The 5th Mahratta Light Infantry was a regiment 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 ...

. 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 II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and raised 30 battalions. After the war it was allocated to 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 ...

in 1947, being renamed the

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. Recruitment The class composition o ...

Formation 1922

*1st

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), ...

ex 103rd Mahratta Light Infantry served in

North Africa Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

and

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allies of World War II, Allied Amphibious warfare, amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. T ...

during World War II.

Sepoy ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...

Namdeo Jadhav was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

(VC) in Italy in 1945. *2nd Battalion ex 105th Mahratta Light Infantry served in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

and North Africa until June 1942 when it bore the full brunt of the German attack on

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

, sustaining very heavy casualties so that after the surrender of Tobruk the survivors became prisoners of war. *3rd Battalion ex 110th Mahratta Light Infantry served in Eritrea, North Africa and Italy during World War II. Naik Yeshwant Ghadge was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1944. *4th Battalion ex 116th Mahrattas served on the border of India and Burma during World War II, most notably in the defense of

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 ...

. *5th Battalion ex

117th Mahrattas The 117th Mahrattas were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1800, when they were raised as the Bombay Fencible Regiment. During World War I the regiment was attached to the 6th (Poona) Division ...

. This battalion was designated 'Royal' in recognition of its exemplary service in Mesopotamia in World War I. This honour of a single battalion was unknown in the British Army and very rarely bestowed in the Indian Army. During World War II it served in the Middle East before becoming a Machine Gun battalion in Italy. *6th Battalion Mahratta Light infantry was created in June 1940 and in October 1942 joined its sister battalion, the 4th, in 49 Brigade in the defense of Imphal. *10th (Training) Battalion ex

114th Mahrattas The 114th Mahrattas were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1800, when they were raised as the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. During World War I they were attached to the ...

. During World War II it trained hundreds of young soldiers to supply the needs of its sister active service and other battalions of the Regiment. British Indian Army infantry regiments Military units and formations established in 1922 R {{mil-unit-stub