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4th Infantry Division Started by Ravi Rikhye v.2.0 April 14, 2005 You are welcome to add to this page, or to take it over.
http://www.kellybadge.co.uk/images/R1C024.jpg The pre-1947 history of the division has been extensively documented; accordingly, we will start with a sketch of its post-1947 service. The division has the dubious honor of having, among its officers, two future military dictators of Pakistan: Presidents Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan [no relation]. 1947 The division is one of the few to survive downsizing after World War II. Its appears that its HQ at is immediately used to form HQ Punjab Boundary Force, the formation that is tasked to deal with the chaos of Partition. The division HQ is at Jullunder at this time. PBF's brigades are:
* Indian 2nd Airborne Division is deactivated almost immediately after Partition.
1948 The division is reformed at Ambala. It provides a reserve both for Army HQ and for Western Command.
1959 The division receives the
ill-fated order to move to the North East Frontier Agency; the process is not
completed till the spring of 1962.
1962 The start of the war finds the
division spread all over NEFA. GOC Maj.-Gen. Nirinjan Prasad [October] GOC Maj.-Gen. A.S. Pathania [November] It’s 7th Brigade is destroyed at the Namkachu
in one of the most tragic of the Indian Army’s “last stands”. Its 11th Brigade fights the Battle for Walong
under independent command. Though defeated, the brigade acquits itself well. It fights the disastrous Battle of Tse La/Bombdila with several new brigades hastily inducted after the start of the war, and is routed.
1963 In World War II, the division, along with the 8th
Division attains the highest reputation of any Indian Army formation. But
now, with its reputation in tatters through no fault of its own, it is sent
back to Ambala for rebuilding as a mountain division. Its mission is now defense of the Himachal Pradesh-Tibet border.
1965 The division partially regains its reputation by its staunch defense at Khem Karan. GOC Maj.-Gen. Gurcharan Singh
o 7th Mountain Brigade o 33rd Mountain Brigade [detached] o 62nd Mountain Brigade 1971
http://www.assamrifles.com/visCOAS1.jpg
General T.N.
Raina, Chief of Army Staff The division moves east in preparation for the Bangladesh War. It comes under the newly raised HQ II Corps, and fights well. GOC Maj.-Gen. T.N. Raina
o 7th Mountain Brigade o 41st Mountain Brigade o 62nd Mountain Brigade Its mission accomplished, it prepares to shift back to the west for the expected continuation of the war, but the ceasefire is called before it gets into action. 1972 The division exchanges stations with the 1st Armored Division and is now based at Jhansi, then at Babina.
1974?
The division is relocated to the plains of Utter Pradesh where, for many years, it will function under HQ I Corps and also as a multi-purpose reserve for Army HQ and Eastern Command. 1984 It operates in an internal security role following the storming of the Golden Temple and the anti-Sikh riots following Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s murder. At some point the division is converted to a standard infantry division, formalizing its role as HQ I Corps. The Corps mission is a strike reserve for the western border. 1988-1989 The division goes to Sri Lanka, starting in February 1988, as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force under a provisional HQ that later becomes HQ XXI Corps. It operates in the Vavunyia sector. This episode is, because of political muddling, one of the most pointless campaigns the division has engaged in. 1991 The division is engaged, off-and-on, in internal security operations in the Punjab. 2001 and 2002 The division deploys in the two near-war situations
against Pakistan. |
