The 268th Indian Infantry Brigade is an infantry 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- ...

, previously of the British Indian Army.

History

It was initially formed as 268th Indian Armoured Brigade at

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

in July 1942, with three regiments of the

Indian Armoured Corps The Indian Armoured Corps was a unit of the British Empire's Indian Army. The Corps was formed on 1 May 1941 to administer existing armoured units within the Indian Army. Its headquarters was located at Ferozepore. Upon partition in 1947, the unit's ...

. 51 Regiment IAC had been formed from the 7/

5th Mahratta Light Infantry The 5th Mahratta Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, when the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. The regiment fought in World Wa ...

, 53 Regiment IAC had been formed from the MG/

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 ...

, and 54 Regiment IAC had been formed from 9/

13th Frontier Force Rifles The 13th Frontier Force Rifles was part of the British Indian Army, and after 1947, Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by amalgamation of five existing regiments and consisted of five regular battalions. History The 13th Frontier Force Rifles' ...

. It was converted to the 268th Indian Infantry Brigade in October 1942. It was then assigned to the 43rd Indian Armoured Division until March 1943, and subsequently the

44th Indian Armoured Division The 44th Indian Armoured Division was an armoured division of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in Burma, in February 1943, from the 32nd and 43rd Armoured divisions. It was reformed as the 21st Infantry Division in April 1944.The ...

until March 1944. In May 1944, the brigade moved to the 21st Indian Infantry Division followed by a move to the

23rd Indian Infantry Division The 23rd Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. It fought in the Burma Campaign. It was then reformed as a division of the independent Indian Army in 1959. History The division was raised on 1 ...

in July 1944. In November 1944, it was the corps reserve for IV Corps and from December 1944, for XXXIII Indian Corps. In April 1945, it was attached to the British 2nd Infantry Division and the 7th Indian Infantry Division. It was Fourteenth Army reserve between April and May 1945, before returning to 7th Division command until the end of the war. Following the war the brigade served with the BRINJAP Division of the

British Commonwealth Occupation Force The British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) was the British Commonwealth taskforce consisting of Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand military forces in occupied Japan, from 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952. At its peak, ...

in Japan.Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhe, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, , 2011, 169 The division moved by sea to Japan 1 March-19 May 1946, stopping at Singapore and Hong Kong en route. In Japan the units of the brigade included 5/1st Punjab Regiment, 2/ 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force), and 1

Maratha Light Infantry The Maratha Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It traces its lineage to the Bombay Sepoys, raised in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army. The class composition of the regiment ...

. The division was disbanded on 1 May 1947 in Japan, at which time 268th Infantry Brigade was reorganised as a brigade group. It left Japan August–October 1947 for India. The brigade then fought in Kashmir during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947; it was the third brigade to enter Jammu and Kashmir. In 1962, just before the outbreak of a further war between India and Pakistan, it formed part of the

19th Infantry Division (India) The 19th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, and played a prominent part in the final part of the Burma Campaign. History The 19th Indian Infantry Division was raised in Secunderabad, Ind ...

with both divisional and brigade headquarters at

Baramula Baramulla (), also known as Varmul () in Kashmiri, is a town and a municipality in the Baramulla district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Baramulla district. It is on the b ...

. 19th Division was part of

XV Corps 15th Corps, Fifteenth Corps, or XV Corps may refer to: *XV Corps (British India) * XV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I * 15th Army Corps (Russian Empire), a unit in World War I *XV Royal Bav ...

in Western Command.

World War II units

*8th Battalion,

*17th Battalion,

7th Rajput Regiment 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 ...

*2nd Battalion, 4th Bombay Grenadiers *5th Battalion, 4th Bombay Grenadiers *1st Battalion,

Assam Regiment The Assam Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment consists of 25 battalions: 15 regular battalions, 3 Rashtriya Rifles battalions, 5 Territorial Army battalions (including 2 ecological battalions). It recruits exclusiv ...

*1st Battalion, Chamar Regiment *4th Battalion,

3rd Madras Regiment The 3rd Madras Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army formed after the World War I reforms of the Indian Army. The infantry regiments were converted into large regiments with four or five battalions in each regiment plus a t ...

* Kalibahadur Regiment, Nepal * Mahindra Dal Regiment, Nepal *1st Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment *2nd Battalion,

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's O ...

*2nd Battalion,

South Lancashire Regiment The South Lancashire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment, which recruited, as its title suggests, primarily from the South Lancashire area, was created as part of the Childers Re ...

*429th 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 ...

* 45th Cavalry

References

{{Reflist

External links

British Military History - Burma 1930 - 47 (Independent Brigades)

DYER Major General G. J. - Biographies D
British Indian Army brigades Infantry brigades of the Indian Army after 1947 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations in Burma in World War II British Commonwealth Occupation Force

History

World War II units

See also

References

Further reading

External links