India Command

Following the Kitchener Reforms of 1903 during the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India, enjoyed control of the Army of India and answered to the civilian Viceroy of India. "The C-in-C India’s HQ was known as the General Headquarters (GHQ India) and acted as the superior HQ for all services to fulfil their requirements."[1] The Commander-in-Chief's staff was overseen by the Chief of the General Staff. General Headquarters India (GHQ India) was based in Calcutta and Simla (the winter capital of the Raj) until the seat of power moved to New Delhi in 1911.[2]

GHQ India
Active1748 to 1947
CountryEmperor of India
Part ofWar Office
Viceroy of India
Garrison/HQNew Delhi

In addition to India, it was responsible at varying periods for parts of the Middle East (in particular Aden Settlement and, later, Aden Colony, as well as Iraq and Persia).[3] For significant periods before the creation of South East Asia Command (SEAC) in 1943, the C-in-C India was also responsible for Ceylon and Burma.

The Commander-in-Chief, India,[1] had some 2,000 officers and 2.5 million troops under his command in 1945.[4] GHQ India was redesignated Army HQ in 1947 when India was partitioned.[1]

Second World War

Following a review by the British Chiefs of Staff in late 1939, operational control of troops in Iraq passed in early 1940 to Middle East Command although the provision of troops and their maintenance remained for the most part GHQ India's responsibility.[5] In March 1941, in the period before the Anglo-Iraqi War, the C-in-C Middle East General Archibald Wavell, who was preoccupied with existing problems in his theatre, gained approval for Iraq to come under India's operational control again[6] but once hostilities commenced in May Wavell was obliged by London reluctantly to reassume responsibility.[7] In June 1941, after cessation of hostilities, control reverted once more to GHQ India.[8] India finally relinquished responsibility for Persia and Iraq in August 1942 when a separate Persia and Iraq Command was created.[9]

In December 1941 Burma, which had been under the operational control of Far East Command in Singapore, was transferred to India Command.[10] After the dissolution of ABDACOM in February 1942 the C-in-C India also became responsible for Ceylon. During this period, some Chinese and American units also came under the operational control of the India Command.[11] These responsibilities remained unchanged until the creation of South East Asia Command (SEAC) in August 1943.

With the creation of SEAC there were three separate operational commands. The China Theatre was under the command of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. SEAC was an Anglo-American command under a Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Mountbatten, who was responsible for operations in Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Sumatra. India Command, under General Auchinleck Commander-in-Chief, India, was responsible for the development of India as a base, for internal security in India and the defence of India's North West Frontier. India Command's base responsibility included the training, equipping, maintenance and movement of operational forces assigned to SEAC.[12]

On 24 November 1944, G.H.Q.(I) passed on to the Headquarters Allied Land Forces South East Asia "..proposals made by the Burma Government-in-exile for the evaluation of the men released in 1942, either returnees or deserters."[13] "The Burma Government proposed to raise administrative units to screen personnel who had remained in Burma, and operational units for internal security duties. ..Within General Headquarters, India, the department responsible for the administration of Burma Army units in India and Burma, known as Burma Section, also asked for the immediate raising of a second administrative unit." A.G. (BURSEC) was an integral part of GHQ India until it was established with Headquarters Twelfth Army.

Notes
  1. Dogar 1999.
  2. "Britain's Small Wars". Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  3. Jackson 2006, p. 148.
  4. India Army GHQ Hansard, 29 November 1945
  5. Playfair et al. 2004a, pp. 63 & 66.
  6. Playfair et al. 2004b, p. 178.
  7. Playfair et al. 2004b, pp. 184 & 185.
  8. Playfair et al. 2004b, p. 250.
  9. Playfair et al. 2004c, pp. 375 & 376.
  10. Playfair et al. 2004b, p. 8.
  11. Patti 1980, p. 11.
  12. Playfair et al. 2004c, p. 3.
  13. "War Office 203/4030 via New Burma Army, 1945-1949". www.rothwell.force9.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2023.

References
  • Dogar, Yasub Ali (January 1999). "Pakistan's higher defence organisation". Defence Journal. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008.
  • Jackson, Ashley (2006). The British Empire and the Second World War (illustrated ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 148. ISBN 1-85285-417-0.
  • Patti, Archimedes L. A. (1980). Why Viet Nam?: Prelude to America's albatross (illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. 11. ISBN 0-520-04156-9.
  • Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; Stitt, Commander G.M.S; Molony, Brigadier C.J.C. & Toomer, Air Vice-Marshal S.E. (2004a) [1st. pub. HMSO:1954]. Butler, J.R.M (ed.). Mediterranean and Middle East Volume I: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-65-3.
  • Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; Flynn, Captain F.C. (R.N.); Molony, Brigadier C.J.C. & Toomer, Air Vice-Marshal S.E. (2004b) [1st. pub. HMSO:1956]. Butler, J.R.M (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume II: The Germans come to the help of their Ally (1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-66-1.
  • Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; Flynn, Captain F.C. (R.N.); Molony, Brigadier C.J.C. & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004c) [1st. pub. HMSO:1960]. Butler, Sir James (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume III: British Fortunes reach their Lowest Ebb (September 1941 to September 1942). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-67-X.
  • Romanus, Charles F.; Sunderland, Riley (1953). Stiwell's Mission to China. Government Printing Office. p. 364. Library of Congress 35-603349.
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