First World War

First World War information relevant to British India, including the involvement of the Indian Army and of Anglo Indians in the British Army. During the First World War compulsory service was deemed necessary and the Indian Defence Force Act was passed in 1917. European British men between the ages of 18 and 41 were subject to compulsory service within India. Thus men serving overseas were not sent as conscripts, but had voluntarily joined either the Indian Army, or the British Army.

Hampshire Regt WW1 Shield with India noted

General information

Expeditionary Forces

Seven expeditionary forces served during World War I

• Indian Expeditionary Force A served on the European Western Front
• Indian Expeditionary Force B served in the East African Campaign
• Indian Expeditionary Force C composed of the Imperial Service Infantry Brigade served in British East Africa
• Indian Expeditionary Force D served in the Mesopotamia Campaign
• Indian Expeditionary Force E served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign
• Indian Expeditionary Force F served in the First Suez Offensive
• Indian Expeditionary Force G served in the Gallipoli Campaign

The Indian Divisions of 1914-1918

Division	Theatres	Arrival in first theatre
1st (Peshawar)	-	Remained in India
2nd (Rawalpindi)	-	Remained in India
3rd (Lahore)	France & Flanders, Mesopotamia	October 1914
4th (Quetta)	-	Remained in India
5th (Mhow)	-	Remained in India
6th (Poona)	Mesopotamia	From November 1914
7th (Meerut)	France & Flanders, Mesopotamia	October 1914
8th (Lucknow)	-	Remained in India
9th (Secunderabad)	-	Remained in India
10th	Egypt	Formed in Egypt 1914
11th	Egypt	Formed in Egypt 1914
12th	Mesopotamia	Formed in Mesopotamia 1915
13th	-	Not formed
14th	Mesopotamia	Formed in Mesopotamia 1916
15th	Mesopotamia	Formed in Mesopotamia 1916
16th	-	Remained in India
17th	Mesopotamia	Formed in Mesopotamia 1917
18th	Mesopotamia	Formed in Mesopotamia 1917
Burma Division	-	Remained in India
1st Indian Cavalry	France & Flanders	November 1914. Renamed 4th Cavalry Division in November 1916
2nd Indian Cavalry	France & Flanders	December 1914. Renamed 5th Cavalry Division in November 1916

Anglo-Indians

“Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1914, brought immediate mobilization in India and by 1915, the British war drain produced hundreds of officer vacancies in the regular army which became accessible to Anglo-Indians for the first time since the East India Company's ban of 1791. Conscription was enforced systematically among the Anglo-Indians at odds with the experience of other Indian communities treated more leniently. (Abel:1988) By 1916, perhaps 8,000 Anglo-Indians had joined British units as in the case of the many "India-born" recruits accepted by the Dorset Regiment. Jhansi's Anglo-Indian Battery, part of the Anglo-Indian Force, attached to the 77th Royal Field Artillery, had the largest concentration of Anglo-Indian conscripts and volunteers and earned a distinguished record in the Mesopotamian conflict. In total, 50-75% of the adult Anglo-Indian population saw active service although non-emergency enlistment in the British Army remained closed to them. (Dover:1937) Most were immediately sent abroad while others were employed by the sudden munitions and supply boom, for instance, at Kanpur where the army's leather processing centre had been located since after the Mutiny. (Thomas:1982)”

In 1916 the Anglo-Indian Association was asked to raise a battalion of Anglo-Indian soldiers - an Anglo-Indian force; some of them served in Mesopotamia. By the September of 1917 the Anglo-Indian Force had drawn more than 950 men.[25]

The Anglo Indian Battery, an Artillery unit which was part of the Anglo Indian Force, served in Mesopotamia and returned to India at the end of the war and was based at Trimulgherry. The Government of India decided the unit should be a permanent part of the forces, but it appears not to have survived the cuts of the post war slump

Temporary Commissions & Indian Army Reserve of Officers 1917-1921

IOR Ref - (L/MIl/9/435-623)

The First World War necessitated a reserve force of British Army officers for the Indian Army to supplement regular recruitment of cadets from Sandhurst, Wellington and Quetta. Temporary commissions were, therefore, granted to British Officers, NCOs and enlisted men of the required educational standard.

