The 17th Indian Division was formed in 1917 from units of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

for service in the Mesopotamia Campaign during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, it formed part of the occupation force for Iraq and took part in the Iraq Rebellion in 1920. In August 1923, the division was reduced to a single brigade.

History

The 17th Indian Division started forming in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

from August 1917 with the 50th, 51st, and 52nd Indian Brigades. Shortly after being formed, the 50th Brigade exchanged places with the 34th Indian Brigade of 15th Indian Division. Most of the infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s that had already been guarding lines of communications in Mesopotamia for some months, were somewhat acclimatized and accustomed to the country. The division was involved in the action at Fat-ha Gorge on the

Little Zab The Little Zab or Lower Zab (, ''al-Zāb al-Asfal''; or '; , ''Zâb-e Kuchak''; , ''Zāba Taḥtāya'') is a river that originates in Iran and joins the Tigris just south of Al Zab in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Little Zab is approximatel ...

between 23–26 October 1918 and the Battle of Sharqat, 28–30 October 1918 under command of I Corps At the end of the war, the 17th Division was chosen to form part of the occupation force for Iraq. It took part in the Iraq Rebellion in 1920. In August 1923, the division was reduced to a single brigade; the last British troops left in March 1927 and the Indian ones in November 1928.

Order of battle

The division commanded the following units, although not all of them served at the same time:

34th Indian Brigade

* 2nd Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) * 31st Punjabis * 1st Battalion, 112th Infantry * 114th Mahrattas * 129th Machine Gun Company * 34th Light Trench Mortar Battery

51st Indian Brigade

* 1st Battalion,

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First World War, First and World War II, Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 t ...

* 1st Battalion, 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Rajput Light Infantry * 14th Ferozepore Sikhs * 1st Battalion, 10th Gurkha Rifles * 257th Machine Gun Company * 51st Light Trench Mortar Battery

52nd Indian Brigade

* 1/6th Battalion,

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

* 45th Rattray's Sikhs * 84th Punjabis * 1st Battalion, 94th Russell's Infantry * 1st Battalion, 113th Infantry * 258th Machine Gun Company * 52nd Light Trench Mortar Battery

Divisional Artillery

* CCXX Brigade,

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

(1064th, 1065th, 403rd ( H) and Anglo-Indian Batteries) * CCXXI Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (1067th, 1068th, 404th (H) and Volunteer Batteries) * X.17 Medium Trench Mortar Battery * 17th Divisional Ammunition Column

Engineers and Pioneers

* Sirmoor, Tehri Garhwal and Malerkotla Sappers and Miners, ISF * 17th Division Signal Company, Royal Engineers Signal Service * 1st Battalion, 32nd Sikh Pioneers

Divisional Troops

* 276th Machine Gun Company * 17th Machine Gun Battalion * 3rd, 19th, 35th and 36th Combined Field Ambulances, RAMC * No. 7 Mobile Veterinary Section, AVC * 17th Division Train, ASC

Commanders

The division was commanded from 25 August 1917 by Major-General W. Gillman. On 17 December 1917, Major-General G.A.J. Leslie took command.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Indian Expeditionary Forces British Indian Army divisions Indian World War I divisions Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 1923