Indian Field Artillery in World War 2

BRITISH ARTILLERY IN WORLD WAR 2

Updated 14 June 2014

CONTENTS
FIELD REGIMENTS IA
MEDIUM REGIMENTS IA
MOUTAIN REGIMENTS IA
SURVEY REGIMENTS IA
ANTI-TANK REGIMENTS IA
OTHER UNITS

FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENTS OF THE INDIAN ARTILLERY IN WORLD WAR 2

Originally 'Indian Regiment of Artillery', became 'The Regiment of Indian Artillery' on 1 Nov 1940 and 'Royal Regiment of Indian Artillery' in Oct 1945.

FIELD REGIMENTS IA

The first three Indian Field Regiments, originally numbered A, B, and C were authorised at the beginning of 1935.

Regiment	Type	Origin/Change	Where - When - With	Disposal
1 Ind Fd Regt	Reg	F 1/35 Bangalore	Burma 1942 - 17 Indian Div Burma 1944-5 - 17 Indian Div
2 Ind Fd Regt	Reg	F 5/40	Iraq 1941-2 - 6 Indian Div Mid East 1942 - 3 Ind Motor Bde Burma 1944 - 14 Army Tps Burma 1944-5 - 20 Indian Div
3 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 4/41	Burma 1944 - 23 Indian Div Java 1945 - 5 Indian Div	To Pakistan 1947 - 2 Fd Regt
4 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 12/41	Burma 1944-5 - 19 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 5 Indian Div	To Pakistan 1947 - 3 (SP) Fd Regt
5 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 2/42	Burma 1944-5 - 25 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 23 Indian Div Java 1945 - 5 Indian Div	To Pakistan 1947 - 4 Fd Regt
6 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 6/42	Java 1945
7 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 12/42	Burma 1944-5 - 26 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 26 Indian Div
8 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 1/43		To 1 Ind Med Regt 10/44
9 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 4/43
10 Ind Fd Regt	WF	F 7/43
11 Ind Fd Regt	WF	Fm 18 Ind LAA Regt 8/45

MEDIUM REGIMENTS IA

Regiment	Type	Origin/Change	Where - When - With	Disposal
1 Ind Med Regt	WF	Fm 8 Ind Fd Regt 10/44	ALFSEA 1945 - 34 Corps
2 Ind Med Regt	WF	Fm 3 Ind HAA Regt 5/45
3 Ind Med Regt	WF	Fm 14 Ind HAA Regt /46

MOUNTAIN REGIMENTS IA

In August 1939 the existing 6 regular Indian Mountain Regiments were transferred from RA, where they had been since 1924, to the Indian Army.

Regiment	Type	Origin/Change	Where - When - With	Disposal
20 Ind Mtn Regt	Reg		NW Frontier - 1939-44 Burma 1944-5 - 19 Indian Div
21 Ind Mtn Regt	Reg		NW Frontier 1940-1 India/Burma 1943-5 - 17 Indian Div	To Pakistan 1947 - 1 Mtn Regt
22 Ind Mtn Regt	Reg		Malaya 1941-2 - 11 Indian Div	Lost 2/42
23 Ind Mtn Regt	Reg		Burma 1942-3 - 14 Indian Div India/Burma 1944-5 - 20 Indian Div
24 Ind Mtn Regt	Reg		Burma 1942 - 23 Indian Div Kohima 4/44 - 161 Indian Inf Bde Burma 1944-5 - 5 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 53 Indian Div
25 Ind Mtn Regt	Reg		NW Frontier 1940-1 India/Burma 1943-5 7 Indian Div
26 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F /41 Mid East fm 4 existing mtn btys	E Africa 1939-41 - Independent batteries Palestine 1941- 9 Army NW Frontier 1942-5
27 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 11/41 fm btys ex 24, 25 Mtn Regts	Burma 1941-2 - 1 Burma & 17 Indian Divs India 1942-3 - 26 Indian Div	Disb 8/43
28 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 1/42 fm 2 reg btys	Burma 1942 - 17 Indian Div India/Burma 1943-5 - 23 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 23 Indian Div
29 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 10/42 fm btys ex 21 Mtn Regt	India
30 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 2/43	India/Burma 1943-5 26 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 26 Indian Div
31 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 4/43	India
32 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 9/44 fm btys ex 23, 24, 28 Mtn Regts	Burma 1945 - 36 Inf Div
33 Ind Mtn Regt	WF	F 10/44 fm btys ex 23, 30, 31 Mtn Regts	Burma 1944-5 - 25 Indian Div ALFSEA 1945 - 25 Indian Div

SURVEY REGIMENT IA

Regiment	Type	Origin/Change	Where - When - With	Disposal
1 Ind Svy Regt	WF	F 1/41	Burma 1944-5 - 33 Corps

ANTI-TANK REGIMENTS IA

Regiment	Type	Origin/Change	Where - When - With	Disposal
1 Ind ATk Regt 1 Ind LAA/ATk /43	WF	F 8/40 as K ATk Regt	Iraq 1941-2 - 10 Army Tps & 10 Indian Inf Div Burma 1944-5 - 26 Indian Inf Div
2 Ind ATk Regt 2 Ind LAA/Atk Regt /43	WF	F 4/41	Burma 1942 - 1 Burma & 17 Indian Inf Divs
3 Ind ATk Regt	WF	F 11/41	Ceylon 1942-3 - 17 & 34 Ind Inf Divs
4 (Mahratta) ATk Regt	WF	Fm 8/5 Mahratta LI 1/42	Iraq 1942-3 - 8 Indian Inf Div Italy 1943-5 - 8 Indian Inf Div
5 (Mahratta) ATk Regt 5 Ind LAA/ATk /43	WF	Fm 9/5 Mahratta LI 1/42	Mid East 1942 - 5 Indian Inf Div & 10 Army Tps India 1943 Burma 1944-5 - 15 Corps & 14 Army Tps Burma 1945 - 5 Indian Inf Div
6 Ind ATk Regt	WF	F 2/42		To Lt Mtn (3-inch Mor) btys 7/43
7 Ind ATk Regt 7 Ind LAA/ATk /43	WF	F 5/42	India 1943 - 25 Indian Inf Div Burma 1944 - 3 Corps Tps Burma 1944-5 - 25 Indian Inf Div
8 (Mahratta) ATk Regt	WF	Fm 7/5 Mahratta LI	India 1943 - 44 Indian Armd Div Burma 1944-5 - 33 Corps Tps Burma 1945 - 7 Indian Inf Div
15 (Punjab) ATk Regt	WF	Fm MG Bn 15 Punjab Regt 4/42		Disb 11/44
16 (Punjab) ATk Regt (Reserve)	WF	Fm MG Bn 16 Punjab Regt 8/42

OTHER UNITS

Some of the Indian States (Bahawalpur, Bikaner, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, and Patiala) provided a total 7 mountain and 2 field batteries. These were added to various Indian mountain and field regiments.

The Auxiliary Force (India), which was the Indian equivalent of the Territorial Army and comprised mostly Europeans, had 13 field batteries. Of these only 5 Battery, based in Rangoon, mobilised.

Some Indian field regiments formed during the war were initially mixed regiments with British NCOs who were replaced as Indians were trained to take over. All regiments had some British officers.

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