Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Sil ...

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

46th Indian Infantry Brigade The 46th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed in June 1941, at Ahmednagar in India and assigned to the 17th Indian Infantry Division. In February 1942, during the Japanes ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

Battle of Muar The Battle of Muar was the last major battle of the Malayan Campaign during the Second World War. It took place from 14–22 January 1942 around Gemensah Bridge and on the Muar River. After the British defeat at Slim River, General Archibald W ...

Battle 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 ...

16th Indian Infantry Brigade The 2nd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in Rawalpindi in September 1939. In October 1940, it was renamed 16th (Independent) Indian Infantry Brigade in November 1941, ...

2nd Burma Infantry Brigade The 2nd Burma Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Burma Army during World War II. It was formed in July 1941. The Brigade was then disbanded in June 1942, and reformed in October 1942, to command battalions of the newly formed Burma ...

Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...

Bilin River The Belin (russian: Белин, also: Билин ''Bilin'')48th Indian Infantry Brigade. The Bilin was not a proper defensive position, and the division tried to retreat over the

Sittang River The Sittaung River ( my, စစ်တောင်းမြစ် ; formerly, the Sittang or Sittounghttps://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/8th-uncsgn-docs/inf/8th_UNCSGN_econf.94_INF.75.pdf ) is a river in south central Myanmar in Bago ...

. Air attacks, poor organization and vehicle breakdowns delayed the division, and Japanese parties infiltrated around them to threaten the vital bridge over the Sittang. The division's commander, Major General "Jackie" Smyth VC, was forced to order the bridge to be destroyed, with most of the division cut off on the far side of the river. Only a few thousand men without equipment succeeded in crossing the river. Smyth was dismissed and replaced by Major General Cowan. The division was reinforced with

63rd Indian Infantry Brigade The 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in January 1942, at Jhansi in India and was assigned to the 23rd Indian Infantry Division and served in the Burma Campaign. ...

, and narrowly escaped being trapped in

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 trying to hold a front in 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. Orig ...

valley, it subsequently retreated north into

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 ...

just before the monsoon broke, fighting off a Japanese attempt to trap it at

Kalewa Kalewa is a town at the confluence of the Chindwin River and the Myittha River in Kale District, Sagaing Region of north-western Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Kalewa Township. Climate Kalewa has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen ...

.

1943

For the campaigning season of 1943, the division was reorganised as a "Light" formation, with two brigades only (48th and 63rd), supported by mountain artillery, and with mules and jeeps only for transport. It disputed the mountainous and jungle-covered region around

Tiddim Tedim (, , ( Zo: ''Tedim Khawpi'', pronounced ; is a town in and the administrative seat of Tedim Township, Chin State, in the north-western part of Burma. It is the second largest town in Chin State. The town's four major boroughs (''vengte'') ...

, with mixed success. The division was at the end of a long and precarious supply line, and the "light" establishment was found to be inadequate in some respects. Some heavier equipment and transport was restored.

1944

In 1944, the Japanese launched a major invasion of India. During the long

Battle of Imphal ) , partof = the Operation U-Go during the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II , image = Imphalgurkhas.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = Gurkhas advancing with Grant tanks ...

, 17th Division first successfully fought its way out of encirclement at Tiddim, and then disputed the vital Bishenpur sector south of Imphal (with

32nd Indian Infantry Brigade The 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in January 1941 in India and assigned to the HQ Western Independent District until April 1942. It was then assigne ...

temporarily under command). In July, the Japanese were broken by heavy casualties and starvation, and retreated. Some units of 17th Division had suffered nearly 100% casualties. During the late monsoon season, the division was temporarily withdrawn to India and reorganised once again. 48th and 63rd Brigades were fully equipped with vehicles to become

Motorized infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which ca ...

.

99th Indian Infantry Brigade The 99th Mountain Brigade, formerly the 99th Indian Infantry Brigade, is an infantry formation of the Indian Army. The brigade was formed in April 1941 at Lucknow. The brigade was then assigned to the 34th Indian Infantry Division in October 194 ...

was added to the division, equipped to be transported by

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

aircraft.

