The Indian Army made a massive, but often forgotten, contribution to the Allied war effort during WW2. They fought In Europe, Africa, Burma and the South East Asia. Some Divisions have become more famous than others - however, each palyed their own part in the final victory. I will, over the next few days provide potted histories of the Divisions listed below - for some, only a limited amount of information is available; for others, whole bookshelves. And it should never be forgotton that Indian Divisions were mixed units - British, Indian, and sometimes other Commonwealth units worked as a single entity. 2nd Infantry Division 3rd Infantry Division (Chindits) 4th Infantry Division 5th Infantry Division 6th Infantry Division 7th Infantry Division 8th Infantry Division 9th Infantry Division 10th Infantry Division 11th Infantry Division 12th Infantry Division 14th Infantry Division 17th Infantry Division 19th Infantry Division 20th Infantry Division 23rd Infantry Division 25th Infantry Division 26th Infantry Division 31st Armoured Division 34th Infantry Division 36th Infantry Division 39th Infantry Division (formerly British 1st Burma Division) 44th Armoured Division (reformed as Indian 44th Airborne Division)
Recollections Sir Mark Tully presents a unique testimony of the Indian Army, with the recollections of some veterans, in a three-part Radio 4 series. You can listen to it at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/standateast.shtml
Multi-Faith Army The Indian Army was made up many races and religions. The two attachments show the religious compositions of the army and units during the war. The saddest legacy of this united army is the fact that former comrades split along religious lines during after Independence and were soon fighting each other. The lists come from: http://www.defencejournal.com/sept99/martial-races.htm
The 3rd, 4th and 5th Divsions. Numerous books have been written about the Chindits and a lot of information is available on the web. The entire history of the 5th Division is also available on the web: http://www.ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Ball/fireTC.html
The 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Divsions. The exploits of the 4th, 8th and 10th Divsions in Italy can be found in the war-time publication entitled "The Tiger Triumphs". It can be read here: http://www.ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Tiger/triumphsTC.html
