The Auxiliary Force (India) (AFI) was a part-time, paid volunteer military organisation within 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 ...

, with recruits from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. Its units were entirely made up of European and

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

personnel. The AFI was formed in 1920, along with the

Indian Territorial Force The Indian Territorial Force (ITF) was a part-time, paid volunteer military organisation within the British Indian Army, with recruits from British India. Its units were made up of European officers and Indian other ranks. It was formed in 1920, a ...

(ITF), replacing the

Indian Defence Force The Indian Defence Force (IDF) was a part-time defence force established as part of the Indian Army in 1917 in order to release regular troops from garrison duties during the First World War. It was divided into British and Indian sections. Lik ...

(IDF).

History

The AFI was created by the Auxiliary Force Act 1920"Indian Auxiliary Forces: A Territorial Scheme", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 1 October 1920 to replace the unpopular British section of the

(IDF), which had recruited by

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. By contrast, the AFI was an all-volunteer force modelled after the British Territorial Army. The Indian parallel to the AFI was the

(ITF) which was composed of British officers and Indian other ranks.

Units on 3 September 1939

In popular culture

The Auxiliary Force features extensively in the plot of John Masters' novel ''

Bhowani Junction ''Bhowani Junction'' is a 1954 novel by John Masters, which was the basis of a 1956 film starring Ava Gardner and Stewart Granger. It is set amidst the turbulence of the British withdrawal from India. It is notable for its portrayal of the Eu ...

'', focusing on a community of

railway workers at an Indian town in 1946, on the verge of the British withdrawal.

Footnotes

{{Reflist Military of British India