Western Command (India): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox military unit |
{{Infobox military unit |
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| unit_name = '''Western Command''' |
| unit_name = '''Western Command''' |
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| image = IA Western Command. |
| image = IA Western Command.svg |
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| image_size = 200 |
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| caption = Western Command's insignia today |
| caption = Western Command's insignia today |
Revision as of 15:59, 3 September 2021
Western Command | |
---|---|
![]() Western Command's insignia today | |
Active | 1904 - 1908 1920 - 1938 1948 - Present |
Country | ![]() ![]() |
Branch | ![]() ![]() |
Type | Command |
Garrison/HQ | Chandimandir, Haryana |
Motto(s) | सर्वदा विजयी भव (May you always win) |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Lt Gen Ravendra Pal Singh PVSM, AVSM, VSM |
Notable commanders | Field Marshal K M Cariappa Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh Lieutenant General K P Candeth |
Western Command is a Command-level formation of the Indian Army. It was formed in 1920. It was disbanded following its demotion to an independent district and eventual merge with Northern Command to form the North-western Army. It was re-raised in 1947 following transfer of Northern Command HQ to Pakistan. Until 1972, it was responsible for India's border with Pakistan in North and West and Chinese border in the North. The Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Jammu.[1] Currently, the II Corps (Ambala), IX Corps (Yol), XI Corps (Jalandhar) and 40th Artillery Division (Ambala) are the units under the Western Command.[2] The Command HQ is in Chandimandir, Haryana.
Lieutenant General Ravendra Pal Singh is the current GOC-in-C, who took over on 1 October 2019.[3]
History
Pre-Independence
The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras became the Indian Army.[4] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands: Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command, each under a lieutenant general.[4]
Between 1904 and 1908, the Bombay Command was renamed as the Western Command. In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies: Northern Army and Southern Army as recommended by then Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army Lord Kitchener. This system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again: Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command.[5]
In 1937, Western Command was downgraded to become the Western Independent District commanded by a major-general. In April 1942, the Western Independent District was absorbed in the Northern Command which itself was re-designated as North Western Army.[6]
Re-raising
After the partition of India, the erstwhile command HQ, Northern Command, went to Pakistan. The communal violence of partition necessitated the raising of a new command headquarters to relieve Army Headquarters of the day to day overseeing of operations of the two independent areas in north India.[7]
This command, initially named Delhi and East Punjab Command was raised in Delhi on 14 September 1947 with Lt Gen Sir Dudley Russell as its commander. It was responsible to administer:[7]
- the Delhi Independent Area
- the East Punjab Independent Area
On 26 October 1947, following the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, Western Command was put in charge of all Indian Army operations to secure the area for India.[7]
Initially a division sized force Jammu and Kashmir Division was raised on 5 November 1947 under Maj Gen Kalwant Singh for overseeing operations in Jammu and Kashmir.[7] This was later split into two parts Jammu Division (under Maj Gen Atma Singh) and Srinagar Division (under Maj Gen K.S. Thimayya) to oversee operations in Jammu and Kashmir respectively.[8]
The II Corps (Ambala), IX Corps (Yol), XI Corps (Jalandhar) and 40th Artillery Division (Ambala) are control operational units in Western Command.[9]
Structure
Currently, the Western Command has been assigned operational units under:- II Corps, IX Corps, XI Corps and 40th Artillery Division. The command in total has following units under its belt :- 6 infantry divisions, 1 armoured division, 1 artillery division, 1 Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID), 3 armoured brigade, 1 mechanized brigade, 1 Air-defence brigade, and 1 engineering brigade.
