The Indian Army, also called the British Indian Army, was involved in World War I as part of the British Empire. More than one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom more than 60,000 died during the war.
In World War I the Indian Army fought against the German Empire on the Western Front. At the First Battle of Ypres, Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to be awarded a Victoria Cross. Indian divisions were also sent to Egypt, Gallipoli, German East Africa and nearly 700,000 served in Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire. While some divisions were sent overseas others had to remain in India guarding the North West Frontier and on internal security and training duties.
Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942, asserted that the British "couldn't have come through both World War I and II if they hadn't had the Indian Army."
Kitchener's Reforms Herbert Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India in 1902 and after five years, his term of office was extended by a further two—during which he reformed the Indian Army. The reforms now directed that there would be only one Indian Army, the three armies of the Presidencies being merged into a unified force. At the same time, the regiments of the Princely states were made available to be called out to become Imperial Service Troops.Heathcote, p.184 The British Army also continued to supply units for service in India, in addition to those of the Indian Army. The term Army of India was instituted to refer to the overall command structure which included both the British and Indian Army units. The new formation for the Army of India was set at nine divisions, each division with one cavalry and three infantry brigades and these nine divisions together with three independent infantry brigades would serve in India. The Indian Army was also responsible for supplying a division in Burma and a brigade in Aden.
To assist command and control of the new divisions, two field armies were formed—the Northern Army and the Southern Army. The Northern Army had five divisions and three brigades and was responsible for the North West Frontier to Bengal while the Southern Army, which had four divisions in India and two formations outside the subcontinent, was responsible for Baluchistan to southern India.Perry, p.83 The regiments and battalions of the new organization would be numbered in a single sequence and the old titles of the Bombay, Madras and the Bengal Armies would be discontinued. The new regiments and battalions, instead of remaining at their home base, could now all be called upon to serve anywhere in the country, and a tour of duty on the North West Frontier would be an established posting. One change that was not accepted was the formation of all-British or all-Indian brigades and the system of having one British regiment or battalion in each brigade remained.
Organisation
In 1914, the Indian Army was one of the two largest volunteer armies in the world;Sumner, p.3 it had a total strength of 240,000 men, while the British Army had a strength of 247,433 regular volunteers at the outbreak of the war. By November 1918, the Indian Army contained 548,311 men, being considered the Imperial Strategic Reserve.Willmott, p.94 It was regularly called upon to deal with incursions and raids on the North West Frontier and to provide garrison forces for the British Empire in Egypt, Singapore and China.Jeffery, p.3
This field force was divided into two armies: the Northern Army, which stretched from the North-West Frontier to Bengal with five divisions and three brigades under command, and the Southern Army which ranged from Baluchistan to southern India and it in turn had four divisions under command and two formations outside the subcontinent. The two armies contained 39 cavalry regiments, 138 infantry battalions (including 20 Gurkha), a joint cavalry-infantry unit, the Corps of Guides, three sapper regiments and 12 mountain artillery batteries.
The nine divisions formed by these reforms each consisted of one cavalry and three infantry brigades. The cavalry brigade had one British and two Indian regiments while the infantry brigades consisted of one British and three Indian battalions.Barua, p.130 Indian Army battalions were smaller than the British battalions, consisting of 30 officers and 723 other ranksPerry, p.85 as compared to the British 29 officers and 977 other ranks.Bridger, p.63 Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. Additional troops attached to the headquarters of each division included a cavalry regiment, a pioneer battalion and artillery provided by the British Royal Field Artillery. Each division had about 13,000 men on strength, somewhat weaker than a British division in part due to the smaller infantry battalions and smaller artillery forces. The Indian Army was also weakened when 500 British officers on home leave, enough to officer 38 Indian battalions, were posted to the new British divisions being formed for Kitchener's Army.Chappell (2003), p.9
In addition to the regular Indian Army, the armies of the Princely States and regiments of the Auxiliary Force (European volunteers) could also be called upon to assist in an emergency. The Princely States formed the Imperial Service Brigades and in 1914, had 22,613 men in 20 cavalry regiments and 14 infantry battalions.Perry, p.86 By the end of the war 26,000 men had served overseas on Imperial Service. The Auxiliary force could field another 40,000 men in 11 regiments of horse and 42 volunteer infantry battalions. Also available were the Frontier Militia and the Military Police which could field 34,000 men between them.
