The IV Corps, or the Gajraj Corps, is a military field formation of the

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- ...

, covering the states of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and western

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

History

IV Corps under Lieutenant General NMS Irwin was deployed from the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

in January 1942 for the defense of

from the advancing

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

. Following the end of the war, the corps was demobilised in November 1945. The corps was re-raised by Lieutenant General Brij Mohan Kaul at

Tezpur, Assam Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

on 4 October 1962, close to the

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

. Over the years, it has played a role in both conventional and counter-insurgency operations in the eastern theatre, especially during the 1971 war in Bangladesh. During the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

, the Gajraj Corps made the famous advance to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

during the liberation of Bangladesh and also participated in the

Meghna Heli Bridge Meghna Heli Bridge, codenamed Operation Cactus Lilly, was an aerial operation of the Indian Air Force during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, commencing India's involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War. It took place on 9 December, when the I ...

Operations. Lieutenant General

Sagat Singh Lieutenant General Sagat Singh, PVSM (14 July 1919 – 26 September 2001) was a General Officer in the Indian Army notable for his participation in liberation of Goa and later in Bangladesh. He held many commands and staff appointments througho ...

, PVSM had innovatively employed Mi-4 helicopters to cross Meghna River, which was considered impassable and his Corps relentlessly attacked and defeated the Pakistani forces. The innovative use of helicopters has remained unparalleled. The Corps had proved its mettle and very proficiently carried out its task in the most complex sector in terms of distances from the logistic bases. The corps has been active in counter-insurgency roles as part of Operation Bajrang (from November 1990), Operation Rhino I (from September 1991) and Operation Rhino II (from April 1992).

Composition

It currently consists of: * 71 Mountain Division, headquartered at Missamari. * 5th Mountain Division (Ball of Fire Division), headquartered at Rupa near

Bomdila Bomdila is the headquarters of West Kameng district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Bomdila is one of the 60 constituencies of the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Geography and Climate Bomdila is located at . It has an average elevati ...

. The division was converted to a mountain division in 1963. It is posted to the west of 2 Mountain Division in

. * 21st Mountain Division (Red Horn Division), headquartered at Rangia. It includes 77 Mountain Brigade.http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-34700130_ITM

List of General Officers Commanding

For the list of GOCs between 1942 and 1945 - List of GOCs 1942-45

Notes

References

*John H. Gill, An Atlas of the 1971 India - Pakistan War: The Creation of Bangladesh, Near East South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies (

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

), via scribd.com

External links

*Globalsecurity.org
Eastern Command
accessed July 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:04 Corps Tezpur 004 Corps of India in World War II Corps of British India Military units and formations established in 1961 1961 establishments in India

History

Composition

List of General Officers Commanding

Notes

Notes

See also

References

External links