The 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army, moving away from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. They were the only Indian Infantry regiment to remain intact without being amalgamated. They were renumbered 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles with three active battalions and the 4th battalion becoming the 10th training battalion. After the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, it was allocated to the new

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

and renamed

The Garhwal Rifles The Garhwal Rifles, formerly known as the Royal Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became part of the British Indian Army, and a ...

World War II (1939–45)

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, five more battalions of the Garhwal Rifles were raised. These were: the 4th (re-raised having been converted into a training battalion and designated 10th Battalion earlier), the 5th, 6th, 7th and 25th (Garrison) battalion.Sharma, p. 252 The Regiment saw active service in almost all of the theatres of the war, including: Burma, Malaya, Egypt, Iraq, Eritrea, Abyssinia.Sharma, p. 248 Many soldiers of 5/18 Garhwal Rifles deployed in Malaya, left and joined Indian National Army and fought in Burma against the British from 1942 to 1945. The 2nd and 5th Battalions were captured in the

fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

and remained in captivity until the end of the war. The Regiment's casualties during the war were high, with some 350 killed and approximately 1,400 wounded.Sharma, p. 252 Following the war the 1st and 3rd Battalions served briefly in a garrison role in Sumatra and Italy before returning to India. The 4th Battalion was used to reconstitute the 2nd Battalion in May 1946. The 5th Battalion was not raised again and the 6th Battalion was disbanded at war's end.Sharma, p. 252

Formation

*1st battalion ex 1/ 39th Garhwal Rifles *2nd battalion ex 2/39th Gahwal Rifles *3rd battalion ex 3/39th Gahwal Rifles *10th (Training) battalion ex 4/39th Gahwal Rifles

References

Sources

* * * Sharma, Gautam. 1990. ''Valour and Sacrifice: Famous Regiments of the Indian Army''. Allied Publishers. {{ISBN, 81-7023-140-X. Military units and formations established in 1922 British Indian Army infantry regiments R R