The field force headquarters was located in Delhi and the senior officer (Commander-in-Chief, India) was assisted by a Chief of the General Staff, India. All the senior command and staff positions in the Indian Army alternated between senior officers of the British and Indian Armies. In 1914, the Commander–in–Chief was General Sir Beauchamp Duff of the Indian Army,Heathcote, p.197 and the Chief of the General Staff was Lieutenant General Sir Percy Lake of the British Army.Davis, p.153 Each Indian battalion was staffed by 13 officers from the British Army in India and 17 officers from the Indian Army— expatriate British officers serving under colonial Indian administration. As the war intensified and officer casualties mounted, the ability to replace casualties with officers of British origin became extremely difficult and in many cases the officer allotment to battalions was reduced accordingly. Only in 1919 were the first Officer Cadets of Indian descent permitted to be selected for officer training at the Royal Military College.Heathcote pp.200–210
The normal annual recruitment for the Indian army was 15,000 men, during the course of the war over 800,000 men volunteered for the army and more than 400,000 volunteered for non-combatant roles. In total almost 1.3 million men had volunteered for service by 1918.Pati, p.31 Over one million Indian troops served overseas during the war. In total, at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died in World War I. Child soldiers, some as young as 10 years old, were enlisted to fight in the war.
Home service
Before World War I, the Indian Army was deployed maintaining internal security and defending the North West Frontier against incursions from Afghanistan. These tasks did not end with the declaration of war. The divisions deployed along the frontier were the existing 1st (Peshawar) Division, the 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division, the 4th (Quetta) Division. The only war-formed division to serve in India was the 16th Indian Division formed in 1916, it was also stationed on the North West Frontier. All these divisions were still in place and took part in the Third Afghan War at the end of World War I.
In supporting the war effort, India was left vulnerable to hostile action from Afghanistan. A Turco-German mission arrived in Kabul in October 1915, with obvious strategic purpose. Habibullah Khan abided by his treaty obligations and maintained Afghanistan's neutrality, in the face of internal opposition from factions keen to side with the Ottoman Sultan.The Third Afghan War 1919 Official Account, p.11 Despite this, localised actions along the frontier still took place and included Operations in the Tochi (1914–15), Operations against the Mohmands, Bunerwals and Swatis (1915), Kalat Operations (1915–16), Mohmand Blockade (1916–17), Operations against the Mahsuds (1917) and Operations against the Marri and Khetran tribes (1918).Riddick, pp.96–100
On the North East Frontier between India and Burma punitive actions were carried out against the Kachins tribes between December 1914 – February 1915, by the Burma Military Police supported by the 1/7th Gurkha Rifles and the 64th Pioneers. Between November 1917 – March 1919, operations were carried out against the Kuki tribes by auxiliary units of the Assam Rifles and the Burma Military Police (BMP).Reid, p.120
The other divisions remaining in India at first on internal security and then as training divisions were the 5th (Mhow) Division, the 8th (Lucknow) Division and the 9th (Secunderabad) Division. Over the course of the war these divisions lost brigades to other formations on active service; The 5th (Mhow) Division lost the 5th (Mhow) Cavalry Brigade to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division. The 8th (Lucknow) Division lost the 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade to the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and the 22nd (Lucknow) Brigade to the 11th Indian Division. The 9th (Secunderabad) Division lost the 9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division and the 27th (Bangalore) Brigade which was sent to British East Africa.Sumner, p.9 The other pre war units the Burma Division, remained in Burma throughout the war on internal security duties, likewise the Aden brigade remained in Aden.
Indian Army entry into the war In 1901 oil had been discovered in commercial quantities at Masjid-e-Suleiman at the head of the Persian Gulf.Kinzer, p.48 At the start of the war in 1914, the privately owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company which owned the concessions for these fields was about to be bought by the British Government, primarily to fuel the British Fleet. It soon became clear that the Ottoman Turkish Army was being mobilised and in August the Indian Government was instructed to prepare contingency plans to protect these strategic assets. The plans dictated that in the event of the Turkish Army coming out in support of the Germans, the Indian Army was to act to secure the oilfields. As a contingency, the Indian Expeditionary Force D (see below) under command of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Barrett sailed from Bombay on 16 October 1914 for Bahrain.Ford, pp.23–24 They, together with Expeditionary Force A who had been hurriedly sent to Europe at the end of September.
Independent brigades In addition to the permanent divisions, the Indian Army also formed a number of independent brigades. As part of the Southern Army the Aden Brigade was stationed in the Aden Protectorate on the strategically important naval route from Europe to India, where there was limited fighting. The Bannu Brigade, the Derajat Brigade and the Kohat Brigade were all part of the Northern Army and they were deployed along the North West Frontier. On 12 May 1918, the Bannu and Derajat brigades were designated as the Waziristan Field Force under the command General G W Baynon.Waziristan Campaign. Despatches published. success of operations. Reprinted from The Civil and Military Gazette of 5 May 1918 The South Persia Brigade was formed in 1915 at the start of the Persian Campaign to protect the Anglo–Persian oil installations in south Persia and the Persian Gulf.
Expeditionary Forces The Indian Army formed and dispatched seven expeditionary forces overseas during World War I.
Indian Expeditionary Force A