31st Indian Armoured Division

The 31st Indian Armoured Division was an armoured division of the Indian Army during World War II, formed in 1940, originally as the 1st Indian Armoured Division; it consisted of units of the British Army and the British Indian Army. When it was raised, it consisted of two Armoured Brigades (the 1st and 2nd Indian Armoured Brigades) and one Motor Brigade (the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade).

1st Indian Armoured Division
31st Indian Armoured Division
Formation sign of the 31st Indian Armoured Division.[1]
Active1940-1945;
Country British India
 India
Allegiance British Empire
 India
Branch British Indian Army
 Indian Army
TypeArmoured
SizeDivision
Nickname(s)White Tiger Division
EquipmentStuart tank
M3 Lee
M4 Sherman
T-90S Bhishma
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Thomas Corbett
Robert Wordsworth

History

In October 1941,[2] by which time the 1st Indian Support Group had joined the division, 1st Indian Armoured Division was renamed as the 31st Indian Armoured Division. The division's brigades were redesignated as the 251st and 252nd Indian Armoured Brigades and the 31st Indian Support Group (the Motor Brigade's name remained unchanged).

In mid-1942, by which time the support group had been disbanded, the 251st Brigade was detached and the rest of the division was shipped to join the British Tenth Army and served in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. At this time the General Officer Commanding was Major General Robert Wordsworth and the Commander Royal Artillery was Brigadier C.P.B. Wilson. The division never saw combat, although the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade was detached to Egypt and saw heavy action in the Western Desert Campaign during 1941 & 1942 and again in 1944 and 1945 when, reformed as the 43rd Indian Infantry Brigade (Lorried), it was sent to the Italian Campaign as an independent brigade. The closest the rest of the division came to combat was in April 1944 when it was rushed to Egypt to crush a mutiny among the Greek 1st Infantry Brigade.

The Tank Regiments received M4 Shermans in November 1943, thought to be in preparation for a transfer to Italy, which never came about, and only drove them in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.[3][4]

31st Indian Armoured Division was redesignated the 1st Armoured Division (India) of the soon-to-be independent Indian Army in October 1945.[5]

With the 31st Division redesignated, there was no division numbered '31' in the post-independence Indian Army after 1947 for over twenty years. The 31st Armoured Division was reestablished as part of the Indian Army in 1972.[2] It was raised at Jhansi, and remains headquartered there as part of XXI Corps. It now known as the "White Tiger" Division.

Structure in 1942

252nd Indian Armoured Brigade

3rd Indian Motor Brigade
An Indian Pattern Carrier Mk IIA named 'Dhar IV', North Africa of the type used by 3rd Indian Motor Brigade

Divisional Units

Citations
  1. Cole p. 83
  2. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, p. 52.
  3. India’s Armour.By Mike Bennighof
  4. "avalanchepress".
  5. Renaldi & Rikhye 2011, p. 34, 52.
  6. Mackenzie (1951), p. 71
  7. "orbat" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-18. Retrieved 2008-07-10.

References
  • Cole, Howard (1973). Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire. London: Arms and Armour Press.
  • Mackenzie, Compton (1951). Eastern Epic. London: Chatto & Windus. 623 pages. OCLC 1412578.
  • Richard A. Renaldi; Ravi Rikhye (2011). Indian Army Order of Battle. Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC. ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8.
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