The 36th 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
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
of the
Indian Army during the Second World War
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, ...
. The division was subsequently redesignated as a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
formation, the 36th Infantry Division in September 1944. It served in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and during the
Burma Campaign. After the end of the war it was disbanded and its remaining British units were transferred to the
British 2nd Infantry Division.
History
36th Indian Division
The division was formed in India on 15 December 1942. Its constituent formations were the
29th Infantry Brigade Group (under command from 26 January 1943), which had already fought as an independent brigade in the
Battle of Madagascar
The Battle of Madagascar (5 May – 6 November 1942) was a British campaign to capture the Vichy French-controlled island Madagascar during World War II. The seizure of the island by the British was to deny Madagascar's ports to the Imperial ...
, and
72nd Indian Infantry Brigade
The 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade, of both the British and Indian Armies, formed in the United Kingdom in January 1941 during the Second World War. On 1 June 1943 it was re-designated as the British 72nd Infantry Brigade.
...
confusingly composed of entirely British combat units. 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade was re-designated the new 72nd Infantry Brigade (the previous 72 Inf Bde had become
5th Parachute Brigade on 28 April 1943). Most of the division's engineer, medical and service units were Indian. The division's formation sign was two interlinked rings, one white and one red, on a black square background.
In January 1943, Brigadier
Francis Festing
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
*Francis (surname)
Places
*Rural Mu ...
was promoted from command of the 29th Brigade to that of the division. (His replacement as commander of 29th Brigade was Brigadier
Hugh Stockwell
General Sir Hugh Charles Stockwell, (16 June 1903 – 27 November 1986) was a senior British Army officer most remembered for commanding the Anglo-French ground forces during the Suez Crisis and his service as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander ...
.) Parts of the division were present in the
First Arakan campaign in early 1943. It was intended that part of the division was to launch an amphibious assault on
Akyab Island
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers empt ...
, but this operation was cancelled.
The division was initially in reserve for the Second Arakan campaign in early 1944, but was called on to relieve the besieged
7th Indian infantry Division after early setbacks. After the Japanese were defeated at the
Battle of Ngakyedauk, 7th Division was withdrawn and 36th Division took over the offensive in the Kalapanzin River Valley. Units of the division captured the vital eastern railway tunnel linking the Kalapanzin valley with the port of
Maungdaw
Maungdaw (, ) is a town in Rakhine State, in the western part of Myanmar (Burma). It is the administrative seat of Maungdaw Township and Maungdaw District. Maungdaw is a town of Myanmar and borders Bangladesh. Maungdaw is 16 miles north of Buthida ...
.
The division withdrew for a brief rest at
Shillong
Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...
in Assam, and was then despatched to
Ledo, where it came under command of the American-led
Northern Combat Area Command
The Northern Combat Area Command (NCAC) was a subcommand of the Allied South East Asia Command (SEAC) during World War II. It controlled Allied ground operations in northern Burma. For most of its existence, NCAC was commanded by United States ...
.
36th Infantry Division
Early in July 1944, the division started to fly into
Myitkyina airfield in North Burma, with 72nd Brigade being the first formation to land. On 1 September 1944, shortly after the division had started advancing down the "Railway valley" from
Mogaung
Mogaung ( my, မိုးကောင်း ; ( Shan: မိူင်းၵွင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line.
History
Mogaung or Möngkawng was the name and capital (roya ...
towards
Indaw
Indaw ( shn, ဝဵင်းဢၢင်းတေႃႇ)is a town in northern Burma, in Sagaing Division, Katha District, Indaw Township. It is located about 2 km south-east of Indaw Lake. The rail junction at Naba is located about 6 k ...
on the right flank of
NCAC, the division was renamed the British 36th Division.
[ On 14 December, a third brigade was added to the division; confusingly, this was the first Indian formation that the division commanded (the 26th Indian Infantry Brigade, of one British and two Indian battalions).
The division was distinguished for being the only British division to rely entirely on air supply, mainly by the United States' ]Tenth Air Force
The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell AF ...
, for an extended period. The United States Army Air Force also provided the division with 12 light aircraft equipped for casualty evacuation and a US Army engineer company to construct its airstrips. Initially, the division was without its own divisional artillery and instead relied on a Chinese artillery group under US command.
The division, having linked up with the main body of Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
William "Bill" Slim's British Fourteenth Army, crossed the Irrawaddy River
The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Origi ...
and advanced independently down the eastern side of the river. Units from the division suffered losses forcing the crossing the 300 yard wide Shweli River
Shweli River ( my, ရွှေလီမြစ်; zh, 瑞丽江) is a river in China and Myanmar (Burma). Also known as Nam Mao ( shn, ၼမ်ႉမၢဝ်း; ) in Shan or Dai, and Ruili River or Longchuan River (龙川江) in Chinese, it ...
, but the division continued to advance until the fall of Mandalay
Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census).
Mandalay was fo ...
in March 1945. On 1 April 1945 the division transferred from NCAC to Fourteenth Army. The 26th Indian Brigade became the 26th British Brigade on 6 April.
As there were now more troops in Burma than could be supplied (and the transport aircraft allocated to NCAC were being withdrawn to China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
), the division was returned to India, officially arriving on 12 May, and joined XXXIV Corps (India)
The Indian XXXIV Corps was formed in March 1945 to be part of the British Fourteenth Army for Operation Zipper, the invasion of British Malaya. Significant formations under Fourteenth Army for 'Zipper,' possibly under XXXIV Corps, included 5th ...
on 28 May.
Order of battle
References
Sources
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Further reading
* Joslen, HF, (1960) Orders of Battle Volume 1 United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War 1939–1945, London, HMSO 1960
External links
Unit Histories
British Military History - Indian Divisional Histories
{{DEFAULTSORT:36 Infantry Division
Infantry divisions of the British Army in World War II
Indian World War II divisions
Divisions of the Indian Army
British Indian Army divisions
Military units and formations established in 1944
Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II
D
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945