The 1st Armoured Division is an armoured division of the

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 ...

, headquartered at Patiala, Punjab. It is part of

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

of the Indian Army's Western Command.

Formation

The division was formed when the

31st Indian Armoured Division The 31st Indian Armoured Division was an armoured division of the Indian Army during World War II, formed in 1940, originally as the 1st Indian Armoured Division; it consisted of units of the British Army and the British Indian Army. When it was ...

was re-designated on September 1, 1945. The 1st Armoured Division was one of two divisional headquarters transferred from 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 cou ...

to the

upon the

partition of British India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

in August 1947. At the time, it had its divisional headquarters at

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South Central Railway ...

and the 43rd Lorried Infantry Brigade away with the Punjab Boundary Force. In June 1946, the wartime 255th Indian Tank Brigade was redesignated as 1st Armoured Brigade and assigned to 1st Armoured Division.

Operation Polo

The division played a major role in

Operation Polo Operation Polo was the code name of the Hyderabad " police action" in September 1948, by the then newly independent Dominion of India against Hyderabad State. It was a military operation in which the Indian Armed Forces invaded the Nizam-ru ...

, the integration of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

into the Indian Union in 1948. During this time Major General Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri was serving as the division's commander, also serving as Military Governor of the state in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. For the Hyderabad operation, the division controlled the 1st Armoured Brigade and the 7th and 9th Infantry Brigades. The order of battle (ORBAT) for the division was as follows- Strike Force *9

Dogra The Dogras or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group in India and Pakistan consisting of the Dogri language speakers. They live predominantly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, and in adjoining areas of Punjab, Himac ...

Skinner's Horse The 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) is a regiment of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. It traces its origins as a cavalry regiment from the times of the East India Company, followed by its service in the British Indian Army and finally, after ...

(minus one squadron) *1 troop Division HQ Squadron *Battery 1 Field Regiment (Self Propelled) *1 Forward Air Control team Smash Force - 1 Armoured Brigade (Brigadier S.D Verma) * 3 Cavalry (minus one squadron) * 17 Horse (minus one squadron) *One troop Skinner's Horse *1 Field Regiment (less one battery) (Self Propelled) *2nd Battery 40 Medium Regiment *One company 9 Dogra Kill Force - 7 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Gurbachan Singh) *2

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Grenadiers A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited from ...

*14

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

* 9 Para Field Regiment Vir Force - 9 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Apji Randhir Singh) *3

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

*2/

1 Gorkha Rifles 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment), often referred to as the 1st Gorkha Rifles, or 1 GR in abbreviation, is the most senior Gorkha Infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as part of the East India Company's Bengal Arm ...

* 34 Anti Tank Regiment

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

The 1st Armoured Division with Major General Rajinder Singh 'Sparrow' as the GOC played an important role in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...

. He was awarded the Mahavir Chakra for his role during the war. The division was part of the

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Ar ...

on the western front. The order of battle was as follows- 1 Armoured Division (Major General Rajinder Singh) *1 Armoured Brigade (Brigadier Khem Karan Singh) ** 17 Horse ** 16 Light Cavalry ** 62 Cavalry (was also part of other formations) *43 Lorried Infantry Brigade (Brigadier HS Dhillon) ** 2 Lancers **8 Garhwal Rifles **5 Jat **5/

9 Gorkha Rifles The 9th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha infantry regiment of the Indian Army and, previously, the British Army. The regiment was initially formed by the British in 1817, and was one of the Gurkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army after indepen ...

*Divisional Reserves ** 4 Horse **9

*1 Artillery Brigade (Brigadier OP Malhotra) *Brigades under temporary operational command **35 Infantry Brigade (from 9 to 16 September 1965) **116 Infantry Brigade (from 9 to 12 September 1965) **58 Infantry Brigade (from 12 to 16 September 1965) The major battles fought by the division include the Battle of Phillora and the

Battle of Chawinda {{Infobox military conflict , width = 380px , image = File:Sculpture showing Indo-Pak war.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Sculpture showing the Indo-Pakistani War {{clear {{OSM Location map , co ...

. At the time of the cease-fire, 1 Corps held around 500 square kilometres of Pakistani territory and had caused substantial damage to the enemy armour. Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore, 17 Horse was posthumously awarded the

Param Vir Chakra The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India's highest military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime. Param Vir Chakra translates as the "Wheel of the Ultimate Brave", and the award is granted for "most conspicu ...

, Major General Rajinder Singh, GOC, 1 Armoured Division, Brig KK Singh, Commander 1 Armoured Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel MMS Bakshi, Commandant 4 Horse, and Major Bhupinder Singh, 4 Horse were awarded the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The division was under the

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * XI ...

, but did not see action. The order of battle (ORBAT) for the division was as follows- 1 Armoured Division (Major General Gurbachan Singh) *93 Independent Reconnaissance Squadron (from 65 Armoured Regiment) *1 Armoured Brigade (Brigadier N.S. Cheema) ** 2 Lancers ** 65 Armoured Regiment ** 67 Armoured Regiment ** 68 Armoured Regiment (all equipped with Vijayanta tanks) *43 Lorried Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Ramesh Chandra) **1

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

**1 Jat **1 Garhwal Rifles (all equipped with TOPAS armoured personnel carriers) 1 Armd Division

The Present

Following the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, the division was re-organised with the 1st and 43rd Armoured Brigades and relocated in 1972 to

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 ...

. In 1984, it was reorganized with the 1st, 43rd and 98th Armoured Brigades. At present, the Divisional Headquarters is located at Patiala as are the 43 and 98 Armoured Brigades. 1 Armoured Brigade is located at

Nabha Nabha is a city and municipal council in the Patiala district in the south-west of the Indian state of Punjab. It was the capital of the former Nabha State. Nabha is also a sub-division city which comes under Patiala district. Geography Nabha ...

and 1 Artillery Brigade at Ambala.

Footnotes

References

;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:1st Armoured Division (India) Divisions of the Indian Army Military units and formations established in 1945