alien environment of the Western Front had some effect on the soldiers. However,
1848-740: The Indian III Corps , Indian IV Corps , Indian XV Corps , Indian XXI Corps (served with Tenth Army in the Middle East in 1942), Indian XXXIII Corps and Indian XXXIV Corps . Furthermore, the 2nd , 4th , 5th , 6th , 7th , 8th , 9th , 10th , 11th , 12th , 14th , 17th , 19th , 20th , 21st , 23rd , 25th , 26th , 34th , 36th (later converted to an all-British formation), and 39th Indian Divisions were formed, as well as other forces. Additionally there were at one time or another four armoured divisions formed (the 31st , 32nd , 43rd , and 44th ), and one airborne division, also designated
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#17330856070751936-461: The Mhairwara Battalion from Rajputana . The mountain batteries had already lost their numbers two years earlier. Under the 1903 reforms they were renumbered with twenty added to their original numbers. The army had very little artillery (only 12 batteries of mountain artillery ), and Royal Indian Artillery batteries were attached to the divisions. The Indian Army Corps of Engineers
2024-563: The Western Front , notably in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle , participated in the Battle of Gallipoli and Sinai and Palestine Campaign . Furthermore, it fought in the Siege of Kut of the Mesopotamian Campaign , and campaigned in East Africa , including the Battle of Tanga . Participants from the Indian subcontinent won 13,000 medals, including 12 Victoria Crosses. By the end of the war
2112-547: The partition of India and Pakistan on 15 August 1947, the army was reconstituted and divided between the two new Dominions , with the process overseen by Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck . Independent India would, however, retain "much of the organizing framework" of the army. The Indian Army has its origins in the years after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , often called the Indian Mutiny in British histories, when in 1858
2200-611: The 18th century when such decisions were largely left to commanding officers and uniforms were made by individual contractors rather than in centralised government clothing factories. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the Dutch, Spanish, Swiss, Belgian, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Swedish, Chilean, Mexican, Greek and Turkish armies had come to follow French standardised arrangements, although in some cases variety might still be used to denote different types of infantry (grenadiers, fusiliers, rifles, light infantry etc.) within
2288-611: The 1920s. The Indian Territorial Force was a part-time, paid, all-volunteer organisation within the army. Its units were primarily made up of European officers and Indian other ranks . The ITF was created by the Indian Territorial Force Act 1920 to replace the Indian section of the Indian Defence Force . It was an all-volunteer force modelled after the British Territorial Army . The European parallel to
2376-526: The 1st Bombay Grenadiers became the 101st Grenadiers . The Gurkha Regiments had developed into their own Line of rifle regiments since 1861. They were five of these until they were joined by the former 42nd, 43rd, & 44th Gurkha Regiments of the Bengal Army, who became the 6th, 7th, & 8th Gurkha Rifles. The numbers 42, 43, & 44 were allocated respectively to the Deoli and Erinpura Irregular Forces and
2464-556: The 20th century, even when the general use of red tunics ceased in favor of khaki . Facings remained a part of the ceremonial uniforms retained by Household troops, bandsmen, officers and other limited categories after World War I . The practice was also adopted by Commonwealth military units that adopted dress distinctions from affiliated units of the British Army . In 1881 an attempt was made, as an economy measure, to standardise facing colours for British infantry regiments (other than
2552-469: The 2nd Battalion (The Guides) of the Frontier Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army still wear red piping on the collars of their modern dress uniforms. British Indian Army The Indian Army during British rule , also referred to as the British Indian Army, was the main military force of India until national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency Armies , it
2640-577: The 2nd Bengal Lancers became the 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) . The new order began with the Bengal regiments, followed by the Punjab Frontier Force, then the regiments of Madras, the Hyderabad Contingent, and Bombay. Wherever possible a significant digit was retained in the new number. Thus the 1st Sikh Infantry became the 51st Sikhs , the 1st Madras Pioneers became the 61st Pioneers , and
2728-533: The Army became more technical and diverse. This system continued in general use until blue uniforms ceased to be general issue in 1917, and survives in a limited form in modern blue mess and dress uniforms. Notable exceptions to such standardisation within branches were the British Army (as noted above) and the Austro-Hungarian one. As late as World War I the latter employed 28 different colours, including 10 different shades of red, for its infantry facings. In