1945

Surrender Ceremony March Past (5316024908)

In late February. 1945, the motor elements of the division, with the bulk of

255th Indian Tank Brigade The 255th Indian Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade of the Indian Army during World War II. It was part of the Fourteenth Army and saw action in the Burma Campaign. The 255th Tank Brigade's tactical sign was a black bull, with yellow horns and ...

under command, 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. Orig ...

and advanced on the vital Japanese communications centre of Meiktila. Joined by

99th Indian Infantry Brigade The 99th Mountain Brigade, formerly the 99th Indian Infantry Brigade, is an infantry formation of the Indian Army. The brigade was formed in April 1941 at Lucknow. The brigade was then assigned to the 34th Indian Infantry Division in October 194 ...

which was flown into the captured airfield at Thabutkon, they captured Meiktila in only four days. Reinforced by

9th Indian Infantry Brigade The 9th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. Before the war the 9th (Jhansi) Infantry Brigade was a peacetime formation in Meerut district. This brigade was redesignated the 5th Indian ...

which was flown into the airfields around Meiktila, they subsequently withstood a Japanese siege. This

Battle of Meiktila A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

largely destroyed the Japanese armies in Central Burma. The division now broke the last Japanese defensive position at Pyawbwe, and advanced south on

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 ...

. At

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...

, it pushed Japanese rearguards aside, but was still short of its objective when 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 ...

broke. Rangoon fell to an assault from the sea,

Operation Dracula Operation Dracula was a World War II-airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Anglo-Indian forces during the Burma Campaign. The plan was first proposed in mid-1944 when the Allied South East Asia Command was preparing to reoccu ...

. In the last months of the campaign, the division participated in the mopping up of Japanese stragglers in Burma. After the war ended, elements of it formed part of the Commonwealth Occupation force in Japan (under Cowan). The division was disbanded in India in 1946.

Order of Battle, as of May 1, 1944

:General Officer Commanding – ''Major General

David Tennent Cowan Major General David Tennant Cowan, (9 October 1896 – 15 April 1983), also known as "Punch" Cowan, was an officer in the British Army and British Indian Army during the First and Second World Wars. He led the 17th Indian Infantry Division duri ...

'' :Commander, Royal Artillery – ''Brigadier the Baron de Robeck'' ::17 Division HQ and Signals : 48th Indian Infantry Brigade – ''(Brigadier Ronald Thomas Cameron)'' ::9th Battalion,

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service i ...

::2nd Battalion,

5th Gurkha Rifles 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force), also abbreviated as 5 GR(FF) is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese origin. It was formed in 1858 as part of the British Indian Army. The regiment's battalions served ...

::1st Battalion,

7th Gurkha Rifles The 7th Gurkha Rifles was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army, following India's independence in 1947 and after 1959 designated as the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles. History ...

:

63rd Indian Infantry Brigade The 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in January 1942, at Jhansi in India and was assigned to the 23rd Indian Infantry Division and served in the Burma Campaign. ...

– ''(Brigadier

Arthur Edward Cumming Brigadier Arthur Edward Cumming VC OBE MC (18 June 1896 – 10 April 1971) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwea ...

)'' ::1st Battalion,

3rd Gurkha Rifles The 3rd Gorkha Rifles or Third Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 3 GR is an Indian Army infantry regiment. It was originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1815. This regiment recruit mainly Magars and Khas/Chhetri tribes. Th ...

::1st Battalion,

4th Gurkha Rifles The 4th Gorkha Rifles or the Fourth Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 4 GR, is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army comprising Gurkha soldiers of Nepalese nationality, especially Magars and Gurungs hill tribes of Nepal. The Fourth Gorkha Rifles h ...

::1st Battalion,

10th Gurkha Rifles The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, (abbreviated to 10 GR), was originally a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1890, taking its lineage from a police unit and over the course of its existence it had a ...

:Divisional Units ::1st Battalion,

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

''(attached)'' ::4th 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 reconnaissance unit)'' ::7th Battalion,

10th Baluch Regiment The 10th Baluch or Baluch Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. After independence, it was transferred to the Pakistan Army. In 1956, it was amalgamated with the 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments. During more ...

''(Divisional defence / machine gun unit)'' :: 129th (Lowland) 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 ...

(RA) ::21st Mountain Regiment, Indian Artillery (IA) ::29th Mountain Regiment, IA ::82nd Light Anti-aircraft / Anti-tank Regiment RA ::60th Field Company,

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 ...

(IE) ::70th Field Company, IE ::Tehri Garhwal Field Company ::414th Field Park Company IE

Assigned brigades

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

44th Indian Infantry Brigade The 44th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed in June 1941, at Poona in India and assigned to the 17th Indian Infantry Division. Under the command of Brigadier George Ba ...

*

45th Indian Infantry Brigade The 45th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed in June 1941, at Ahmednagar in India and assigned to the 17th Indian Infantry Division. It was transferred to Malaya Comman ...

*

46th Indian Infantry Brigade The 46th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. The brigade was formed in June 1941, at Ahmednagar in India and assigned to the 17th Indian Infantry Division. In February 1942, during the Japanes ...

