The 26th Indian Infantry Division, was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division of the

Indian Army during World War II The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, ...

. It fought in the Burma Campaign.

History

When the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, the various units in training or stationed around

Barrackpur Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA ...

near

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in India were hastily formed into the "Calcutta" Division on 20 March 1942. On 15 May, the division was retitled the Indian 26th Division. The division's badge was a Bengal tiger stepping through a blue triangle, representing the "delta" of the

Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, on a black background. For much of 1942, the division was heavily engaged in internal security, and not regarded as battle-worthy due to lack of training and transport. It formed part of Indian XV Corps, but late in 1942, it was taken over directly by Eastern Army. For the First Arakan offensive, all the division's brigades were detached one by one and committed to the offensive under the

14th Indian Infantry Division The 14th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Arakan Campaign 1942–43, and was subsequently converted into a Training Division, providing drafts of replacements for units ...

. In March, the offensive stalled and the HQ of 26th Division relieved that of the 14th Division, taking over the Arakan front too late to prevent a minor disaster. After this the British fell back almost to their starting point on the Indian frontier. Once reorganised, the division was in reserve for the first part of the Second Arakan Offensive, once again under XV Corps. When a Japanese counter-attack at Ngakyedauk cut off the forward troops, 26th Division was deployed to relieve them. It fought down the coastal plain to reopen the roads by which the

5th Indian Division The 5th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II that fought in several theatres of war and was nicknamed the "Ball of Fire". It was one of the few Allied divisions to fight against three differe ...

was supplied. After the battle ended with the repulse of the Japanese attackers, the division took over the 5th Division's front and took part in the capture of two vital railway tunnels. After this, the Arakan offensive wound down to spare troops and resources for the battles in Manipur. The division was withdrawn during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

rains to recuperate. Indian Div beside temple on Ramree Island

Beginning in late 1944, the division was committed once again to the Arakan. During the Third Arakan Offensive and subsequent operations, 26th Division took part mainly in amphibious operations, including the unopposed capture of Akyab Island, and the

Battle of Ramree Island The Battle of Ramree Island ( Burmese:ရမ်းဗြဲကျွန်း တိုက်ပွဲ, (also called Operation Matador) took place from 14 January to 22 February 1945, in the Second World War as part of the offensive on the Sout ...

. Finally in April and May 1945, the division took part in Operation Dracula, the capture of

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

After the Japanese surrender, the division, under the command of Henry Chambers, reinforced other troops in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, where the end of the war brought widespread disorder. The division was formally disbanded in India on 31 August 1945, but most of its units were stationed in Sumatra at Padang and Medan until November 1946, when they embarked at the port of Belawan to be disbanded in India.

Order of battle

''as of 1 April 1944'' ;

4th Indian Infantry Brigade The 4th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in September 1939, as the 7th Indian Infantry Brigade and renumbered 4th in June 1940, The brigade was assigned to HQ Rawalpin ...

:1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment :2nd Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment :2nd Battalion,

13th Frontier Force Rifles The 13th Frontier Force Rifles was part of the British Indian Army, and after 1947, Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by amalgamation of five existing regiments and consisted of five regular battalions. History The 13th Frontier Force Rifle ...

;

36th Indian Infantry Brigade The 36th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in June 1941, at Baleli in India and assigned to the 14th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade spent between March 1942 ...

:5th Battalion,

16th Punjab Regiment The 16th Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamated ...

:8th Battalion,

:1st Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles ;

71st Indian Infantry Brigade The 71st Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed in March 1942, at Nowshera in India. The brigade was assigned to the 26th Indian Infantry Division on formation. The ...

:1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment :5th Battalion,

1st Punjab Regiment The 1st Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamate ...

:1st Battalion,

18th Royal Garhwal Rifles The 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. 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 th ...

;Divisional Troops :12th Battalion,

12th Frontier Force Regiment The 12th Frontier Force Regiment was formed in 1922 as part of the British Indian Army. It consisted of five regular battalions; numbered 1 to 5 and the 10th (Training) Battalion. During the Second World War a further ten battalions were raised. ...

''(divisional machine gun battalion)'' :160th (Jungle) Field Regiment

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

:20th Mountain Regiment Royal Indian Artillery :72nd, 28th, 98th Field Companies,

Royal Indian Engineers The Indian Army Corps of Engineers is a combat support arm which provides combat engineering support, develops infrastructure for armed forces and other defence organisations and maintains connectivity along the borders, besides helping the civil ...

:128th Field Park Company Indian Engineers :44th, 48th, 51st, 58th, Animal Transport Companies, IASC :44th, 75th, 166th, General Purpose Transport Companies, IASC :1st, 46th, 48th, Indian Field Ambulances, IAMC :26th Indian Division Provost Unit :26th Indian Division Signals Unit :54th, 55th Indian Workshop Companies, IEME :26th Indian Division Recovery Unit, IEME

Assigned brigades

All these brigades were assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II *

* 109th Indian Infantry Brigade *

* British 6th Infantry Brigade * British 23rd Infantry Brigade *

55th Indian Infantry Brigade The 55th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in India in April 1942 and assigned to the 7th Indian Infantry Division. In July to September 1942, it was attached to the ...

* British 14th Infantry Brigade *

114th Indian Infantry Brigade The 14th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed at Attock in October 1940, and assigned to the 7th Indian Infantry Division. In April 1942, the brigade was renumbere ...

British 29th Infantry Brigade The 29th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade unit of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1914 and saw service during the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War. First World War The 29th Brigade was formed in August 1914 as ...

2nd (West Africa) Infantry Brigade The 2nd (West Africa) Infantry Brigade was a Second World War formation of the British Army. It was formed from battalions of the Royal West African Frontier Force in 1940. In the early part of the war, the Brigade served in the East African campa ...

22nd (East Africa) Infantry Brigade The 22nd (East Africa) Infantry Brigade was a brigade sized formation of the British Army, which was founded on 19 September 1939 in British East Africa. The brigade was initially called the 2nd (East Africa) Infantry Brigade, but was redesignat ...

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Burma Star organisation site

British Military History - Indian Divisional Histories
{{DEFAULTSORT:26 Indian Infantry Division Indian World War II divisions British Indian Army divisions Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II D 1942 establishments in India 1945 disestablishments in India Military units and formations disestablished in 1945