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2816-463: The British Army from the middle of the war. Particularly notable contributions of the Indian Army during that conflict were the: Over the course of the Second World War, about 87,000 Indian soldiers were killed. In this period, 31 Indians were awarded the Victoria Cross (See: Indians in ' List of Victoria Cross Recipients by Nationality' ). Out of the 252 Distinguished Service Orders awarded to
2904-602: The British Indian Army, at least 13 were awarded to native officers (See: South Asian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order ). The Germans and Japanese were relatively successful in recruiting combat forces from Indian prisoners of war . These forces were known as the Tiger Legion and the Indian National Army (INA). Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose led the 40,000-strong INA. From
2992-638: The Command system was restored in 1920. About 1.5 million Indian soldiers served during the First World War; the Indian Expeditionary Forces were deployed to France , Belgium, east Africa, Iraq, Egypt , and the Gallipoli peninsula , among other regions. Eleven Indian soldiers won the Victoria Cross in the war. During the Second World War, some 2.5 million soldiers served , and the Indian Army
3080-634: The Crown took over direct rule of British India from the East India Company . Before 1858, the precursor units of the Indian Army were units controlled by the Company and were paid for by their profits. These operated alongside units of the British Army, funded by the British government in London . The three Presidency armies remained separate forces, each with its own Commander-in-Chief . Overall operational control
3168-536: The French infantry. In 1791 an attempt was made to rationalize facings by giving groupings of up to six regiments a single colour, relying on secondary features such as piping or button patterns to distinguish separate units. The rise of mass conscript armies during and following the Napoleonic Wars led to increasing standardisation of facing colours, for reasons both of economy and supply efficiency. Thus, for example,
3256-461: The French line fusiliers and grenadiers of the early 19th century had red facings, with only numbers to distinguish one regiment from another. The voltigeurs had yellow or/and green facings. From 1854 on red facings became universal for all of the line infantry who made up the bulk of the French metropolitan Army, although the Chasseurs , who constituted a separate branch, retained yellow facings as
3344-640: The General Staff , whose post was held by a Lieutenant-General . To provide training for staff officers , the Indian Staff College was established in 1905, and permanently based at Quetta from 1907. With no intermediate chain of command , army headquarters was weighed down with minor administrative details. Divisional commanders were responsible not only for their active formations, but also for internal security and volunteer troops within their respective areas. On mobilisation, divisional staffs took
3432-449: The INA. Some Indian Army personnel resisted recruitment and remained POWs. An unknown number captured in Malaya and Singapore were taken to Japanese-occupied areas of New Guinea as forced labour. Many of these men suffered severe hardships and brutality, similar to that experienced by other prisoners of Japan during the Second World War. About 6,000 of them survived until they were liberated by Australian or US forces, in 1943–45. During
3520-899: The ITF was the Auxiliary Force (India) . After the First World War the British started the process of Indianisation , by which Indians were promoted into higher officer ranks. In a 1923 census, the British Indian Army consisted of 64,669 British-born soldiers and officers, with 187,432 Indian-born soldiers in comparison. Indian cadets were sent to study in Great Britain at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , and were given full commissions as King's Commissioned Indian Officers . The KCIOs were equivalent in every way to British commissioned officers and had full authority over British troops (unlike VCOs). Some KCIOs were attached to British Army units for
3608-403: The Indian Army were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan . As Brian Lapping wrote, "By comparison with the two great provinces [Bengal & Punjab], partition of the army and the civil service was easy, though by any other standard, it was difficult, wasteful, and destructive. ... The men were transferred in their units. Regiments of Sikh and Hindu soldiers from
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3696-531: The Presidency armies, continued to provide armed support to the civil authorities, both in combating banditry and in case of riots and rebellion. One of the first external operations the new unified army faced was the 1899 to 1901 Boxer Rebellion in China. The 1st , 4th , and 14th Sikhs ; 3rd Madras Native Infantry , 4th Goorkas , 22nd and 30th Bombay Native Infantry , 24th Punjab Infantry , 1st Madras Pioneers , No. 2 Company Bombay Sappers , No. 3 Company Madras Sappers , No. 4 Company Bengal Sappers , and
