The 23rd Infantry Division is an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

division of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. It was raised as a part of the

Indian Army during World War II The Indian Army during World War II, a British force also referred to as the British Indian Army, began the war, in 1939, numbering just under 200,000 men.Sumner, p.25 By the end of the war, it had become the largest volunteer army in history, ...

. It fought in the

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

History

The division was raised on 1 January 1942, at

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

in Central

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Its badge was a red

fighting cock Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

on a red circle. (The animal was chosen by Major General

Reginald Savory Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Arthur Savory (26 July 1894 − 14 June 1980) was a British Indian Army officer who served during both World War I and World War II. Military career Educated at Uppingham School, he then attended the Royal Mili ...

, the division's first commander, as one which would offend neither the

Moslem Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or ''Allah'') as it ...

nor

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

soldiers of the division. In May that year, while the division was still forming, it was ordered to

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

, where

Burma Corps The Burma Corps ('Burcorps') was an Army Corps of the Indian Army during World War II, Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in Prome, Burma, on 19 March 1942, took part in the Japanese conquest of Burma, retreat through Burma, and ...

was retreating, having been driven out of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

by the Japanese. Imphal lay within the mountainous frontier between India and Burma, and the division was ordered to move while the monsoon season was at its height. Movement was difficult, and disease (mainly

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, but also

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

) was rampant. The division's chief claim to respect lies in holding its positions in these trying conditions, while also trying to undertake basic training. On 3 June 1943, Major General Savory was promoted and appointed Director of Infantry in India. The division was temporarily commanded by Brigadier Collingridge of 37th Brigade until 15 August, when Major General

Ouvry Lindfield Roberts General Sir Ouvry Lindfield Roberts, (3 April 1898 – 16 March 1986) was a senior officer of the British Army and the British Indian Army during the First and Second World Wars. Military career Educated at Cheltenham College, the Royal Milit ...

, who had gained widespread respect by his handling of operations in the Middle East, was appointed.

Battle of Imphal

In March, 1944, the Japanese launched a major attack on the British troops at Imphal. At the time, 23rd Division was the reserve unit for Indian IV Corps. After its previous service in Imphal, the division was no less than 5,000 men short of establishment (about 18,500). This was due mainly to disease, and poor administration in the rear areas in 1943, which prevented many recovering sick men from rejoining the division. When the Japanese offensive began, Indian 17th Infantry Division was cut off in its forward position at Tiddim. One brigade of 23rd division was left to hold Imphal while the remainder of the division was sent to help extricate the 17th Division. Once the two divisions had linked up, they retreated to Bishenpur south of Imphal, being supplied by parachute drops. The 23rd Division was then sent to Kanglatongbi, north of Imphal, where Japanese troops had cut the road linking Imphal with India and were threatening a major supply dump. The Japanese were held back while the dump was emptied of stores. In June, all the divisions at Imphal were reorganised and repositioned. 23rd Division defended the Shenam Saddle southeast of Imphal against the last Japanese attacks in this area.

Operation Zipper

After the end of the Battle of Imphal, the division was withdrawn to India. After recuperating, it began training for future operations in Malaya. Major General Roberts was promoted to command Indian XXXIV Corps, and the division was commanded by Major General

Douglas Hawthorn Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

. In mid-1945, the division was due to take part in

Operation Zipper During World War II, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya, as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore in Operation Mailfist. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it ...

, a landing on the west coast of Malaya, as part of XXXIV Corps. Although forestalled by the Japanese surrender, the landing took place unopposed, as the quickest means of sending troops to Malaya to enforce the surrender. Later that year, the division was sent to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, where the end of the war had brought widespread disorder and conflict between the restored

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

colonial regime and pro-independence movements. The division was broken up in Java in 1947, and its units were merged into the

Indian 5th Infantry Division The 5th Infantry Division is an infantry division of the Indian Army. It was raised during the Second World War and fought in several theatres of war and was nicknamed the "Ball of Fire". It was one of the few Allied divisions to fight again ...

Postwar

Current Divisional HQ is located at Dipatoli Cantonment, Ranchi in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. The division was raised 1 September 1959 for the Nagaland insurgency when GOC Assam was redesignated as GOC 23rd Infantry Division.

Current Status of 23 Infantry Division

There are 4 brigades in 23 Infantry Division. They are: * 23 Artillery Brigade (Dipatoli Cantt, Ranchi, Jharkhand) * 61 Infantry Brigade (Dipatoli Cantt, Ranchi, Jharkhand) * 167 Infantry Brigade (Shahjahanpur Cantt, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh) * 301 Infantry Brigade (MONUSCO, South Africa)

23 Artillery Brigade

The Arty Brigade is situated in Deepatoli Cantonment in Ranchi and consist of many units. Earlier 17 Corps’s only Sata Bty was also a part of brigade which also coordinated with 17 Corp Artillery Brigade was handed over to 17 Corps. The last existing Sata Bty to Brigade was 632 Stat Bty which moved to Ladakh and was replaced by 126 Sata Bty but 126 Sata did not join the Brigade. The units under the brigade are as follow: # 44 Field Regiment # 299 Field Regiment # 328 Field Regiment

61 Infantry Brigade

The infantry brigade was earlier situated in Namkom Military Station, Ranchi, Jharkhand. On 1 August 2019, the brigade is shifting to Dipatoli Cantt after the moving of 17 Corps to Panagarh, West Bengal. The brigade is assigned with 5 different Infantry Regiment. They are: * 10th Battalion The Sikh Light Infantry * 8th Battalion The Bihar Regiment * 8th Battalion The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles * 1st Battalion The Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry * 9th Battalion The Mahar Regiment

167 Infantry Brigade

The brigade is situated in Shahjahanpur Military Station, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The brigade consists of 4 Infantry Regiments. They are: * 21st Battalion The Madras Regiment * 4th Battalion The 4th Gorkha Rifles (4/4 GR) * 2nd Battalion The Kumaon Regiment (Berar)

301 Infantry Brigade

The brigade is situated in South Africa. The brigade is on the MONUSCO Mission from the year 2004 shifting from Ranchi to South Africa.