Fortunately, the individual names in this section are listed in searchable indexes on the National Archives Access to Archives website (See External links. The full record will show birth details and army service.

In the same index volume, on the open shelves in the British Library, is a further typed list of about 2,500 names compiled from a card index relating to medal claims. This index gives rank, unit , date of release and post-release address.( It does not actually show medal entitlement)

Finally the volume contains an index of 815 British Army other ranks commissioned into the Indian Army during the First World War. Fuller reference is shown as WO339 (pieces 139092 -139906) held at The National Archives – (See War Office: Officers' Services, First World War, Long Number Papers (numerical) in External links

The British Library has the book, in five volumes, covering the First World War, Alphabetical list giving particulars of officers of the Indian Army Reserve of Officers / [issued by] Army Headquarters, India, Military Secretary’s Branch. The catalogue entry states "Contents: [v.1]. 26th June 1916 _ v.2. 24th January 1917 _ v.3. 31st December 1917 _ v.4. 30th June 1918 _ v.5. 31st December 1918". The shelfmark is OIR 355.37 Open Access

Fibis members can contact Fibis research should they wish to access further detail from these records. research@fibis.org

British Army Territorial Force troops in India

Territorial Force troops were sent to India so that regular units could be released for service in France.

On 22 September 1914 the government of India agreed to send 32 British and 20 Indian regular army battalions to Europe in exchange for 43 Territorial Force battalions.

• The 43rd (Wessex) Division - All units assembled at Southampton on 9 October. Sailing via Malta and Suez, the main body of the Division went to Bombay, landing on 9 November, with three units (4th, 5th and 6th Devons) landing at Karachi two days later.
• The 44th (Home Counties) Division - All units that were going to India assembled at Southampton and sailed on 30 October. They all went to Bombay, landing between 1 and 3 December.
• The 45th (2nd Wessex) Division On 25 November 1914 it was decided to send from the 2nd Wessex 10 battalions of infantry and the artillery. Two battalions (2/4th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and 2/4th Hampshire Regiment went to Karachi (arriving 9 January 1915) via Aden; the rest landed at Bombay (4-8 January 1915).

Garrison Battalions

Garrison Battalions were made up of soldiers unfit for front line duty. This decision was made at time of enlistment or after previous front line service where the soldier had suffered wounds or sickness. They were sent to various parts of the empire on garrison duties to release fit soldiers for front line duty.

Very little has been written about the Garrison Battalions of World War I in post-war regimental histories. Battalions were disbanded within days of returning from service overseas and their four or five year existence was apparently regarded as of little consequence in regimental history. . A diary, including a description of the journey to India of a “unit of middle-aged and medically downgraded men”, and letters home may be found in 1st Garrison Battalion The Manchester Regiment, India, Singapore, Hong Kong & Siberia by Robert Bonner

Garrison Battalions sent to India include the 2nd Garrison Battalion, Essex Regiment, the 1st Garrison Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, the 1st Garrison Battalion, Manchester Regiment, the 2nd Garrison Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers and 1st Garrison Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry

Special Services Battalions

Formed from April 1919 in India from drafts of demobilisees (from Mesopotamia) arriving by ship in Bombay. There are more details about these Battalions in the link "Mutiny in India 1919", refer next section, and in this Great War Forum post. One Special Service Battalion, No.17, served in the Third Afghan War

External links

• 2/4 (Cumberland and Westmoreland) Battalion, Border Regiment sailed for India 4 March 1915 and was in India throughout the First World War 1914-1918.net
  • Photographs: Men of the 2/4 (Cumberland and Westmoreland) Battalion, Border Regiment constructing the Mohmand Blockade Line 1916-1917 king-emperor.com
• 1/5th Battalion and 1/6th Battalion East Surrey Regiment were in India most of World War 1,embarking at Southampton on 29 October 1914, landing at Bombay 2 December 1914 from "The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the Great War".
  • FIBIS Gallery Collection of photographs taken by and owned by Arthur Cecil Gregory who served in the 5th Bn. East Surrey Regiment in various parts of India during WW1.
• The Hampshire Regiment from "The Long, Long Trail". There were Territorial Force battalions in India and Mesopotamia.
• 1/9th Battalion and 1/10th Battalion Middlesex Regiment Both battalions sailed 30 October 1914 from Southampton for India, arriving Bombay on 2 December 1914. The 1/9th Battalion eventually moved to Mesopotamia, arriving Basra on 24 November 1917, and joined the 53rd Brigade of the 18th Indian Division. It remained in that theatre until the end of the war.. The 1/10th Battalion remained in India until the end of the war. www.1914-1918.net
  • David Prebble’s Photostream. flickr.com Some of the photographs are labeled “1/9th Middlesex Regiment India 1914 to 1920” and it very probable all the photographs are of this regiment, in England or India
• 1/1st Brecknockshire Battalion, South Wales Borderers
 arrived in Bombay 3 December 1914, almost immediately went to Aden, subsequently returned to India and remained in India throughout the war, stationed at Mhow. www.1914-1918.net
• 25th County of London Cyclist Battalion, The London Regiment was a Territorial Force Regiment whose 1st Battalion spent the war years in India including the North West Frontier. In 1917 they participated in the Waziristan Campaign. In 1919 they helped quell the Amritsar uprising, and participated in the 3rd Afghan War. In 1917, 200 of the 1/25th left India and fought in Mesopotamia. 25thlondon.com
  • Indian/South-Asian Industrial Locos: Military Trains (irfca.com by Simon Darvill has a section (scroll down) on the British Library collection of Lance Corporal Howgego who served in India with the 1/25st Battalion, The London Regiment between 1916 and 1919. Includes a transcript of a 1917 letter to his mother regarding the flooding at Tank
• The Diary of Frederick Pendall, a member of the Norfolk Regiment who was in Belgaum from March 1917 to March 1918 (archived website) This link contains a photograph and advises he was "Pte 26695 Norfolk Regiment 1916-1919"
• Mutiny in India in 1919 by Julian Putkowski marxists.org By March 1919, the Territorials were disillusioned, and their increasingly bitter complaints featured in a series of anonymous letters that were published by the Bombay Chronicle. As well as complaining generally about the corruption and snobbery they had experienced during their service in India, the correspondents drew attention to the slow pace at which they were being shipped back to Britain by the Army.

Historical books online

• Kitchener's Army and the Territorial Forces page 164 by Edgar Wallace 1915 Archive.org
• Under Ten Viceroys: the Reminiscences of a Gurkha, by Major-General Nigel Woodyatt, page 255 "The Territorials in India" 1922 Archive.org
• Memoirs of the Great War by James Racine c 1920s Scribd.com. Pages 70-101 cover his period in India as an officer with the 2/5th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment in Secunderabad c 1915-1916 until the Battalion was transferred to Egypt. Pdf version available from Archive.org
• Letters from Mesopotamia in 1915 and January, 1916 from Robert Palmer 1916 Archive.org. He went with a draft from the 6th Hants, (Hampshire Regiment) in India since November 1914, to reinforce the 4th Hants. Both these regiments were part of the Territorial Force. He was killed June 21, 1916, aged 27 years. The initial letters were written in India.
• Diary of 2/4th Battalion the Border Regiment, 1914-19 in India and Afghanistan. This Battalion was formed during the First World War and was part of the Territorial Force. Archive.org

Regular British Army troops in India

• 1st Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was in India during the First World War. The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the Great War
• 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment was in India during the First World War. The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the Great War
• The 21st Lancers were in India on the North West Frontier during the war period

Indian Army troops in India

Indian Army troops were involved in actions on the North West Frontier.

One officer's service may be seen in the webpages Capt G T Gill in "External links" at the bottom of this page.

Burma

• The Kachin Hills Uprising: Burma from January to February 1915 by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows kaiserscross.com

At sea

• Merchant Adventurers, 1914-1918 by F. A. Hook 1920 Archive.org. A "compilation of the war records of the P. and O., British India and associated lines." Unfortunately the file is lacking the illustrations which should be in the book

Recommended reading

• Yeats-Brown, Francis Lives of a Bengal Lancer . An autobiographical account of a Bengal Lancer covering the period from 1905 until the end of the First World War. Describes his deployment in India, France and Mesopotamia. See review in FIBIS Biographies reading list
• Spencer, William First World War army service records : a guide for family historians The National Archives, 2008 See Review in FIBIS Military reading list.

British Library holdings

• IOR/L/PS/20/H143 Roll of rewards and promotions of officers and men of the Indian Army and departments, and of Royal Artillery and Royal Engineer officers and men attached to Indian units, serving in the undermentioned forces:- France (A) East Africa, including Cameroons (B) Mesopotamia (D) Egypt, including Sudan (E) Gallipoli, including Salonica (G) Indian Frontier Indian area, including Aden, Perim, Somaliland, Gulf of Oman, and China Up to and including "London Gazette" dated 11th May 1917 and "Indian Gazette" dated 3rd February 1917 [?London: India Office, 8th edn, 1917]
• History of the Great War based on official documents by direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Consists of 108 volumes published 1920-1949. The different volumes are explained in this link from www.1914-1918.net. Includes
  • Mesopotamia: The Campaign in Mesopotamia, 1914-1918, Volumes 1-4 by Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly , available online, see below, and
  • Egypt. The British Library catalogue entry is: Military Operations, Egypt & Palestine, etc. [With maps and plans.] by MacMunn, George Fletcher, Sir, K.C.B., and Falls (Cyril B.) 5 pt. London, 1928-30. Series: History of the Great War based on Official Documents. One volume is available online, see below.
• An account of the operations of the 18th (Indian) Division in Mesopotamia, December 1917 to December 1918, with the names of all the units which served with the division and a nominal roll of all the officers by Walter Edward Wilson-Johnston 1919.
• See also Indian Army

Related articles

• Western Front
• Mesopotamia Campaign‎
• Actions in Egypt 1914-15‎
• Norperforce
• Railway units in the First World War
• Railways in the Middle Eastern Theatre
• East Africa
• Gallipoli
• Salonica and the Balkans
• Medals
• POW Camps in India - First World War
• Kent Cyclist Battalion
• British Army - Records - Other pension records
• British Army - Records - Other sources
  • Soldiers’ wills
  • Soldiers’ effects records at the National Army Museum
  • WFA WW1 pension record cards

External links

• UK National Archives First World War Portal The National Archives' First World War resources
• Access to Archives
• War Office: Officers' Services, First World War, Long Number Papers (numerical) - The National Archives catalogue
• Indian Army during World War I Wikipedia
• Battles of WWI involving British India Wikipedia
• Indian Infantry Regiments - World War I by Paul Watson September 23, 2007 orbat.com.
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission Searchable database.
• Neuve Chapelle Memorial
• Geoff’s 1914-1921 Search Engine from Geoff Sullivan’s Great War Assortment.
• The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918 Chris Baker’s excellent website which includes pages on how to Find your soldier in addition to extensive information on regiments, battles etc
• The Great War Forum is a message board for the First World War which is associated with the website "The Long, Long Trail". It has subcategories Middle East and North Africa and India where archived threads may be read. To view images, place a post, reply to a post or search, you need to be a subscriber. See Mailing lists-Military for more details.
• The Western Front Association (WFA) Although the main emphasis is on the Western Front, other areas are also included.
• The World War I Document Archive gwpda.org
• India's contribution to First World War by Mandeep Singh Bajwa, Hindustan Times June 16, 2013
• Center for Indian Military History
• The Mesopotamian front! As observed by LTC Davis, 1918 MilitaryPhotos.net
• "British experience in Iraq from 1914-1926: what wisdom can the United States draw from its experience?" by Matthew W Williams,2004 from Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library
• Rudyard Kipling’s poem Mesopotamia from Steve Brown's site.
  • "Mesopotamia". An article about Kipling’s poem Mesopotamia from Kipling.org.uk
• "Kut War Graves - Iraq" "Basra"
• "Extracts from the Muster Rolls of the Anglo-Indian Force" angloburmeselibrary.com
• This Treasure trove: Awesome collection in awful condition article dated 8 July 2011, The Tribune, Pakistan by Sonia Malik
• India and the Western Front Article by Dr David Omissi on BBC History website.
• Reading between unwritten lines: Australian Army nurses in India, 1916-19 by Ruth Rae Australian War Memorial website. Describes the 34th Welsh General Hospital (34 WGH) at Deolali
• Capt G T Gill George Theodore Gill from David Gill’s gillww1. Image of Commission in 1915 as an Officer in the Indian Army Reserve
  • GTG on the North West Frontier 1915, 2/6th Gurkha Rifles in Mesopotamia 1916, School of Instruction for Officers, Sabathu & Ambala, 1917 to 1919
• Bhavnagar Imperial Service Lancers – WWI stampomania.blogspot.com. This regiment was stationed in Suez Canal, Sinai, Palestine and Syria.
• Details of India and the Great War Project. Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, USI (United Service Institution of India). Contains photographs
• Fighting the Tangistanis: Bushire, Persia, July-September 1915 by Harry Fecitt westernfrontassociation.com

Historical books online

• The Great World War: A History. General Editor Frank A Mumby. Published 1915-1920. Archive.org

Volume I Contents To December 1914	Volume I Contents To April 1915	Volume III Contents To August 1915	Volume IV Contents To December 1915	Volume V Contents To May 1916
Volume VI 1917 Contents To February 1917	Volume VII 1919 Contents To February 1918	Volume VIII Contents To November 1918	Volume IX1920 Contents Index- All Volumes

• Speech by Lord Chelmsford, Governor General of India mentioning Anglo-Indian Force - Archive.org
• The Empire at War Volume V Part IV: India by Sir Francis Younghusband Edited for the Royal Colonial Institute by Sir Charles Lucas 1926 Contents Archive.org
• History Of The Great War: The Campaign In Mesopotamia 1914-1918 Volumes I-IV by F J Moberly. 1923-1927 are available to read online on the Digital Library of India website. The Contents pages of Volume IV are computer pages 15-20. Refer Online books-Digital Library of India for more details about this site.
• History of the Great War: Military Operations, Egypt & Palestine: Volume 2 June 1917 to the End of the War: Part 1 by Cyril B Falls is available to read online on the Digital Library of India where it is catalogued as History of the Great War Miltary Operations Egypt and Palestine. Contents, computer page 13
• History of the Great War: Medical Services; General History Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 includes Egypt and Palestine, Volume 4 includes Mesopotamia. Published 1921-1924. Archive.org
• A brief outline of the campaign in Mesopotamia, 1914-1918 by Roger Evans, 1926 Archive.org (You will need a Djvu plug-in, see our article Online books-Archive.org)
• "Progress in Mesopotamia" from The war illustrated album de luxe; the story of the great European war told by camera, pen and pencil Volume 9 The Fourth Year 1917-1918 ed by JA Hammerton 1918 Archive.org
• "Final Victories over the Turk" from The war illustrated album de luxe; the story of the great European war told by camera, pen and pencil Volume 10 the Last Phase ed by JA Hammerton 1919 Archive.org
• The war in the cradle of the world Mesopotamia by Eleanor Franklin Egan 1918. Archive.org The author was correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post. More details in "Writing "Mesopot": Eleanor Franklin Egan on the river to Baghdad, 1917" by David Hudson.
• "Letter from Sir Charles Monroe, C-in-C in India, dated Simla, August 15, 1917" regarding conditions in India from The First World War, 1914-1918, Volume II, page 110 by Charles Repington 1920 Archive.org
• United Empire: The Royal Colonial Institute Journal Volume 6 New Series 1915 Archive.org
  • "The Indian Expeditionary Force" by HT Montague Bell. page 21. Includes a list of Officers killed and wounded.
  • "India and the War", by Lieut.-Colonel Sir Francis Younghusband, page 439
• Under Ten Viceroys: the Reminiscences of a Gurkha by Major-General Nigel Woodyatt 1922 Achive.org, from page 210 describes the author’s service in India during the First World War, including his responsibility for the arrangements for all "enemy subjects" of military age in India, both civilians living in India and prisoners of war from East Africa, Mesopotamia Persia etc . Turkish prisoners were sent to Burma. Others including the Germans were placed in an interment camp at Ahmednagar, near Poona.
• "The Defence of India" by F. A. McKenzie, from The Great War: the standard history of the all-Europe conflict, edited by H.W. Wilson, volume 7, chapter 128. (13 volumes in the series) Reprinted in 1999 as Volume 4: Carnage (6 volumes in the series) Look inside the book The North West Frontier during World War 1. greatwardifferent.com
• The Post Office of India in the Great War edited by H.A. Sams 1922 Archive.org Contents
• Despatches on military operations in the Indian Empire since the outbreak of war including Aden, Persia and the North West Frontier London Gazette Supplements.
  • To 9th March 1916 LGS 4 July 1916; To 31st March 1917 LGS 31 October 1917; To 31st May 1918 LGS 17 March 1919; To 30 April 1919 LGS 5 August 1920
• "Despatch: Brief review of the part played by India, including the Native States, in the prosecution of the war" London Gazette Supplement 25 July 1919
• The British Library digitised manuscripts include some India Office Records relating to the First World War. A search using the key word India, and adjustment of the dates will locate the documents , or the direct links include
  • IOR/L/MIL /17/5/2383 India’s Contribution to the Great War published by authority of the Government of India 1923
  • IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2384 Indian Force for Europe. India Office Military Dept, 6 Sep 1914.
  • IOR/V/27/281/33 Neuve Chapelle, India's Memorial in France, 1914-18. Published by authority of the Imperial War Graves Commission London 1927
  • IOR/L/PS/11/121 1917 Political and Secret Annual Files includes “Indian Journalists Tour of Mesopotamia” Newspaper articles written in Indian newspapers June 1917
  • IOR/L/PS/11/129 1917 Political and Secret Annual Files includes P 4640/1917 The Turkish campaigns in Mesopotamia, Palestine and Hedjaz; P 4700/1917 The War: arrest in Persia of certain Indian Army deserters, case of one Abdul Manun; P 4973/1917 The War: military situation in Turkey
• Current History: A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times. Initial volumes also had the title The European War. A similar series issued quarterly (same content) included the title European War for all quarterly volumes up to Volume XX to October 1920. Archive.org

Volume I From the Beginning to March 1915 Contents-Index	Volume II April 1915-September 1915 Contents-Index	Volume III October 1915-March 1916 Table of Contents and Index	Volume IV April-September 1916 Index
Volume V October 1916-March 1917 Index Part 1-Index Part 2	Volume VI April-September 1917 Index Part 1-Index Part 2	Volume VII October 1917-March 1918 Index Part 1-Index Part 2	Volume VIII April-September 1918 Index Part 1-Index Part 2
Volume IX October 1918-March 1919 Index Part 1-Index Part 2	Volume X April-September 1919 Index Part 1-Index Part 2	Volume XI October 1919-March 1920 Index	Volume XII No Index.
Volume XIII October 1920- March 1921 Index	Volume XIV April-September 1921 Index	Volume XV October 1921-March 1922 Index	Volume XVI April-September 1922 Index

The final volume of the quarterly series of the same monthly magazines, Volume XX of the quarterly series, appears to be an update of the earlier periods and may include content which is not included in the half yearly volumes. The content for the quarterly series up to June 1919 appears to be identical to the half yearly volumes. Volume XX July 1919-October 1920, Cumulative Index of the quarterly series. At least some of the quarterly editions are available on Archive.org