3784-540: The Punjab (including the North-West Frontier and the Punjab Frontier Force). Each was under the command of a lieutenant general , who answered directly to the C-in-C, India. The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 by a notification of the Government of India through Army Department Order Number 981 dated 26 October 1894, unifying the three Presidency armies into a single Indian Army. The armies were amalgamated into four commands, Northern , Southern , Eastern , and Western . The Indian Army, like
3872-456: The Royal Military College, Sandhurst, after that date the Indian officers increasingly received their training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun which was established that year. At the outbreak of the Second World War , the Indian Army numbered 205,000 men and, as the war continued, this would rise to 2.5 million men to become the largest all–volunteer force in history. During this process, six corps would be raised; which consisted of
3960-416: The Régiment du Béarn etc. The initiative in fixing or changing facing colours was largely left to individual colonels, who in effect had ownership of their regiments. This tendency towards variegated facings reached its height in the "Dress Regulation Facings for the Army" of 31 May 1776 when unusual shades such as silver-grey, aurore , and "red speckled with white" were added to the by-then white uniforms of
4048-411: The armies of the three Presidencies and provinces of British India . Writing in The Indian Army (1834), Sir John Malcolm , who had a lifetime's experience of Indian soldiering, wrote about the Bengal Presidency: "They consist largely of Rajpoots ( Rajput ), who are a distinguished race among the Khiteree ( Kshatriya ), or Brhamins ( Brahmin ) We may judge of the size of these men when we are told that
4136-437: The army's organisation should be the same in peace as in war, and maintaining internal security was for the army a secondary role, in support of the police . Lord Kitchener found the army scattered across the country in stations at brigade or regimental strength, and in effect, providing garrisons for most of the major cities. The reformed Indian Army was to be stationed in operational formations and concentrated in
4224-563: The artillery. Today, the Royal Bermuda Regiment , a 1965 amalgam of the Bermuda Militia Artillery (part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery) and the Bermuda Rifles wears dark blue No. 1 Dress with red facings, recalling its Royal Artillery heritage, while the drummers of its band wear red tunics with black facings (recalling the black facings, buttons and equipment worn by rifle units, which had mostly worn rifle green tunics). The practice of using different facing colours to distinguish individual regiments had been widespread in European armies in
4312-400: The cavalry and infantry components were designated as such. The cavalry then became, successively:- and the infantry:- In 1945, the 12th Frontier Force Regiment was renamed the Frontier Force Regiment and on independence and the partition of India it was allocated to Pakistan . The cavalry regiment was also allocated to Pakistan and was renamed the Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force). In 1957,
4400-469: The corps of Guides. It will be the finest appointment in the country". A few months later, on 16 September 1847 Hodson wrote to his brother "…of my good fortune... I am to be the Second-in-Command with the Corps of Guides". The Corps had modest beginnings. When it was raised at Kalu Khan , on the Yusufzai Plain, in the Peshawar Valley region by Lt. Lumsden in December 1846, it comprised just one troop of cavalry and two companies of infantry. The first action
4488-505: The divisional locations remained constant. To emphasise that there was now only one Indian Army, and that all units were to be trained and deployed without regard for their regional origins, the regiments were renumbered into single sequences of cavalry, artillery , infantry of the line , and Gurkha Rifles . Regimental designations were altered to remove all references to the former Presidential Armies. Where appropriate subsidiary titles recalling other identifying details were adopted. Thus
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#17330856070754576-453: The estimated population of 315 million in the Indian subcontinent. Regimental battalions were not permanently allocated to particular divisions or brigades, but instead spent some years in one formation, and were then posted to another elsewhere. This rotating arrangement was intended both to provide all units with experience of active service on the Frontier, and to prevent them becoming 'localised' in static regimental stations. In contrast,
4664-401: The feared unrest in India never happened, and while the Indian Corps was transferred to the Middle East in 1915 India provided many more divisions for active service during the course of the war. Indians' first engagement was on the Western Front within a month of the start of the war, at the First Battle of Ypres . In October/November 1914, the Baluchis of the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own ,
