Bot at 19:19, 31 July 2021

2021-07-31T19:19:47Z

New page

{{short description|Airborne division of the Indian Army during World War II}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=44th Indian Airborne Division
|image=File:Indian paratroops waiting to jump over Burma 1945.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=Paratroops of the [[44th Indian Airborne Division]] waiting to jump over [[Rangoon]], [[Burma]], 1945.
|dates=1944–1947
|country={{flag|British India}}
|allegiance={{flag|British Empire}}
|branch={{army|British India}}
|type=[[Airborne forces]]
|role=
|size=[[Division (military)|Division]]
|command_structure=
|garrison=
|garrison_label=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=
|colors=
|colors_label=
|march=
|mascot=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=[[World War II]]
* [[Battle of Elephant Point]]
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=
|battle_honours_label=
|disbanded=
|flying_hours=
|website=

|commander1=
|commander1_label=
|commander2=
|commander2_label=
|commander3=
|commander3_label=
|commander4=
|commander4_label=
|notable_commanders=[[Ernest Down|Ernest Edward Down]]

|identification_symbol=Winged Pegasus on a Scarlet background with ''India'' underneath
|identification_symbol_label=
|identification_symbol_2=
|identification_symbol_2_label=
|identification_symbol_3=
|identification_symbol_3_label=
|identification_symbol_4=
|identification_symbol_4_label=

|aircraft_attack=
|aircraft_bomber=
|aircraft_electronic=
|aircraft_fighter=
|aircraft_helicopter=
|aircraft_helicopter_attack=
|aircraft_helicopter_cargo=
|aircraft_helicopter_multirole=
|aircraft_helicopter_observation=
|aircraft_helicopter_transport=
|aircraft_helicopter_trainer=
|aircraft_helicopter_utility=
|aircraft_interceptor=
|aircraft_patrol=
|aircraft_recon=
|aircraft_trainer=
|aircraft_transport=
|aircraft_tanker=
}}
The '''44th Indian Airborne Division''' was an [[airborne forces]] [[Division (military)|division]] of the [[Indian Army during World War II]], created in 1944. It provided a parachute battalion for one minor airborne operation, but the war ended before the complete formation could take part. (However, most of its subordinate formations and units had already seen action before the division had been formed).

==History==
===Creation===
The division's creation was a protracted affair. The division was first converted from the 9th Airborne Division (itself built around the core of the disbanded [[44th Armoured Division (India)|44th Indian Armoured Division]]), at [[Secunderabad]] in [[India]], on 15 April 1944.

Within a fortnight, the division HQ and such supporting units as had been allocated were used to form the [[21st Infantry Division (India)|21st Indian Infantry Division]], as an emergency measure during the [[Imperial Japan|Japanese]] invasion of India (which was codenamed [[Operation U-Go]], and which resulted in the battles of [[Battle of Imphal|Imphal]] and [[Battle of Kohima|Kohima]]). By 15 July, the crisis was clearly over, and the airborne division's formation was resumed.

===Formation===
On 15 September 1944, the existing [[50th Parachute Brigade (India)|50th Indian Parachute Brigade]] was allocated to the division. Later in the year, it was decreed that the [[Chindit]] formations were to be broken up and some of them were to be converted to airborne formations. The [[14th Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)|14th British Airlanding Brigade]] became part of the division on 1 November 1944, and the Indian [[77th Indian Infantry Brigade|77th Indian Parachute Brigade]] on 1 March 1945.

The conversion of 77th Brigade to a parachute formation was accompanied by the creation of the [[Parachute Regiment (India)|Indian Parachute Regiment]], which absorbed the existing Indian and [[Gurkha]] parachute battalions, and the formation of two British battalions of the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]] around the cadre of troops that had already fought as [[Glider infantry]] during the Chindit campaign; [[15th (King's) Parachute Battalion|15th (King's) Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] from 1st Battalion [[King's Regiment (Liverpool)]], and [[16th (Staffords) Parachute Battalion|16th (Staffords) Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] from 1st Battalion [[South Staffordshire Regiment]].

===Operation Dracula===
{{main|Battle of Elephant Point}}
The division was still in the midst of formation, reorganisation and training when it was called upon to provide a parachute force to take part in [[Operation Dracula]]. This was an amphibious operation intended to capture [[Rangoon]], the capital and principal port of [[Burma]], which was reinstated at short notice after being earlier cancelled.

A composite Gurkha parachute battalion was formed from the two Gurkha battalions of the Indian Parachute Regiment, and landed behind Japanese coastal defences at the mouth of the Rangoon river on 1 May 1945. During the [[Battle of Elephant Point]], they cleared Japanese rearguards from the defences, but the main Japanese garrison had evacuated Rangoon several days previously. The subsequent landings from the sea were unopposed.

===Later Operations===
The division was preparing to take part in the projected invasions of [[Operation Zipper|Malaya]] and [[Singapore]] when the war ended unexpectedly. The division provided small airborne parties that landed in Japanese-occupied territories ahead of the main Allied forces, locating camps containing Allied [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] and interned civilians, and delivering emergency relief supplies. The 44 Indian Airborne Division moved to Bilaspur in June 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.paradata.org.uk/article/indian-airborne-divisional-artillery|title=Indian Airborne Divisional Artillery | ParaData}}</ref> The division was then re-named the 2nd Indian Airborne Division and was retained until the [[Partition of India]], when it was disbanded on 14/15 August 1947.<ref>Renaldi and Rikhye 2011, p.35</ref> One parachute brigade and some divisional units went to Pakistan, the other two brigades and the remaining units went to India.

==Order of Battle, as of 1 May 1945==
:General Officer Commanding - ''Major General Earnest Edward Down''
:Commander, Royal Artillery - ''Brigadier Reginald John Kirton''

:[[14th Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)|14th British Airlanding Brigade]] - ''Brigadier Francis William Gibb''
::2nd Battalion, [[Black Watch|Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)]]
::4th Battalion, [[6th Rajputana Rifles]]
::6th Battalion, [[16th Punjab Regiment]]

:[[50th Parachute Brigade (India)|50th Indian Parachute Brigade]] - ''Brigadier Edward Galbraith Woods''
::[[16th (Staffords) Parachute Battalion|16th (Staffords) Battalion, Parachute Regiment]]
::1st Battalion, [[Parachute Regiment (India)|Indian Parachute Regiment]]
::3rd Battalion, Indian Parachute Regiment

:[[77th Indian Infantry Brigade|77th Indian Parachute Brigade]] - ''Brigadier Claude John Wilkinson''
::[[15th (King's) Parachute Battalion|15th (King's) Battalion, Parachute Regiment]]
::2nd Battalion, Indian Parachute Regiment
::4th Battalion, Indian Parachute Regiment

:Divisional Units
::123rd (West Riding) Field Regiment, [[Royal Artillery]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitHistory?UniX=7749 |title=Orders of Battle.com |access-date=22 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323143026/http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitHistory?UniX=7749 |archive-date=23 March 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
::159th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitHistory?UniX=9996 |title=Orders of Battle.com |access-date=22 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323143053/http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitHistory?UniX=9996 |archive-date=23 March 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
::23rd Light Anti-Aircraft / Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery

==External links==
* {{oob unit|id=7413|name=44 Airborne Division}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Indian Divisions in World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:44 Indian Airborne Division}}
[[Category:Indian World War II divisions]]
[[Category:British Indian Army divisions]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1944]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1947]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II]]

44th Airborne Division India - Revision history

Bot at 19:19, 31 July 2021