Indian Army in World War II

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The Indian Army set in World War II alongside the British Army one of the largest contingents of the British Commonwealth of Nations . In 1939, consisting of less than 200,000 soldiers , by the end of the war it had developed into the largest volunteer army in history with over 2.5 million soldiers in August 1945. Starting with its deployment in the African theater of war from 1940, the army fought on three continents (Africa, Asia and Europe) until the end of the war in 1945.

background

At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Army of India (or: in India ) provided the ground troops to defend British India . It consisted of the Indian part of the British-Indian Army (in English at the time: "Indian Army"), the British Army in India and auxiliary units such as those of the Indian Territorial Force . The Indian Army as the largest component, including the contingents of the princely states , counted around 194,000 men in 96 infantry battalions and 18 cavalry regiments, along with other units. The first units of the Indian army were relocated overseas before the war began in August 1939, one brigade each to Egypt and British Malaya .

Organization and commitment

The Indian Army, which grew rapidly as part of the British Army during the Second World War, consisted of the following corps :

  • Indian III Corps
  • Indian IV Corps
  • Indian XV Corps
  • Indian XXXIII Corps
  • Indian XXXIV Corps

These corps were divided into the following divisions :

  • 4th Indian Division
  • 5th Indian Division
  • 6th Indian Division
  • 7th Indian Division
  • 8th Indian Division
  • 9th Indian Division
  • 10th Indian Division
  • 11th Indian Division
  • 12th Indian Division
  • 14th Indian Division
  • 17th Indian Division
  • 19th Indian Division
  • 20th Indian Division
  • 21st Indian Division
  • 23rd Indian Division.

Two armored divisions and one airborne division were also set up.

Members of the Indian Army fought as part of the British armed forces in the East Africa campaign in Ethiopia against the Italian army and against the Italian and German armies in the (North) Africa campaign in Egypt , Libya and Tunisia . After Italy surrendered, she also took action against the German army in the Italian campaign . Most of the Indian soldiers fought in Asia against the Japanese army , at the beginning of the war on the Malay Peninsula , in Singapore and Hong Kong and on Borneo . They were also involved in the long Burma campaign . Over 36,000 Indian soldiers were killed in the process; around 64,000 were wounded and over 67,000 were taken prisoners of war .

Winston Churchill praised the "incredible bravery of Indian soldiers and officers". This praise of the Indian Army with its Indian and English-born officers is seen as a step towards ethnic equality by Churchill (although Churchill is also accused of having urged "black volunteers" to be kept out of the army through "administrative means").

Aftermath

36,000 British Indian soldiers were killed in World War II. Of the up to 80,000 Indian soldiers who fell into captivity, depending on the source, between 15,000 and 17,000 were in Italian or German captivity. Of these, between 2,500 and 4,000 were recruited as members of the Italian Battaglione Azad Hindoustan and / or the German Indian Legion to fight the Allies. Over 40,000 Indian soldiers in Japanese captivity joined the Indian National Army (INA) and fought against the Allies and for an independent India in Burma and northeast India. The leader was Subhash Chandra Bose , who is now regarded as a freedom fighter in India . In the aftermath of the war in British India, members of the INA were charged as traitors , but only rarely were seriously punished. One reason for this was various uprisings, both in the Indian Army and in the civilian population, in support of the accused INA members. These uprisings are seen in India as part of the historical events that led to India's independence.

After the partition of India in 1947 about 2/3 of the military resources of the old "Indian Army" went to the independent India , and 1/3 to Pakistan . Four Gurkha regiments were transferred to the British Army and stationed in Malaya .

literature

  • Kaushik Roy: The Army in British India: From Colonial Warfare to Total War 1857-1947. Bloomsbury, 2013.
  • That. (Ed.): The Indian Army in the Two World Wars. Brill, 2012.
  • Alan Jeffreys, Patrick Rose (Eds.): The Indian Army 1939-1947: Experience and Development. Ashgate, 2012.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ian Sumner: The Indian Army 1914-1947. P. 25.
  2. ↑ "the force Recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers", according to the Oxford History of the British Army
  3. ↑ Official Website of the Indian Army: World War II at indianarmy.nic.in , accessed February 27, 2016.
  4. ↑ http://military.wikia.com/wiki/British_Indian_Army
  5. ^ A b Marika Sherwood: World Wars: Colonies, Colonials and World War Two. In: BBC History. March 30, 2011, accessed February 23, 2016 .
  6. ^ Ian Sumner: The Indian Army 1914-1947. P. 23.
  7. ^ The Indian Army in the Second World War. ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) from cwgc.org. on internet.archive.org
  8. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/colonies_colonials_01.shtml
  9. ↑ a b G. J. Douds: The Men Who Never Were: Indian POWs in the Second World War In: South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. Volume 27, No. 2, 2004, pp. 189, 191, 209.
  10. ^ Secretary of State for India [Arthur Henderson]: House of Commons Debates. Volume 425, July 8, 1946.
  11. ↑ http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060212/spectrum/main2.htm
  12. ^ Brian Lapping: End of Empire , Guild Publishing, London 1985, pp. 75-76, 82.