4752-423: The field, leaving no-one to maintain the local administration. Supporting services were insufficient, and many troops intended for the field force were not moved from their old stations into the areas of their new divisional command. These defects became clear during the First World War , and lead to further reorganisation. The Indian Army Act 1911 legislated the replacement of the Indian Articles of War 1869. It
4840-482: The first Indian contingent to be in contact with Germans at Hollebeke (and the only to inscribe 'Ypres 1914'), the sepoy Khudadad Khan maintaining the position until gravely wounded became the first Indian to win a Victoria Cross (Indians were eligible from 1911). In November, after a retreat, a scout section of the 1st Battalion 39th Garhwal Rifles under the leadership of Naik Darwan Singh Negi , then badly injured, reinvested lost trenches. For his gallantry he received
4928-436: The four rifle regiments who wore dark green uniforms) according to the following system: While this standardisation made the manufacturing and replacement of uniforms simpler, it proved unpopular amongst the army at large. Some regiments (such as the Buffs and Green Howards ) derived their names or nicknames from the colour of their facings and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (who had red facings) lost their claim to be
5016-405: The height below which no recruit is taken is five feet six inches. The great proportion of the Grenadiers are six feet and upwards." The meaning of the term Indian Army changed over time, initially as an informal collective term for the armies of the three presidencies –the Bengal Army , Madras Army and Bombay Army –between 1858 and 1894. In 1895, the Indian Army began its formal existence and
5104-428: The hottest month of the year, crossing five great rivers and fighting four small actions. The march coincided with the month of Ramadan meaning that the muslim soldiers in the force could neither eat nor drink during the hours of daylight. On arrival at Delhi, the force of 600 Guides were almost immediately called upon to join the defence of the city. Men who had just completed a march of some 580 miles were thrown into
5192-422: The later stages of the Second World War, from the fall of Singapore and the ending of ABDACOM in early 1942 until the formation of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) in August 1943, some American and Chinese units were placed under British military command. 12 September 1946 the minister for external affairs in India, Jawaharlal Nehru demanded in a letter to the Commander in Chief and Defence Secretary, that
5280-429: The name lingered in both elements. The Corps of Guides became the garrison unit of a key post on the frontier, the new fort of (Hoti ~) Mardan . The building of the fort in 1854 was organised and supervised by Hodson who had been promoted commandant of the regiment in 1852. In 1857 the unit was called urgently to help relieve the Siege of Delhi . In just over three weeks the Guides marched nearly six hundred miles during
5368-472: The new Pakistan Army . Since 1947 all ranks, including officers, are recruited solely from Pakistan. The modern regiment exists as 2nd Battalion (The Guides) of the Frontier Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army. The brainchild of Sir Henry Lawrence , the Corps had Lt. Harry Lumsden as its commandant and W.S.R. Hodson (the Hodson of Hodson's Horse ) as second-in-command. On 6 February 1847 Lumsden wrote to his father " I have just been nominated to raise
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#17330856070755456-399: The north of the subcontinent . The Commander-in-Chief's plan called for nine fighting divisions grouped in two corps commands on the main axes through the North-West Frontier. Five divisions were to be grouped on the Lucknow – Peshawar – Khyber axis, and four divisions on the Bombay – Mhow – Quetta axis. However, the cost of abandoning some thirty-four stations and building new ones in
5544-416: The north-west frontier had to make their way through Muslim territory to get out of what was to be Pakistan." Also in 1947 a final agreement was signed regarding the Gurkha regiments in the British Indian Army. Four Gurkha regiments, recruited from both eastern and western Nepal , would join the British Army . The remaining six Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army joined the Dominion of India. During
5632-491: The only truly red-coated regiment in the British Army. So widespread was opposition to the order, and so frequent the requests for special exceptions to be made, that the scheme in its original form was finally dropped and the historic colours were re-instated in a number of regiments, until full dress for the Army as a whole finally vanished with the coming of war in 1914. While many regiments did continue with their new 1881 facings, instances where reversion to traditional colours
5720-423: The proposed corps areas was considered prohibitive, and that aspect of the plan had to be modified. Under the compromise adopted in 1905, the four existing commands were reduced to three, and together with Army Headquarters , arranged in ten standing divisions and four independent brigades. The commands comprised: Northern Command , which consisted of the 1st (Peshawar) Division , the 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division ,
