The Garhwal Brigade 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 mar ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

of the British Indian Army formed in 1902 as a result of the

Kitchener Reforms 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 ...

. It was mobilized as 20th (Garhwal) Brigade at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as part of the 7th (Meerut) Division and departed for France. It served on the Western Front until November 1915. It then moved to Egypt where it joined the 10th Indian Division, by now designated as 20th Indian Brigade. It left the division in March 1916 and thereafter served as an independent brigade in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. It was broken up in 1920.

History

The

, carried out during Lord Kitchener's tenure as Commander-in-Chief, India (1902–09), completed the unification of the three former

Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presiden ...

, the Punjab Frontier Force, the

Hyderabad Contingent The Nizam's Contingent, later Hyderabad Contingent, was the army funded by the Nizam of Hyderabad, the ruler of a Princely state of India.http://www.indianarmy.gov.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTemp12PLM8C.aspx?MnId=l7m6i4kBQ6GVWWXGRMx4Yg&ParentID=R ...

and other local forces into one

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- ...

. Kitchener identified the Indian Army's main task as the defence of the North-West Frontier against foreign aggression (particularly Russian expansion into Afghanistan) with

internal security Internal security is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories, generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal secu ...

relegated to a secondary role. The Army was organized into divisions and

s that would act as field formations but also included internal security troops. The Garhwal Brigade was formed in November 1902 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. The brigade formed part of the 7th (Meerut) Division.

Western Front

At the outbreak of the

, the Garhwal Brigade was still part of the 7th (Meerut) Division. It was mobilized with the division in August 1914 as the 20th (Garhwal) Brigade and sailed from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

on 20 September for the Western Front. It arrived in Marseilles on 12 – 14 October and moved up to the Front, entering the line on the night of 30/31 Octobertaking part in the

Battle of La Bassée The Battle of La Bassée was fought by German and Franco-British forces in northern France in October 1914, during reciprocal attempts by the contending armies to envelop the northern flank of their opponent, which has been called the Race to th ...

(10 October – 2 November). While in France, the brigade was known by its geographical rather than numerical designation so as to avoid confusion with the British 20th Brigade also serving on the Western Front at the same time. The brigade served with the division as part of the

Indian Corps The I Indian Corps was an army corps of the British Indian Army in the World War I. It was formed at the outbreak of war under the title Indian Corps from troops sent to the Western Front. The British Indian Army did not have a pre-war corps stru ...

on the Western Front until the end of 1915. For the rest of 1914, the brigade took part in the Defence of Festubert (23 – 24 November) and the Defence of Givenchy (20 – 21 December). In the former, Naik

Darwan Singh Negi Darwan Singh Negi VC (4 March 188324 June 1950) was one of the first Indian soldiers to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Common ...

of the 1st Battalion,

39th Garhwal Rifles The 39th Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. History The regiment was first raised in 1887 as the Aligarh Levy but was disbanded after disgracing itself at the Rawalpindi Review in 1888. In 1891, the 39th (The Ga ...

won the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

(VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Commonwealth forces. Indian troops only became eligible for the award in 1911. His award was gazetted on the same date as that of Sepoy

Khudadad Khan Subedar Khudadad Khan, VC (20 October 1888 – 8 March 1971) was a Pakistani and the recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest military award for gallantry in the face of the enemy given to British and Commonwealth forces. During t ...

, the first Indian VC winner. In 1915, the brigade took part in the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge a ...

(10 – 13 March) where another two VCs were won:

Rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the ri ...

Gabar Singh Negi Gabar Singh Negi VC (21 April 189510 March 1915) was a soldier in the British Indian Army during the First World War and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be ...

(posthumous) of the 2nd Battalion, 39th Garhwal Rifles, and Private William Buckingham of the 2nd Battalion,

Leicestershire Regiment The Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Leicestershire Regiment after 1946) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. The regiment saw service for three centuries, in numerous wars and conflicts such as both W ...

. The brigade then took part in the battles of Aubers (9 May),

Festubert Festubert is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert. Geography A farming v ...

(15 – 25 May) and Loos (25 September – 8 October) where Rifleman Kulbir Thapa of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles won the brigade's fourth VC. The losses suffered by the Indian Corps could not be adequately replaced as the reserve and replacement system essentially broke down. Consequently, on 31 October 1915 orders were received to transfer the 3rd (Lahore) and 7th (Meerut) Divisions to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

. The last elements were relieved by 9 November and departed for Egypt en route to Mesopotamia. While in Egypt, the brigade left 7th (Meerut) Division in December 1915 and was replaced by 28th Indian Brigade.

Egypt and Palestine

The 10th Indian Division was re-formed on 7 January 1916 as part of the Suez Canal Defences with units and formations in Egypt: the 20th (Garwhal) Brigadeby now designated as 20th Indian Brigadejoined the division along with the 29th Indian Brigade returned from Gallipoli and 31st Indian Brigade formerly with 11th Indian Division. The new division was short lived: it was broken up again on 7 March 1916 as the need to reform depleted units from France made this plan unrealistic. The brigade became an independent formation and served as such for the rest of the war in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The brigade continued to serve on the Suez Canal Defences under command of the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...

in 1916 and 1917. In April 1918, it was attached to the

Desert Mounted Corps The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Pales ...

and with it took part in the Second Transjordan attack (30 April – 4 May 1918). Two battalions of the brigade Alwar Infantry ( I.S.) and 1st Battalion,

Patiala Infantry Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

(I.S.)were involved in the Battle of Abu Tulul on 15 July. It then helped to occupy the Jordan Valley. In August 1918, the brigade joined Chaytor's Force along with the Anzac Mounted Division and other units under the command of

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

E.W.C. Chaytor. As part of the Final Offensive in Palestine, the Force operated in the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

and hills to the east of the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. It took part in the

Third Transjordan attack The Third Transjordan attack by Chaytor's Force, part of the British Empire's Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), took place between 21 and 25 September 1918, against the Ottoman Empire's Fourth Army and other Yildirim Army Group units. These ...

(19 – 25 September) leading to the capture of Amman (25 September). The brigade was broken up in 1920.

Orders of battle

Commanders

The Garhwal Brigade / 20th (Garhwal) Brigade / 20th Indian Brigade had the following commanders:

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* * *{{cite web, url=http://warpath.orbat.com/indian_divs/ind_ind_bdes.htm , title=Independent Indian Brigades on ''The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918'' by PB Chappell , access-date=2015-07-03 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213201732/http://warpath.orbat.com/indian_divs/ind_ind_bdes.htm , archive-date=13 February 2012 , df=dmy Brigades of India in World War I Military units and formations established in 1902 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920