*

2nd Burma Infantry Brigade The 2nd Burma Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Burma Army during World War II. It was formed in July 1941. The Brigade was then disbanded in June 1942, and reformed in October 1942, to command battalions of the newly formed Burma ...

*

16th Indian Infantry Brigade The 2nd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in Rawalpindi in September 1939. In October 1940, it was renamed 16th (Independent) Indian Infantry Brigade in November 1941, ...

* 48th Indian Infantry Brigade *

7th Armoured Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

*

63rd Indian Infantry Brigade The 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in January 1942, at Jhansi in India and was assigned to the 23rd Indian Infantry Division and served in the Burma Campaign. ...

*

37th Indian Infantry Brigade The 37th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in June 1941, at Quetta in India and assigned to the 14th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade was then assigned to the ...

*

49th Indian Infantry Brigade The 49th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in October 1941 at Bolarum in India. It was assigned to the 19th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade fought in the Burma C ...

*

32nd Indian Infantry Brigade The 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in January 1941 in India and assigned to the HQ Western Independent District until April 1942. It was then assigne ...

*

50th Indian Parachute Brigade The 50th Parachute Brigade is a brigade-sized formation of the Indian Army. Its main force is formed of battalions of the Parachute Regiment. It consists of 2 Airborne battalions, supported by units of the Regiment of Artillery, the Corps of ...

*

99th Indian Infantry Brigade The 99th Mountain Brigade, formerly the 99th Indian Infantry Brigade, is an infantry formation of the Indian Army. The brigade was formed in April 1941 at Lucknow. The brigade was then assigned to the 34th Indian Infantry Division in October 194 ...

*

255th Indian Tank Brigade The 255th Indian Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade of the Indian Army during World War II. It was part of the Fourteenth Army and saw action in the Burma Campaign. The 255th Tank Brigade's tactical sign was a black bull, with yellow horns and ...

*

9th Indian Infantry Brigade The 9th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. Before the war the 9th (Jhansi) Infantry Brigade was a peacetime formation in Meerut district. This brigade was redesignated the 5th Indian ...

Post independence

GOC 17 Mountain Division Major meets the Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri P

The division was re-raised at

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-ar ...

(India) on November 15, 1960, under the command of Major General K S Katoch . Among its new formations was 99 Infantry Brigade, which was soon detached for service with

ONUC The United Nations Operation in the Congo (french: Opération des Nations Unies au Congo, abbreviated to ONUC) was a United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. ONUC was th ...

in the Congo.

Operations

* Operation Vijay - The division under the command of Major General

KP Candeth Lieutenant General Kunhiraman Palat Candeth, PVSM (Hindi: कुँहिरामन पलट कंडेथ; 23 October 1916 – 19 May 2003) was a senior army officer in the Indian Army who played a commanding role in Liberation of Go ...

moved from Ambala and participated in the Goa military operations in 1961. It had two brigades under its command - 63 Brigade and 48 Brigade. The swift operations between 17 and 19 December 1961 culminated in the surrender by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. General Candeth was immediately appointed Goa's first Indian administrator (acting as the Military Governor), a post he held till June 1962. *

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Sil ...

- On November 15, 1963, the division relocated to Sikkim and took on the role of guarding a portion of the Tibet-India border. Under the then GOC, Major 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 ...

, it performed credibly during the

Nathu La and Cho La clashes The Nathu La and Cho La clashes, sometimes referred to as the Sino-Indian War of 1967, consisted of a series of border clashes between India and China alongside the border of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate. The ...

of 1967. The formation also played role in the merger and statehood of Sikkim in 1975. The division is presently deployed in East and South East Sikkim. It was involved in the

Doklam standoff Doklam (), called Donglang () by China, is an area in Bhutan with a high plateau and a valley, lying between China's Chumbi Valley to the north, Bhutan's Ha District to the east and India's Sikkim state to the west. It has been depicted a ...

in 2017.

Formation Sign

The division had two different formation signs. The first was a lightning bolt (white) on a blue background. This was used until the middle of 1942. Major General CT Cowan decided to change the formation sign to a black cat on a yellow/orange background. It is said that the General wanted to motivate his troops to fight back the Japanese and he felt that no one fights more fiercely and aggressively than a cornered cat. The division is sometimes called ''The Black Cat Division'' based on its second and current formation sign. The present formation sign has a black background signifying an infantry division and black cat drawn with a yellow outline.

External links

*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:17 Indian Infantry Division Indian World War II divisions Divisions of the Indian Army British Indian Army divisions Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II D D Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 Military units and formations established in 1960

Second World War

1942

1943

1944

1945

Order of Battle, as of May 1, 1944

Assigned brigades

Post independence

Operations

Formation Sign

External links

Further reading

References