Structure of Western Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Corp | Corp HQ | GOC of Corps
(Corps Commander) |
Assigned Units | Unit HQ |
II Corps
(Kharga Corps) |
Ambala, Haryana | Lt Gen N. S. Raja Subramani | 1st Armoured Division | Patiala, Punjab |
14th RAPID | Dehradun, Uttarakhand | |||
22nd Infantry Division | Meerut, Uttar Pradesh | |||
612th Air-defence Brigade | N/A | |||
474th Engineering Brigade | N/A | |||
IX Corps
(Rising Star Corps) |
Yol, Himachal Pradesh | Lt Gen P. N. Ananthanarayanan | 26th Infantry Division | Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir |
29th Infantry Division | Pathankot, Punjab | |||
2nd Armoured Brigade | N/A | |||
3rd Armoured Brigade | N/A | |||
XI Corps
(Vajra Corps) |
Jalandhar, Punjab | Lt Gen C. B. Ponnappa | 7th Infantry Division | Firozpur, Punjab |
9th Infantry Division | Meerut, Uttar Pradesh | |||
15th Infantry Division | Amritsar, Punjab | |||
23rd Armoured Brigade | N/A | |||
55th Mechanized Brigade | N/A | |||
N/A | N/A | N/A | 40th Artillery Division | Ambala, Haryana |
Precursors (1855-1947)
Following is the List of precursors to the Northern Command and their commanders:[10]
Bombay Army (1855-95)
Bombay Command (1895-1904)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bombay Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission |
Lieutenant General | Sir Charles E. Nairne | April 1895 | October 1898 | Bengal Artillery |
General | Sir Robert C. Low | October 1898 | October 1903 | Bengal Army |
Lieutenant General | Sir Archibald Hunter | October 1903 | October 1904 | 4th (King's Own Royal) Regiment |
Western Command (1904-1908)
General Officer Commanding Western Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission |
Lieutenant General | Sir Archibald Hunter | Oct 1904 | Jun 1907 | 4th (King's Own Royal) Regiment |
Western Command (1920-1938)
General Officer Commanding Western Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission |
Lieutenant General | Sir Walter P. Braithwaite | Dec 1920 | Jun 1923 | Somerset Light Infantry |
Lieutenant General | Sir George M. Kirkpatrick | Jun 1923 | Jun 1927 | Royal Engineers |
Lieutenant General | Sir Charles H. Harington | Jun 1927 | Jun 1931 | King's Regiment (Liverpool) |
Lieutenant General | Sir Torquil G. Matheson | Jun 1931 | Jun 1935 | Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment |
Lieutenant General | Sir Ivo L. B. Vesey | Jun 1935 | Mar 1936 | Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) |
Lieutenant General | Sir Walter W. Pitt-Taylor | Mar 1936 | Nov 1938 | Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) |
Western Independent District (1938-1942)
General Officer Commanding Western Independent District | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission |
Major General | Thomas J. Hutton | Aug 1938 | July 1940 | Royal Artillery |
Major General | John F. Evetts | July 1940 | Feb 1941 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) |
Lieutenant General | Edward F. Norton | Feb 1941 | Apr 1942 | Royal Artillery |
North-Western Army (1942-1945)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief North-Western Army | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission |
General | Sir Cyril D. Noyes | Apr 1942 | May 1943 | Royal Scots Fusiliers |
General | Sir Edward P. Quinan | May 1943 | Aug 1943 | Worcestershire Regiment |
General | Sir Henry Finnis | Aug 1943 | May 1945 | Indian Staff Corps |
Major-General | Cecil Toovey
(acting) |
Jun 1945 | Oct 1945 | Indian Staff Corps |
General | Sir Richard N. O'Connor | Oct 1945 | Nov 1945 | Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) |
Delhi and East Punjab Command (1947-1948)
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Delhi and East Punjab Command | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Unit of Commission |
Lieutenant General | Dudley Russell | 15 August 1947 | 19 January 1948 | 97th Deccan Infantry |
List of GOC-in-C of Western Command (1948-present)
Notes
- ^ "Principal Controller of Defence Accounts | Government of India - Principal Controller of Defence Accounts | Government of India". pcdawc.gov.in.
- ^ "Artillery Divisions in Indian Army". Global Security.
- ^ "Lt Gen Ravindra Pal Singh is next GOC-in-C Western Command, to take over on Oct 1". The Indian Express. 23 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Northern Army". Retrieved 4 January 2010.
- ^ "Commands of the Indian Army". Centre for Defence Careers. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "British Military History". British Military History. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d Sinha, Lt. Gen. S.K. (1977). Operation Rescue:Military Operations in Jammu & Kashmir 1947-49. New Delhi: Vision Books. pp. 103–127 and 174. ISBN 81-7094-012-5. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ^ Khanduri, Chandra B. (1969). Thimmayya:An Amazing Life. New Delhi: Centre for Armed Historical Research, United Service Institution of India, New Delhi through Knowledge World. p. 137. ISBN 81-87966-36-X. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- ^ "A Complete Guide To Indian Army". Defence Guru. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "Army Commands" (PDF).
- ^ "Rediff On The NeT:Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ a b "As Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya retires, Indian Army reshuffles to appoint new army chief". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Former Western Command GOC-in-C passes away at 85". Hindustan Times. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "The Tribune - Windows - Feature". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Gen J J Singh new GOC-in-C of Western Command - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Commander-level reshuffle on the cards". The Hindu. 6 April 2002. Retrieved 23 October 2017.[dead link]
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Ghosh to take charge of Western Command today - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Ghosh, last of the 1971 war veterans, retires". Hindustan Times. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra assumes charge of Western Command - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Keralite is chief of Western Army Command". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 2 July 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Lt Gen Kamal Jit Singh Promoted Western Army Commander". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Surinder Singh takes over as GOC-in-C". The Indian Express. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Lt Gen Ravindra Pal Singh is next GOC-in-C Western Command, to take over on Oct 1". The Indian Express. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
Further reading
- Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhye, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011.