2nd Division (India)

2nd Division (India)
Unit name	2nd Division (India)
Dates	1914–1947
Country	British Raj
Branch	British Indian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Garrison	India
Battles	World War I, Kashmir conflict (1947–48), Third Anglo-Afghan War
Notable commanders	Claude Auchinleck, Reginald Dyer, William Slim

2nd Division (India) was a formation of the British Indian Army that served during the late 19th century and through both World War I and World War II, participating in operations across South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The division underwent multiple reorganizations under the British Empire and the Government of India Act 1935, adapting to changes driven by campaigns such as the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the global conflicts centered on the Western Front, Mesopotamian campaign, and Burma Campaign. Its units included a mix of British, Indian, and colonial regiments drawn from presidencies and princely states such as Punjab Regiment (British Indian Army), Royal Fusiliers, and contingents from Hyderabad State Forces.

History

The division traces antecedents to pre-World War I Indian Army brigades raised during the reforms of Lord Kitchener and the reconstitution that followed the Indian Rebellion of 1857, linking to formations like the Peshawar Brigade and the Meerut Division. During World War I elements were deployed to the Western Front, the Gallipoli campaign, and the Mesopotamian campaign, interacting with formations such as the Indian Corps (World War I), the 10th (Irish) Division, and the Indian Cavalry Corps. Interwar restructuring under commanders influenced by Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck and doctrine changes associated with the Esher Report affected its composition, leading into the mobilizations prior to World War II and operations that intersected with the Burma Campaign, Malaya Campaign, and defense coordination with Royal Air Force units and Royal Navy task forces.

Formation and Organization

Originally organized following the Kitchener reforms of the early 1900s, the division followed divisional templates used across the British Army and the British Indian Army, aligning infantry brigades such as the 7th (Meerut) Brigade with artillery from the Royal Horse Artillery and engineers from the Sappers and Miners. Administrative control shifted between commands including Northern Command (United Kingdom), Eastern Command (British India), and transfer references to formations like the Indian Corps. Logistics drew on depots such as Rawalpindi Cantonment, medical services coordinated with the Indian Medical Service, and rail-based movement relied on the North Western Railway and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway.

Operational Deployments

During World War I detachments served with the Indian Expeditionary Force A on the Western Front and in the Mesopotamian campaign where they confronted Ottoman forces linked to the Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad (1917). Interwar expeditions included border operations connected to the Third Anglo-Afghan War and internal security duties alongside units from the Indian Police Service (British India). In World War II the division or its successor formations engaged in the Burma Campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army and coordinated with the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Fourteenth Army (United Kingdom), and elements of the East African Campaign in convoy protection operations with Royal Indian Navy escorts.

Order of Battle and Units

The division's infantry brigades typically included battalions drawn from regiments such as the 35th Sikhs, 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry (Brownlow's) (example historic units), the Royal Berkshire Regiment, and the Mahratta Light Infantry. Supporting arms featured batteries from the Royal Field Artillery, squadrons of the 21st Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force), and companies of the Bombay Sappers and Miners and the Madras Sappers. Medical and logistical elements were provided by the Indian Medical Service, Royal Army Service Corps, and the Indian Ordnance Factories. Attached colonial and princely state contingents included the Hyderabad Contingent and units from the Gwalior State Forces.

Commanders

Notable officers associated with the division or its antecedents included senior figures such as Claude Auchinleck, who influenced Indian Army doctrine, and commanders who later featured in other theaters like William Slim and Reginald Dyer in earlier careers. Leadership rotated among officers commissioned in institutions like the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and the Indian Staff College, Quetta, with staff coordination working through the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and liaison to colonial governors such as the Viceroy of India.

Insignia and Traditions

Unit insignia and badges reflected links to presidencies and colonial heraldry, drawing on symbols used by regiments such as the Punjab Regiment (British Indian Army), the Royal Fusiliers, and the Mahratta Light Infantry. Regimental traditions integrated march tunes and ceremonial customs connected to the Mess traditions (military), silverware gifted by princely patrons like the Nizam of Hyderabad, and commemorations on memorials such as the India Gate and battlefield cemeteries maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Legacy and Post-Independence Changes

Following the Partition of India and the Independence of India in 1947, elements of the division were absorbed into the post-colonial armies of the Indian Army and the Pakistan Army, with many regiments reallocated under new designations derived from the legacy of formations like the Punjab Regiment (India), Rajput Regiment, and the Armoured Corps (India). Memorialization appears in museums such as the National Museum, New Delhi and in historiography by scholars from institutions like the University of Oxford and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, while veterans' associations maintained links with organizations including the Royal British Legion and regimental associations in London and Delhi.

Category:British Indian Army divisions