Order of battle

''as of 1 April 1944'' *GOC Major General Ouvry Roberts * 1st Indian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier A. King) ** 1st Battalion,

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

** 1st Battalion,

16th Punjab Regiment The 16th Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form in 1956, when it was amalgamated ...

** 1st Battalion,

Patiala Infantry Regiment Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, 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, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

(State forces) * 37th Indian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier P. C. Marindin) ** 3rd Battalion,

3rd Gurkha Rifles The 3rd Gorkha Rifles or Third Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 3 GR is an Indian Army infantry regiment. It was originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1815. This regiment recruit mainly Magars and Gurung tribes. They wer ...

** 3rd Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) ** 3rd Battalion,

10th Gurkha Rifles The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, (abbreviated to 10 GR), was originally a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1890, taking its lineage from a police unit and over the course of its existence it had a ...

49th Indian Infantry Brigade The 49th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in October 1941 at Bolarum in India. It was assigned to the 19th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade fought in the Burma Cam ...

(Brigadier F. Esse) ** 4th Battalion,

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 War ...

** 6th Battalion, 5th Mahratta Light Infantry ** 5th Battalion,

6th Rajputana Rifles The 6th Rajputana Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. Formed in 1921, it initially consisted of five active battalions and one training battalion. History Formation and class composition In 1921, the British Indian Army ...

*Divisional Units ** 2nd Battalion,

19th Hyderabad Regiment The 19th Hyderabad Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed at the time of reforms of the Indian Army after the First World War, when it moved from single-battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. The reg ...

(divisional reconnaissance unit) ** 4th Battalion,

12th Frontier Force Regiment The 12th Frontier Force Regiment was formed in 1922 as part of the British Indian Army. It consisted of five regular battalions; numbered 1 to 5 and the 10th (Training) Battalion. During the Second World War a further ten battalions were raised. ...

(divisional machine-gun unit) ** 158th Field Assault Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

(The Fighting Cock 23rd div history) ** 3rd Field Regiment

Royal Indian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Indian Artillery, generally known as the Royal Indian Artillery (RIA), was an operational corps of the British Indian Army. The East India Company raised the first regular company of Artillery in 1748, with a small percentage ...

(IA) ** 28th Mountain Regiment IA ** 2nd Anti-Tank/Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment IA ** 23rd Indian Infantry Division Provost Unit ** 23rd Indian Infantry Division Signal Unit ** 69th, 71st, 91st Field Companies Royal Indian Engineers (IE) ** 305th Field Park Company IE ** 21st, 24th, 50th, 61st Animal Transport Companies

Indian Army Service Corps The Indian Army Service Corps (IASC) is a Corps, administrative corps and an arm of the Indian Army which handles its Military logistics, logistic support function. It is the oldest and the largest administrative service in the Indian Army. Whil ...

(IASC) ** 121st, 122nd, 123rd General Purpose Transport Companies IASC ** 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th Composite Units IASC ** 24th, 47th, 49th Indian Field Ambulances, Indian Army Medical Corps (IAMC) ** 23rd Ordnance Field Park,

Indian Army Ordnance Corps The Army Ordnance Corps (abbreviated as AOC) is an active corps of the Indian Army and a major formation responsible for providing material and logistical support to the Indian Army during war and peace. History Pre-independence The history of ...

(IAOC) ** 38th, 61st Infantry Workshop Companies, Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (IEME) ** 23rd Indian Division Recovery Company IEME

Presently Units assigned in 23rd Infantry Division

* 23 IDSR (Infantry Division Signal Regiment) * 23 IDOU (Infantry Division Ordnance Unit) * 23 IDPU (Infantry Division Provost Unit)(CMP) * 51 Armoured Regiment * 100 (Independent) Tank Transporter Company (ASC) * 107 Engineers Regiment (Bombay Sappers) * 323 Field Hospital * 423 Field Hospital * 523 ASC Battalion * 623 EME Battalion

Assigned brigades

All these brigades were assigned or attached to the division at some time during World War II * 63rd Indian Infantry Brigade *

98th Indian Infantry Brigade The 98th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in April 1941, at Bareilly. The brigade served with three different divisions in the Burma Campaign. The 34th Indian Infantry ...

* 64th Indian Infantry Brigade * 23rd Indian Infantry Brigade * 1st Indian Infantry Brigade *

* 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade * 37th Indian Infantry Brigade *

50th Indian Parachute Brigade The 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade is a brigade sized formation of the Indian Army. Its main force is formed of battalions of the Parachute Regiment. It consists of Parachute Regiment battalions and the President's Bodyguard, supported by ...

32nd Indian Infantry Brigade The 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It was formed in January 1941 in India and assigned to the HQ Western Independent District until April 1942. It was then assigned ...

* 37th Indian Infantry Brigade *

268th Indian Infantry Brigade The 268th Indian Infantry Brigade is an infantry formation of the Indian Army, previously of the British Indian Army. History It was initially formed as 268th Indian Armoured Brigade at Sialkot in July 1942, with three regiments of the Indian Ar ...

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Burma Star organisation site
{{DEFAULTSORT:23 Indian Infantry Division Indian World War II divisions Divisions of the Indian Army British Indian Army divisions Military units and formations established in 1942 1942 establishments in the United States D Military units and formations disestablished in 1947 Military units and formations established in 1959