Indian Army during World War I
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.[1]
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.[2] 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."[3][4]
Kitchener's Reforms[edit]
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.[5] The reforms now directed that there would be only one Indian Army, the three armies of the Presidencies being merged into a unified force.[6] At the same time, the regiments of the Princely states were made available to be called out to become Imperial Service Troops.[6] 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.[7] The Indian Army was also responsible for supplying a division in Burma and a brigade in Aden.[7]
To assist command and control of the new divisions, two field armies were formed—the Northern Army and the Southern Army.[7] 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.[7] 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.[6] 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.[6] 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.[6]
Indian Army entry into the war[edit]
In 1901 oil had been discovered in commercial quantities at Masjid-e-Suleiman at the head of the Persian Gulf.[31] 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.[32] They, together with Expeditionary Force A who had been hurriedly sent to Europe at the end of September[33] in response to a request from the Imperial General Staff for men to support the war effort— became the first Indian elements committed to war outside of India.
Independent brigades[edit]
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,[23] 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.[23] On 12 May 1918, the Bannu and Derajat brigades were designated as the Waziristan Field Force under the command General G W Baynon.[34] 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.[23]
Meerut Cavalry Brigade marches near Fenges, France
2/2 Gurkhas, 9th Gorkhas and 6th Jats who received honours or were mentioned in dispatches, Saint-Floris
Indian soldiers had not been eligible for the Victoria Cross until 1911, instead they received the Indian Order of Merit, an older decoration originally set up in the days of East India Company rule in India. The honour of being the first Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) in any conflict went to Khudadad Khan, 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis.[69] On 31 October 1914, at Hollebeke, Belgium, during a German attack, the British officer in charge of the detachment having been wounded, and the other machinegun put out of action by a shell, Sepoy Khudadad, though wounded, remained working his machinegun until all the other five men of the gun detachment had been killed.[70]
Other members of the Indian Army awarded the Victoria Cross during World War I were: