Auxiliary Force (India)
The Auxiliary Force (India) (AFI) was a part-time, paid volunteer military organisation within the British Indian Army, with recruits from British India. Its units were entirely made up of European and Anglo-Indian personnel. The AFI was formed in 1920, along with the Indian Territorial Force (ITF), replacing the Indian Defence Force (IDF).
History
The AFI was created by the Auxiliary Force Act 1920[1] to replace the unpopular British section of the Indian Defence Force (IDF), which had recruited by conscription. By contrast, the AFI was an all-volunteer force modelled after the British Territorial Army. The Indian parallel to the AFI was the Indian Territorial Force (ITF) which was composed of British officers and Indian other ranks.
Units on 3 September 1939
| Name | Headquarters |
|---|---|
| Contingents | |
| Agra Contingent | Agra |
| Allahabad Contingent | Allahabad |
| Bangalore Contingent | Bangalore |
| Bareilly Corps | Bareilly |
| Bareilly Contingent | Naini Tal |
| Bombay Contingent | Bombay |
| Cawnpore Contingent | Cawnpore |
| Dehra Dun Contingent[2] | Dehra Dun |
| Delhi Contingent[3] | Delhi |
| Karachi Corps | Karachi |
| Lucknow Contingent | Lucknow |
| Madras Contingent | Madras |
| Poona Contingent | Poona |
| Punjab Contingent | Lahore |
| Cavalry regiments | |
| Assam Valley Light Horse | Dibrugarh |
| Bihar Light Horse | Muzaffarpur |
| Bombay Light Patrol[4] | Bombay |
| Calcutta Light Horse | Calcutta |
| Chota Nagpur Regiment | Ranchi |
| Northern Bengal Mounted Rifles | Darjeeling |
| Punjab Light Horse[5] | Lahore |
| Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles | Madras |
| Surma Valley Light Horse | Silchar |
| Allahabad Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)[6] | Allahabad |
| Cawnpore Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)[7] | Cawnpore |
| Lucknow Detachment, United Provinces Horse (Southern Regiment)[8] | Lucknow |
| Armoured Car companies | |
| Bangalore Armoured Car Company[9] | Bangalore |
| Artillery brigades[10] | |
| Bengal Artillery, RA | Barrackpore |
| I (Calcutta Port Defence) Brigade, RA | Calcutta |
| V (Cossipore) Field Brigade, RA | Cossipore |
| Separate artillery batteries | |
| No. 3 (Madras) Field Battery, RA[11] | Madras |
| No. 10 (Bombay) Battery, RA[4] | Bombay |
| No. 13 (Lucknow) Field Battery, RA[8] | Lucknow |
| No. 15 (Kirkee) Field Battery, RA[12] | Kirkee |
| No. 17 (Agra) Field Battery, RA[13] | Agra |
| No. 18 (Bareilly) Field Battery, RA[14] | Bareilly |
| No. 20 (Cawnpore) Field Battery, RA[7] | Cawnpore |
| Engineer companies | |
| No. 1 (Calcutta) Fortress Company, RE | Calcutta |
| No. 3 (Bombay) Fortress Company, RE[4] | Bombay |
| No. 4 (Karachi) Fortress Company, RE[15] | Karachi |
| Signal companies | |
| No. 1 (Madras) Signal Company[11] | Madras |
| Railway battalions | |
| Assam Bengal Railway Battalion | Chittagong |
| Bengal Nagpur Railway Battalion | Kharagpur |
| Bengal and North Western Railway Battalion | Gorakhpur |
| 1st Battalion, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment | Lower Parel |
| 2nd Battalion, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway Regiment | Ajmer |
| Eastern Bengal Railway Battalion | Sealdah |
| 1st Battalion, East Indian Railway Regiment | Lillooah |
| 2nd Battalion, East Indian Railway Regiment | Lucknow |
| 1st Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment | Parel |
| 2nd Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment | Jhansi |
| 1st Battalion, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles | Perambur |
| 2nd Battalion, Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Rifles | Hubli |
| North Western Railway Battalion | Lahore |
| South Indian Railway Battalion | Trichinopoly |
| Infantry battalions | |
| Allahabad Rifles[6] | Allahabad |
| Bangalore Battalion (Bangalore Rifle Volunteers)[9] | Bangalore |
| Bombay Battalion[4] | Bombay |
| Calcutta and Presidency Battalion | Calcutta |
| Calcutta Scottish | Calcutta |
| Cawnpore Rifles[7] | Cawnpore |
| East Coast Battalion | Vizayapatam |
| Hyderabad Rifles | Secunderabad |
| Kolar Gold Fields Battalion | Oorgaum |
| Lucknow Rifles[8] | Lucknow |
| Madras Guards[11] | Madras |
| Nagpur Rifles | Nagpur |
| Nilgiri Malabar Battalion | Ootacamund |
| Poona Rifles[12] | Poona |
| Punjab Rifles[5] | Lahore |
| Simla Rifles | Simla |
| Sind Rifles[15] | Karachi |
| Separate infantry companies | |
| Bhusawal Company[16] | Bhusawal |
| Coorg and Mysore Company | Mercara |
| Eastern Bengal Company | Dacca |
| Yercaud Company | Yercaud |
| Machine-gun companies | |
| No. 2 (Karachi) Machine-Gun Company[15] | Karachi |
| No. 5 (Agra) Machine-Gun Company[13] | Agra |
In popular culture
The Auxiliary Force features extensively in the plot of John Masters' novel Bhowani Junction, focusing on a community of Anglo-Indian railway workers at an Indian town in 1946, on the verge of the British withdrawal.
Footnotes
- "Indian Auxiliary Forces: A Territorial Scheme", The Times, 1 October 1920
- 3 Infantry Platoons, 1 Wireless Telegraphy Section & 4 Motor Platoons.
- 1 Cavalry Troop, 1 Infantry Company & 3 Motor Platoons.
- Part of Bombay Contingent
- Part of Punjab Contingent
- Part of Allahabad Contingent
- Part of Cawnpore Detachment
- Part of Lucknow Contingent
- Part of Bangalore Contingent
- soon renamed regiments.
- Part of Madras Contingent
- Part of Poona Contingent
- Part of Agra Contingent
- Part of Bareilly Contingent
- Part of Karachi Contingent
- Administered by 1st Battalion, Great India Peninsula Railway Regiment.
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