5808-413: The rebellion. The officer commanding the Army of India was the Commander-in-Chief , India who reported to the civilian Governor-General of India . The title was used before the creation of a unified British Indian Army; the first reported holder was then-Major Stringer Lawrence in 1748. Lawrence went to India with no larger command than a "small undisciplined garrison of two or three hundred men" facing
5896-429: The reforms ended in 1909, the Indian Army was organised along British lines, although it was always behind in terms of equipment. An Indian Army division consisted of three brigades each of four battalions. Three of these battalions were of the Indian Army, and one British. The Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. One and a half million volunteers came forward from
5984-510: The same regimental colours, and turning back the material at the cuffs, lapels and tails of the jacket exposed the lining, or "facing". Most European armies adopted facings during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. By the 19th century, for reasons of economy, coat linings had become a universal white or black and distinctive regimental facings were reduced to collars and cuffs sewn on to the basic garment. The tradition of associating particular colours with specific regiments continued into
6072-438: The second VC. Nearly 700,000 troops then served in the Middle East, fighting against the Turks in the Mesopotamian campaign. There they were short of transportation for resupply and operated in extremely hot and dusty conditions. Led by Major General Sir Charles Townshend, they pushed on to capture Baghdad but they were repulsed by Ottoman forces. In the First World War the Indian Army saw extensive active service, including on
6160-435: The sub-continent, with internal security as their main function. In 1891 the three staff corps were merged into one Indian Staff Corps . Two years later the Madras and Bombay armies lost their posts of Commander-in-Chief. In 1895, the Presidency Armies were abolished and the Indian Army created thereby was grouped into four commands : Bengal, Madras (including Burma ), Bombay (including Sind , Quetta , and Aden ), and
6248-400: The suzerainty of the King-Emperor ." The Indian Army was an important part of the forces of the British Empire , in India and abroad, particularly during the First World War and the Second World War . The term Indian Army appears to have been first used informally, as a collective description of the Presidency armies, which collectively comprised the Bengal Army , the Madras Army and
6336-551: The terminology used for the forces in India was altered. The Indian Army referred from that time to "the force recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers;" the British Army in India referred to the British Army units posted to India for a tour of duty, and which would then be posted to other parts of the Empire or back to the UK. The Army of India
6424-517: The title of the Indian Staff Corps was abolished, and thereafter officers were simply appointed to 'the Indian Army.' A General Staff was then created to deal with overall military policy, supervision of training in peacetime, conduct of operations in war, distribution of forces for internal security or external deployment , plans for future operations and collecting intelligence . Functions were divided along British lines into two branches;
6512-593: The transition period after partition, those Gurkha regiments that were in Pakistan, did their service, but were eventually moved back to India. The partition reduced the ethnic imbalance of the British Indian Army, which became the present-day Indian Army . But, the partition resulted in more ethnic imbalance in the Pakistani military, mainly because the new nation state of Pakistan was formed by joining West Punjab, NWFP, East Bengal, Baluchistan, and Sind. The new Pakistan Army
6600-599: The unification of the three former Presidency armies , and also the Punjab Frontier Force , the Hyderabad Contingent and other local forces, into one Indian Army. The principles underlying the reforms were that the defence of the North-West Frontier against foreign aggression was the army's primary role and that all units were to have training and experience in that role on that frontier. Furthermore,
6688-590: The visible inside lining of a standard military jacket , coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself. The jacket lining evolved to be of different coloured material, then of specific hues . Accordingly, when the material was turned back on itself: the cuffs , lapels and tails of the jacket exposed the contrasting colours of the lining or facings , enabling ready visual distinction of different units: regiments , divisions or battalions each with their own specific and prominent colours. The use of distinctive facings for individual regiments
