18th Royal Garhwal Rifles
Encyclopedia
The 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army
. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. They were they only Indian Infantry regiment to remain intact without being amalgamated. They were renumbered 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles with three active battalions and the 4th battalion becoming the 10th training battalion. After the partition of India in 1947, it was allocated to the new Indian Army
and renamed the The Garhwal Rifles.
The 2nd and 5th Battalions were captured in the fall of Singapore and remained in captivity until the end of the war.
The Regiment's casualties during the war were high, with some 350 killed and approximately 1,400 wounded.
Following the war the 1st and 3rd Battalions served briefly in a garrison role in Sumatra and Italy before returning to India. The 4th Battalion was used to reconstitute the 2nd Battalion in May 1946. The 5th Battalion was not raised again and the 6th Battalion was disbanded at war's end.
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. They were they only Indian Infantry regiment to remain intact without being amalgamated. They were renumbered 18th Royal Garhwal Rifles with three active battalions and the 4th battalion becoming the 10th training battalion. After the partition of India in 1947, it was allocated to the new Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
and renamed the The Garhwal Rifles.
The Second World War (1939–45)
During the Second World War, five more battalions of the Garhwal Rifles were raised. These were: the 4th (re-raised having been converted into a training battalion and designated 10th Battalion earlier), the 5th, 6th, 7th and 25th (Garrison) battalion. The Regiment saw active service in almost all of the theatres of the war, including: Burma, Malaya, Egypt, Iraq, Eritrea, Abyssinia.The 2nd and 5th Battalions were captured in the fall of Singapore and remained in captivity until the end of the war.
The Regiment's casualties during the war were high, with some 350 killed and approximately 1,400 wounded.
Following the war the 1st and 3rd Battalions served briefly in a garrison role in Sumatra and Italy before returning to India. The 4th Battalion was used to reconstitute the 2nd Battalion in May 1946. The 5th Battalion was not raised again and the 6th Battalion was disbanded at war's end.
Formation
- 1st battalion ex 1/39th Garhwal Rifles39th Garhwal RiflesThe 39th Garhwal Rifles were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1887, when they were raised as the Aligarh Levy, but was disbanded after disgracing itself at the Rawalpindi Review in 1888....
- 2nd battalion ex 2/39th Gahwal Rifles
- 3rd battalion ex 3/39th Gahwal Rifles
- 10th (Training) battalion ex 4/39th Gahwal Rifles