6776-757: Was approved included: Even after World War I this tendency to revert to historic facings continued, although by that time the scarlet uniforms were normally worn only by regimental bands and by officers in mess and levee dress. As examples, the Norfolk Regiment regained its former yellow facings in 1925 and the North Staffordshire Regiment its pre-1881 black facings in 1937. In the Royal Artillery and various supporting corps, full dress tunics that were worn up until 1914 were actually dark blue, sometimes with facings in other colours, including red for
6864-600: Was at Mughdara, in the Panitar Hills. Within two years, the small force of Guides had established a name for itself, under Lumsden, its founder, and Hodson. When the Second Sikh War broke out in 1848, the unit was given authorisation for a three-fold increase in size, to six companies of infantry and three troops of cavalry. The Guides maintained the 'cavalry and infantry combined in the same regiment' organisation for many years, and even when split into two separate components,
6952-524: Was at its most popular in 18th century armies, but standardisation within infantry branches became more common during and after the Napoleonic Wars . During the Ancien Régime , there were many different facing colours (notably various shades of blue, red, yellow, green and black) on the standard grey-white uniforms of the French line infantry. Examples included blue for the Régiment du Languedoc , red for
7040-657: Was exercised by the Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army , who was formally the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies. From 1861, most of the officer manpower was pooled in the three Presidential Staff Corps. After the Second Afghan War a Commission of Enquiry recommended the abolition of the presidency armies. The Ordnance , Supply and Transport , and Pay branches were by then unified. The Punjab Frontier Force
7128-565: Was formed by the Group of Madras , Bengal and Bombay Sappers in their respective presidencies. The Queen's Own Corps of Guides, Punjab Frontier Force, composed of cavalry squadrons and infantry companies , was renamed the Queen's Own Corps of Guides (Lumsden's) but stayed numberless. The new regimental numbering and namings were notified in India Army Order 181 , dated 2 October 1903. In 1903
7216-553: Was mainly made up of soldiers from two of these provinces. The Bangladesh Army , which was created from the Pakistan Army on the independence of Bangladesh , retain many British Indian Army traditions. The armies of the East India Company were recruited primarily from forward caste Hindus and Muslims in the Bengal Presidency , which consisted of Bengal , Bihar and Uttar Pradesh , and Oudh . This later expanded into
7304-584: Was passed by the Governor General . It was under aspects of this law that the Army charged defendants during the Indian National Army Trials in 1945. It was replaced by the "Indian Army Act, 1950" after partition and independence. Prior to the outbreak of the First World War , the strength of the British Indian Army was 215,000. Either in 1914 or before, a ninth division had been formed,
7392-650: Was recognized as the largest volunteer army in history to that point. India itself also served as a major logistical base for Allied operations in World War II. The force is also sometimes referred to as the Army of the Indian Empire , or Imperial Indian Army . The Indian Army should not be confused with the Army of India , which was the Indian Army plus the British Army in India (British units sent to India). With
7480-510: Was responsible for the defence of both British India and the princely states , which could also have their own armies . As stated in the Imperial Gazetteer of India , the "British Government has undertaken to protect the dominions of the Native princes from invasion and even from rebellion within: its army is organized for the defence not merely of British India, but of all possessions under
7568-606: Was the "army of the government of India", including British and Indian ( sepoy ) units; this arrangement lasted until 1902. Many of these troops took part in the Indian Mutiny , with the aim of reinstating the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II at Delhi, partly as a result of insensitive treatment by their British officers. During this period, the Company Raj relied heavily upon the armies of Princely states to quell
7656-525: Was under the direct control of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab during peacetime until 1886, when it came under the Commander-in-Chief, India. The Hyderabad Contingent and other local corps remained under direct governmental control. Standing higher formations – divisions and brigades – were abandoned in 1889. No divisional staffs were maintained in peacetime, and troops were dispersed throughout
7744-466: Was used to describe the combined forces of both the Indian Army and the British Army in India. By the early 1900s the three previous separate army staffs had been amalgamated into Headquarters, India ( see 1906 Birthday Honours ) which by 1922 had become GHQ India ( see 1922 New Year Honours ). (or equivalent) Facing colour A facing colour , also known as facings , is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where
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